11 Animal Accounts We All Should Be Following on Social Media
Reading Time: 4 minutesRIP Pot Roast, the TikTok cat. Here are some furry (and not so furry) friends to help you cope.
This week we mourn the passing of Pot Roast, a beloved cat who millions of TikTok users were lucky enough to have grace their algorithms in recent years. While we collectively grieve the loss of this furry icon across social media, we can cheer ourselves up by turning to the many other online animals making our lives better with their content.
TikTok has provided a platform for many to skyrocket their pets to viral fame. As with human users, one of the most effective ways for an animal to gain a following is by finding a niche and burrowing in deep. For instance, I’m not going to form a parasocial relationship with any old pug. I will once they carve out a place in my heart as an online prophet, à la Noodle the bones-or-no-bones pug.
If you need more wholesome furry content in your life, here are some of the cutest, funniest, most follow-worthy animal counts on TikTok and Instagram. Even if you don’t throw them a like , at least try to soak up the serotonin their videos are sure to provide.
If there’s one dog on top of all the latest TikTok trends, it’s Biscuit. Photographer and musician Dmitry Pepper rescued Biscuit the English bull terrier and started making videos during the pandemic. Together they go as @mistermainer on TikTok and have amassed 9.5 million followers and 331.3 million likes. The combination of Biscuit’s eyes-half-closed gaze and Pepper’s camerawork to make it look like the dog is twerking. It’s a recipe for success, and it works.
Strengths: Singing, dancing, booty shaking.
Weaknesses: We don’t get much raw, candid insight into Biscuit’s life. What goes on behind the memes? Give us a peek behind the curtain, Pepper!
Best clip to get you hooked: Hard times trend
Do you realize how wonky deers look when they chew? Peruse @pipkochel‘s account on TikTok, and you’ll find yourself wondering why you haven’t brought a deer into your own life.
Strengths: Deer dressing up like bumblebees. So wrong, yet so right.
Weaknesses: It’s difficult to tell the different deer apart. I guess I’ll just have to keep scrolling through their account until I get it down.
Best clip to get your hooked: End-of-year bloopers
TikTok user @ferretdaddy describes himself as ‘just a guy with three ferrets.’ Just a guy with three ferrets…and 1.8 million followers. These ferrets stay up-to-date with popular TikTok sounds, wiggling every which way and wearing a look of permanent panic (but, like, adorably so).
Strengths: In addition to being delightfully wily, frantic creatures, it turns out ferrets are highly meme-able.
Weaknesses: Why stop at three ferrets? Why not four, or many more ferrets?
Best clip to get your hooked: Ball pit
Despite a characteristically smooshed face, @angelpawspups is not a pug, but a Brussels Griffon. According to PetFinder, this breed is bold, playful, stubborn, and mischievous; Angel, it seems, is no exception. In most of her videos she’s surrounded by fluffy pink pillows, so Angel’s is a great account to turn to when you’re channeling your inner princess (gender neutral).
Strengths: Not a pug. We have enough viral pugs.
Weaknesses: Not a pug. Who doesn’t love pugs?
Best clip to get your hooked: Soulja Boy ‘Yahh!’ trend
This tiny black kitten named Meatball has earned over 12 million likes on TikTok (under the account @problyfake). Meatball’s owner often edits the wide-eyed cat into heartwarming little skits, the natural result of these videos being that Meatball will win an Oscar one day.
Strengths: Currently a tiny kitten.
Weaknesses: Will one day grow into a cat.
Best clip to get your hooked: Meatball you can’t play with us
Not to be confused with the equally magnificent Cocoa Puff the Giant Rabbit, Coco the bunny is tiny and adorable. My favorite stuffed animal growing up was a bunny rabbit, so I’m partial to the sort of content @itsbunnycoco provides. While you’re scrolling through cat video after cat video, consider adding a bunny video to shake up what the algorithm knows about you.
Strengths: Cuddling, floppy ears, soft fur.
Weaknesses: Would probably lose in a lot of fights in the animal kingdom, right?
Best clip to get your hooked: My happiness ????
Let’s throw a predator or two into the mix. Don’t let the fierce reputation of the German shepherd fool you; sisters Stormi and Ender (@stormi_loves_wolfie) seem to be more sweet than wolfish. Plus, Stormi in particular has a great sense of humor about her missing eyeball.
Strengths: The power of sisterhood, even in dog world.
Weaknesses: Dealing with little siblings.
Best clip to get your hooked: ‘I want waffle fries’ (one of the best trending sounds)
I’m scared of snakes, but if you forced me to concede they can sometimes be cute, I would point you toward star snake Fingers of @galaxyexotics. At 3.6 million followers, perhaps their TikTok is doing important work to fight fear-based reactions towards snakes (like the ones that I still hold). Personally, I can’t bring myself to follow these adorable reptiles, but I’m always going to throw them a supportive ‘like’ when they pop up on my algorithm.
Strengths: Cornered the snake market by being extremely on top of the latest trends.
Weaknesses: Reptiles scare me.
Best clip to get your hooked: This pep talk
Need I say more?
Strengths: Looks like Steve Buscemi.
Weaknesses: Looks like Steve Buscemi.
Best clip to get your hooked: Comments that say who else the dog looks like.
Need more than just one animal personality at a time? Welcome to @edgarsmission, a nonprofit sanctuary for rescued farmed animals. ‘Wholesome’ is an overused word online, but this account is really, truly wholesome. Head to their site to show some support and you’ll be greeted with the tagline ‘our mission is kindness.’
Strengths: Heartwarming stories from an animal rescue farm.
Weaknesses: I can’t physically adopt them all.
Best clip to get your hooked: Sheep transformation
Kangaroos, ostriches, and opossums…oh shit. If Edgar’s Mission provides us with a wholesome mix of animals, Urban Rescue Ranch is here for the chaos. Their TikTok account, @ostrichplug, is full of fast-paced and often disorienting videos with titles like ‘how to catch a prairie dog’ and ‘I have lost the will to fight.’ Behind the unhinged TikToks, the Urban Rescue Ranch is doing important work providing a home for all these animals. They’re a private farm sanctuary/animal rescue that houses geese, piglets, turtles, and even a kangaroo.
Strengths: The sheer range of animal content.
Weaknesses: A human’s ability to withstand a kangaroo’s kick.
Best clip to get your hooked: So you want to know how to fight a kangaroo?