They nearly returned home their hearts melted so much

However, for one pet owner, the footage from their pet cam made them feel so bad for leaving their fluffy friend that they nearly came straight back home.

Cat owner Jonah shared a clip of his experience to TikTok, where it quickly went viral and has amassed over 14 million views at the time of writing.

"Checked our cameras 10 minutes after vacation and this is what we saw," he wrote over the TikTok.

"Instant heartbreak. Almost turned round the car to take Pawl with us."

The clip shows their brown and white tabby cat wandering around their home with a toy fish in his mouth making a yarl that sounds impressively like he's crying.

"The fact he’s walking around with his fish makes it that much sadder," Jonah wrote in the video's caption, adding: "We have babysitters come on check him so he’s not too lonely."

@catnamedpawl The fact he’s walking around with his fish makes it that much sadder. (We have babysitters come on check him so he’s not too lonely.) #pets #fyp #popular #cats ♬ original sound - Pawl The Cat

Following the video going viral, Jonah spoke to Newsweek about Pawl and leaving him behind so they could go on holiday.

"I found Pawl about four years ago," he told the outlet last year.

"I had been living in an apartment on the ground floor for about a week and then a kitten showed up and started scratching at my window. We've been best friends ever since.

"When we go on vacation we have babysitters to watch Pawl, but also always set up cameras to make sure he's doing okay. Typically it's a lot of him just laying around, or looking out the window looking at birds. This time when we checked the cameras it was Pawl roaming around the apartment with his fish making the saddest meows we've ever heard.

"We're going to start practicing going in the car with Pawl to see how he handles road trips. He does already go for stroller rides and walks. Most mornings I actually wake up the fish in front of my bedroom door because Pawls brings it to me every night. I like to think it's his way of showing he's thinking about me."

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