Cat With Funny Walks Becomes Online Celebrity
These viral TikTok videos of Barik the cat falling over and playing with his younger brother were recorded by his owners who had no idea when they adopted him despite his rare neurological disorder that he would one day have millions of views on his videos.
Maria Tsirsh, 21, and her boyfriend Pavel Babarykin, 22, from Saint-Petersburg, Russia, told Newsflash that when they adopted Barik as a kitten they also never planned for him to end up with 387,200 followers on TikTok.
The couple explained: “We got Barik after finding him on a website whilst looking for a cat to adopt. Even though we were told he suffered from a rare brain disease called Cerebellar ataxia we decided to take him home anyway.”
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Barik’s disorder affects his balance resulting in his unique walk, the pair realised that the clumsy cat’s mishaps around the house were very amusing and decided to share them with the world on Barik’s very own TikTok account.
The videos that often rack up more than half a million views show Barik trying to jump on chairs, running around the house with his lopsided walk and playing with his younger brother Pinya.
In one particularly popular video that has 1.1 million views the celebrity cat slowly drags himself onto his owner’s bed and then jumps round in his usual clumsy style in celebration.
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The couple said: “Barik really likes playing with different threads and broken toys, it has become a family tradition for us to spend the evening entertaining Barik.”
They added that despite their love for their TikTok famous cat he can sometimes be a pest as he tries to eat everything and doesn’t consider any part of the house to be off-limits.
From what the vet has told them Barik was probably born with his brain disease and despite the impact it has on his ability to balance he almost certainly isn’t in pain.
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Cerebellar ataxia can develop as a result of many diseases and may present with symptoms such as an inability to balance
The couple has made sure that the TikTok famous cat enjoys life to the max by creating the perfect conditions for him around the house, putting carpet near the bed for him to jump on and leaving various toys around for him to play with.
Barik is very much a house cat but the few times he has been outside for a walk he turned several heads with several people asking his owners “is your cat drunk?”
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In reality, Barik’s walk doesn’t stop him from running around the house and chasing his little brother even though according to his owner’s he does occasionally fall over.
When asked for a specific funny story about Barik, Maria and Pavel said: “To be honest every day with him is a funny story.”