December 31, 2025

A Year of Good Furrends

Looking back at the animal moments, rescue stories, and conversations with creators that made 2025 sweet and wild.

This past year felt like a long scroll through wonder and surprise.

Sometimes that wonder came from watching animals simply be themselves: sitting in doorways, commandeering keyboards, wandering around liquor shops or ice cream stores, quietly observing, or judging, the world with half-closed eyes. Other times it appeared in unexpected rescue moments that reminded us how much it matters when people show up. And then there were the conversations with creators, the ones who think about animals in ways that go beyond cute videos and into curiosity, care, and meaning.

None of this is a “best of” in the usual sense. It’s more about what stayed with us, the things we wanted to watch again, think about again, and remember long after the initial scroll.

What follows are some of the stories, moments, and voices that made 2025 a year of good furrends.

Furrends With Jobs

We saw animals showing up to roles that were both obvious and delightfully odd. From Hollywood dog stars walking red carpets to cats unofficially clocking in at quirky jobs, these moments made us smile and, honestly, feel a little proud.

Each of these clips shows animals in spaces we don’t usually associate with them, and yet there they are, curious, confident, confused, or just casually excellent at whatever they happen to be doing.

Rescue Moments That Stayed With Us

Some of the most meaningful moments of the year didn’t go viral because they were funny or bizarre. They resonated because they were genuine.

There were baby elephants pulled out of a muddy waterhole by people who refused to walk away. There was a young owl, trapped and entangled, who was carefully and tirelessly rehabilitated until it could fly again. There were roe deer stranded on ice until a chain of strangers carried them to safety. And there was a seal pup named Dropje, found alone on a cold beach and given a second chance. There are so many stories like these, and we simply want to say thank you and show appreciation for the people who showed up.

And of course there are stories like Wonton’s, a kitten whose near-impossible survival and second chance reminded us that sometimes rescue isn’t a headline. It’s a long, slow, deeply human kind of care.

Animals Who Did Nothing (and Still Went Viral)

Not everything memorable was about action. Sometimes the internet fell in love with animals who did very little at all, or at least did nothing you’d usually call eventful.

There was Neil the seal, lounging just a little too comfortably in the middle of a road. There were cats at the F1 in Baku, calmly wandering around and driving photographers wild, while the actual drivers waited. There was a marmot reluctantly refusing cabbage, a raccoon and a baby seal making questionable life choices, and trail cam footage reminding the world that nature is full of unedited moments.

These are the clips people shared not because they were dramatic, but because they made people pause, smile, or think, “Yes. That’s exactly what a marmot does, and AI could never.”

One Quiet, Emotional Moment

Beyond laughs and surprises, 2025 was also a year of quiet farewells. Some animals left our feeds and our hearts in ways that weren’t about spectacle, but remembrance.

Alex the Great, Claude the albino alligator, Haru Urara, the stationmaster cat Nitama, Oreo the cat, Maru the cat, and Mr. Marbles, reminded us that every creature who ever shared a piece of joy online also has a life beyond the pixels.

The Other Side of the Feed

One of our favorite parts of this year was talking with people who think about animals not as a 6:19 aspect-ratio video with hooks, but as companions, subjects of curiosity, or parts of a bigger world.

We spoke with scientists and behaviorists, rescuers and creators, people whose thoughts and experiences made us think differently about the animals we see online every day.

There were many more conversations beyond this video, thoughtful, surprising, funny, and deeply human. You can read all of the creator interviews we did this year here.

Before We Scroll On

2025 was a lot, and somehow animals, and the people who care for them, helped make it feel a little more manageable, a little more human, and occasionally a lot funnier than we expected.

Thank you to every animal, every person who showed up for them, and every creator who shared a piece of their world with us. We’re grateful to be furrends with you.

Here’s to another year of good furrends.

More stories