Many pet owners will say that their pets can pick up on their moods. In fact, it has been proven that dogs, for example, can actually interpret human emotions. Whether this can be said of chinchillas has yet to be proven, but we do know that they are very social creatures who enjoy being cuddled.

Now, a viral Tweet along with a set of photos of an adorable chinchilla named Pistachio (Pii-chan for short) could possibly inspire some hope—or at least, wishful thinking—that the sociable rodents can empathize and even show concern for their owner's wellbeing:

"Here's a chinchilla who really cares about his owner's throat"

Reproduced with permission from Piichan (@salutenchant)

Reproduced with permission from Piichan (@salutenchant)

The adorable way he's holding those pills and his seemingly worried expression makes for a memorable set of photos. It's no wonder the Tweet has 162,000 likes and 20,000 retweets at the time of writing.

Pii-chan is holding a sheet of tranexamic acid by Towa Pharmaceuticals, which is prescribed for sore throat in Japan. In case anyone is thinking of Googling tranexamic acid, it would seem the drug is not usually prescribed for sore throats in the United States, although it seems to be the case in Japan. (In an article in Pharmacy Times, American pharmacist Timothy Aungst, PharmD, states that he was surprised "(you) could take tranexamic acid for cough and cold" when he visited a Japanese pharmacy.)

In any case, no matter what drug it may be, Pii-chan's owner wants you to know that you should keep all human drugs away from the reach of your chinchilla or any pet. In fact, Pii-chan has been trained to hold (and not eat) objects in his paws when instructed to do so. Moreover, he doesn't gnaw on things by habit and has no interest in the package of pills (PTP sheet). His owner has pharmaceutical expertise and the picture was taken under her close supervision. Accidental ingestion of drugs can lead to a serious accident, and even if it doesn't, chewing on a PTP sheet can be harmful to your pet's health. Therefore, please don't try to reproduce this photo at home.

As for Pii-chan, he puts his training to good use holding all kinds of things in his paws as instructed. For example, here he is holding a card:

And here he is holding a pack of alcohol swabs:

What an adorable assistant. If Pii-chan was there to give you an alcohol swab, more people would come and get their flu shots.

If you think that's a cute concept, you can buy the T-shirt and other Pii-chan goods at this online shop.

To follow more of Pii-chan's cute adventures, you can follow his owner's Twitter account here.

Hopefully, her throat pain has improved and Pii-chan doesn't need to furrow his cute little brow any more...


By - Ben K.