Henry and Baloo are both nothing alike and almost the same – they both love traveling, they are best friends, they are both four-legged, fluffy bringers of joy for their owners, and… they are a dog and a cat. More than that, Henry and Baloo, the dog and cat, are a famous Instagram traveling duo! These cute pairs are Instagram stars that have currently attracted 2.1 million followers on Instagram, as they venture out in the world.
For their owners – Cynthia Bennett and Andre Sibilsky – the popularity of the furry pair is unreal.
Cynthia and Andre met each other in Boston, but they are both nature lovers and passionate hikers.
“We wanted to head west, toward bigger mountains. We came upon Colorado and moved on a whim, there wasn’t a lot of planning involved,” Cynthia told the BBC.
The two of them had already started hiking and living together when they decided to adopt a pet – the lovable Henry.
Henry the Colorado dog is a big mix of German Shepherd, Husky, Boxer, Staffordshire Terrier, and Aussie.
“He was the same age as all the other puppies but twice the size. As soon as I got into the pen to see him, he crawled onto my lap and went belly up,” Cynthia explains, laughing.
Being such a unique dog, Henry the dog got a sizable amount of Instagram followers on his own – 30,000 people. That number grew even higher, however, when they got Baloo, the cat.
“Henry had really bad separation anxiety when we weren’t home. He would be so stressed out that he didn’t eat or drink, so we decided we really wanted a buddy for him,” Cynthia says.
“I love to take my animals everywhere – and because of Instagram I had seen other people hiking with cats, who really loved being outside,” she adds.
Related: Insta Famous Travel Dogs
A unique bond
Baloo was rescued from street litter as well – he was a part of an 8-kitten litter that was abandoned by their owners.
“As soon as he met Henry he attached himself right away. Baloo definitely has an obsession with Henry – if I need him to calm down, I’ll put him next to him and he’ll just fall asleep.”
“I truly believe he [Baloo] thinks Henry is his Mom,” she says. “For the first few months, he would actually knead him looking for a nurse.”
Cynthia believes that her cat thinks he’s a dog, too. A cat disguised as a dog.
“If he sees a dog out on a walk he’ll run-up to it, but if he sees a cat he will pretend it isn’t there and ignore it. Like, do you not understand what you are? It’s quite funny.”
The dog & cat traveling duo exploded in online popularity quite easily, thanks to photographs and videos of Henry and Baloo on Instagram together, with Baloo riding on Henry, the cat riding the dog, cat on dog’s head, the dog carrying the cat on the back or running alongside him on a leash.
The owners of the dynamic duo have been offered endorsement deals, similar to those offered to other online pet celebrities.
“Taking a leap as an artist is very scary and it’s not very stable in the long run, but I tell my followers all the time you are changing my life and allowing me to do what I love,” Cynthia says.
“It’s also giving Henry and Baloo a better life, I get more time off to travel and be with them.”
