Fire up our latest collection of funny parenting tweets and you'll know that moms and dads never get tired. Or, who knows, maybe you even have a little bundle of joy to remind you of that every single day.
Either way, we humans aren't the only ones who have to nurture our young. Far from it. And there's a fresh Twitter thread that beautifully illustrates this universal experience.
It all started when Shawna B shared a picture of a fluffy little family. "One of my favorite very specific image genres is cats that look completely unprepared for the realities of parenthood," she tweeted.
It quickly went viral, receiving over 350K likes and 50K retweets, and many people started responding to it with equally cute photos of animal parents. Continue scrolling to check them out!
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Cosy Cat’s Family
Dad Passed Out After A Long Day With The Kids
The amount of time animals spend with their parents vary tremendously. It's not very common, but there are a few species who stick around mom for a long time—or even their whole lives.
The orangutan, for example, tends to do everything slowly, including leaving home. According to Helen Morrough-Bernard, a primatologist at the U.K.'s University of Exeter, the great apes give birth only once every 7 to 8 years, and the youngster will sometimes nurse until six years old—about the time a new baby comes along.
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that bigger cat's realization that he has a copycat, this is so cuteeeee
Most orangutan moms let the older offspring stay together for up to three years after the infant is born, but some chase the juveniles off after six months.
When the new arrival comes, the older sibling will "go off exploring on their own and may stay out overnight," Morrough-Bernard told National Geographic.
"I like to think of this as like a teenager going off to university and coming back in the holidays. They are not truly independent but are trying out their independence."
Momma's Tail
Baby Sheep Sleeping On Its Mother
Kids
OMG, I saw a baby rhino once, in the huge savannah habitat at the San Diego Animal Park! The mother was just standing there like a boulder, like your typical adult rhino, while the baby charged around and around her like an Olympic track team on amphetamines. It was still at it when we left.
The African elephant world is another interesting case, as it revolves around women. The oldest, largest female is typically the leader, and females stay with their natal herd their whole lives.
Males leave their family group between age 9 and 18, and since a wild elephant's lifespan is about 56, that could mean up to a third of his life is spent at home.
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Mom And Baby. Pure Happiness
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Like in elephant society, female lions "are the stable social structure of the pride, and it's the males that come and go, taking over prides," Ed Spevak, curator of invertebrates at the St. Louis Zoo who has also studied African animals, explained.
Male lions always disperse for other groups in this fission-fusion society, and about one-third of females will go off to other prides.
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While the animal kingdom is full of wonderful moms who care for their offspring, often putting their children above themselves, some take a very different approach.
Most lizards, for instance, "deposit their eggs, cover them, immediately forget they did that and move along," Nassima Bouzid, a Ph.D. candidate at the University of Washington, said.
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Had two dogs and a cat have litters within a week, by two weeks it didn't matter who was feeding who. Cat, dog... all mixed up.
But seriously… forget the added kitten… how many puppies does this poor dog have???
Beautiful but heartbreaking. What's wrong with people not spaying/neutering their animals. Where will these puppies wind up. This looks like a sad situation. Come on people, there r so many low costs rescues around, or are u going to be selling them? I pray to God your not.
I'd rather they sell them or at least get a rehoming fee to know that they are going to a good home than give the away! I can't imagine them being able to take good care of them all. That's a lot. However I agree I think breeding for profit is wrong and so is not spaying and neutering. However, we don't know their situation so we shouldn't judge. This could have been a rescue situation or anything.
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Did all of these puppies come out of that one dog?? holy ___ Someone call Guiness!
🎶You're a sneaky little impostor aren't you? Aren't you?🎶...🎶But you're among us, I can feel it, I can feel it in my bones🎶...🎶so why don't you show yourself, and leave us all alone?🎶 Anyone else heard that song?
Why do this to a dog? As if we don't have enough pets needing homes. And then you have irresponsible people who breed more puppies. Do better.
Thank you! Totally agree! There are so many animals in this world that need homes, I think it is gross that people bring more into it for money. It's not surprising but it's disgusting. Then the fact that they have no idea much of the time where those puppies they sold are going to end up or how their life will be. It makes me so angry. People don't want to spend the money to spay and neuter but when they're feeding 10 puppies or dogs that they can't or didn't find homes for they realize it would have probably been cheaper to just get them fixed. The only ones who suffer in the end are the animals.
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Yikes! Please make sure mom gets supplements to her diet! She's doing a lot of work!
lord that's so many puppies, they have to be supplementing with bottle feedings for that many. i count 14, not including the kitten!
One of these things is not like the other, one of these things doesn't belong.
It's like the ice cream truck on a summer day. And this is just one block.
My sister had 2 ferals that gave birth on her porch within a couple of days of each other. She was able to bring them in. One had just one HUGE kitten, the other had 5. one went and stole the single kitten. We would put him back, but finally his mom gave up. He grew up to be monster boy.
PAHAHAHAHAHAAAA😂..."HEY whats everybody doin,lemme in here I wanna see"😂 SOOOO CUTE💖😆
I'm against breeding as well but we don't know what the situation is here. This could have been a rescue situation or they could have just brought the dog and pups outside for some fresh air. Many people have pens outside they just use for the dogs to get exercise and fresh air.
Load More Replies...Because they have a cloaca, an opening for their reproductive, digestive, and urinary systems, lizards might even think the eggs are "an uncomfortable and weird poop," and never think about it again.
Bouzid said the lack of parental care in most lizards may simply be part of a strategy to have as many offspring as possible in hopes that at least some will survive.
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But one lizard species goes even further—not only do their young never see the parents, they never see any adults of their species at all.
At least one population of The Labord's chameleon of southwest Madagascar's dry forests "will lay all of their eggs before winter. The eggs will then hatch just before the summer rains," Bouzid said.
The eggs spend eight to nine months developing and in the meantime, the adults will have aged and died.
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Interestingly, many insects actually receive parental care. But not moths and butterflies. They lay their eggs on host plants and leave their offspring to whatever the world throws at them.
"Some lay their eggs near ant nests and the ants take care of the caterpillars. It's like Moses in miniature," Katy Prudic, an entomologist at the University of Arizona, said.
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They can be really cunning. Let's also look at the caterpillar of the large blue butterfly.
It secretes a sweet substance attractive to a particular species of red ant and makes itself smell like an ant larvae so the ant takes it back to its nest with its own brood, which the caterpillar then eats.
Six-Week-Old Leopard Cub Jumping On Its Mother In The Okavango Delta In Botswana
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A Very Tired Momma And Her Pups
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Some young have a natural defense to protect themselves from predators via toxic chemicals from their host plant—and others have pitch-perfect camouflage.
The common lytrosis of eastern North America, for example, can perfectly disguise itself as a twig. And if it happens to fall off its background branch, it can use its silk to attach a "zip line" and pull back up.
They might not have someone to give them a hug like the boys and girls in these pictures, but at least they got an evolutionary "inheritance" from their parents to survive!
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A Mother And Her Kittens
Mama Maybel With Her 3-Week-Old Kid, Scout, At Goats Of Anarchy Sanctuary. Maybel Had 4 Kids At The Same Time So She's A Busy Mama
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Baby Iguana Hanging Out With Its Mom
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Nine Of Them
Note: this post originally had 121 images. It’s been shortened to the top 50 images based on user votes.
I was wondering why so many babies when there are so many strays
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When my goat had kids she was super protective for like 2 weeks, crying if the kids were out of her sight and then after that she was like "take em away, its fine" cause we would take her and the kids out for walks.
Are the photos cute? Yes. Did these animals choose to become parents? No- humans did that for than. Spay and neuter folks!
Then where are new baby dogo & kittykattys supposed to come from? Only other option is dog mills. Pets should be bred by loving doggy owners in diverse pairings then adopted out to individual families that will care for the pets.
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Sorry I don’t find most of these “cute”. I’m not the only one obviously that sees irresponsible owners and litters of unwanted puppies and kittens as well as dogs with clearly mutilated ears for fashion and genetic problems galore in the bred for profits like bulldogs and pugs
They were definitely cute..but that doesn't change the facts, u are correct.
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Yes, baby anythings are so cute and precious. But a lot of animals don’t have a choice and have liter after liter because of not getting spayed or for making someone money. It’s hard to appreciate babies when there are so many who are not wanted and killed.
It's really great 😍, lol to see it. Giving life,is so beautiful, especially our pets and animals. P.S.yea some people should spa and nutter , especially them selves if there unhappy.Tada. Happy Soul.
I have nothing against strays,have has them myself,but what is wrong with wanting a specific breed that you know what their health problems are likely to be and the temperament you want? If everybody spayed/Neutered every breed,they would end up extinct. Not everybody breeds them in puppy mills. Some families want more of them,like I did. That Adopt don't shop.mentality is noble but very nearsighted.
Get your pets fixed . Wat to many unwanted cats dogs kittens and puppies in shelters .please NEUTER AND SPAY. Your pets will be healthier.
I'd love to get through one of these kind of articles without people screaming 'spay and neuter'. I agree it's important, but doing it over and over in every article, sometimes multiple times, only makes you look smug and self righteous. Same with ear and tail docking, for pete's sake we get it, lay off.
I don,t think they should put new born dogs or cats on the bigger animals heads what if they fall :(
They have much better balance than us. Plus, mommas don't usually let their babies get hurt.
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I love seeing all the adorable babies...but having volunteered in a shelter...nope, nope, and nope. PLEASE spay and neuter your pets. Even pedigreed animals get dumped.
i have a friend who has a dog and the mom of the dog was a pure breed shiba-inu and the mom got out of the breeders cage and found a male but the whole litter of puppys had there tails cut off and thrown on the high way in a bag
surprised you decided to post that s**t of a comment.
Load More Replies... I was wondering why so many babies when there are so many strays
Load More Replies... When my goat had kids she was super protective for like 2 weeks, crying if the kids were out of her sight and then after that she was like "take em away, its fine" cause we would take her and the kids out for walks.
Are the photos cute? Yes. Did these animals choose to become parents? No- humans did that for than. Spay and neuter folks!
Then where are new baby dogo & kittykattys supposed to come from? Only other option is dog mills. Pets should be bred by loving doggy owners in diverse pairings then adopted out to individual families that will care for the pets.
Load More Replies... Sorry I don’t find most of these “cute”. I’m not the only one obviously that sees irresponsible owners and litters of unwanted puppies and kittens as well as dogs with clearly mutilated ears for fashion and genetic problems galore in the bred for profits like bulldogs and pugs
They were definitely cute..but that doesn't change the facts, u are correct.
Load More Replies... Yes, baby anythings are so cute and precious. But a lot of animals don’t have a choice and have liter after liter because of not getting spayed or for making someone money. It’s hard to appreciate babies when there are so many who are not wanted and killed.
It's really great 😍, lol to see it. Giving life,is so beautiful, especially our pets and animals. P.S.yea some people should spa and nutter , especially them selves if there unhappy.Tada. Happy Soul.
I have nothing against strays,have has them myself,but what is wrong with wanting a specific breed that you know what their health problems are likely to be and the temperament you want? If everybody spayed/Neutered every breed,they would end up extinct. Not everybody breeds them in puppy mills. Some families want more of them,like I did. That Adopt don't shop.mentality is noble but very nearsighted.
Get your pets fixed . Wat to many unwanted cats dogs kittens and puppies in shelters .please NEUTER AND SPAY. Your pets will be healthier.
I'd love to get through one of these kind of articles without people screaming 'spay and neuter'. I agree it's important, but doing it over and over in every article, sometimes multiple times, only makes you look smug and self righteous. Same with ear and tail docking, for pete's sake we get it, lay off.
I don,t think they should put new born dogs or cats on the bigger animals heads what if they fall :(
They have much better balance than us. Plus, mommas don't usually let their babies get hurt.
Load More Replies... I love seeing all the adorable babies...but having volunteered in a shelter...nope, nope, and nope. PLEASE spay and neuter your pets. Even pedigreed animals get dumped.
i have a friend who has a dog and the mom of the dog was a pure breed shiba-inu and the mom got out of the breeders cage and found a male but the whole litter of puppys had there tails cut off and thrown on the high way in a bag
surprised you decided to post that s**t of a comment.
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