Roaring Kitty post of a dog sparks brief rally in shares of Chewy and Petco

• Chewy and Petco shares spiked briefly on Thursday after Keith Gill posted a dog on his X account.
• Chewy shares were up as much as 28%, while Petco shares surged as much as 13%.
• Both stocks had pared the gains as the market headed to the closing bell.

Chewy and Petco Health and Wellness Company shares enjoyed a fleeting rally on Thursday after Keith Gill, the meme trader known by his online moniker "Roaring Kitty," posted a picture of a dog on his X account.

The petcare stocks spiked around 1:00 p.m. as Gill posted the image. Chewy was up as much as 28% to trade at $35.75 a share before paring the gain, while Petco briefly surged 13% to trade at $3.66 a share.

Gill revived interest in GME overnight earlier this year after he posted a picture of a man leaning forward in a seat holding a video game controller, which sent GameStop shares soaring 74%.

Shares soared again when the famous retail trader posted screenshots on his Reddit account, which revealed he owned 5 million shares of GameStop stock. He's since nearly doubled his stake to 9 million shares and is among the top holders of the video game retailer's stock.

GameStop shares have plunged 47% since early June, but ticked higher 3% on Thursday.