This is another celebrity cat wannabe – correction the cat’s owner is the wannabe. They want their cat to be a celebrity. Good old Grumpy cat did this to people; encouraging people to live the celebrity life vicariously through their cats. You know you get pushy mums and dads who want their child to be a tennis star, well is the same thing.
The ‘always surprised cat’ is like that (if he really is and I doubt it) not because of an anatomical defect affecting the skeleton, as is the case for Grumpy Cat, but because of the markings on his fur and the baby-like round eyes of the British Shorthair. This cat is a bicolour British Shorthair and they are bred with rounded features and cute baby faces.
The black circular patch of fur below the cat’s mouth gives the impression that the cat’s mouth is open in astonishment. Combine that with the round large eyes and you have a surprised look. That is my theory.
We all know by now that none of these celebrity cats that have a permanently intriguing expression actually have an expression which reflects a true emotion. It is just an accident of anatomy.
The cat’s name is Banye. He is 11 years-of-age. He lives in China and his caretaker is Winnie. Nice to see China joining in with what is a Western concept: celebrity cats.
Winnie? Not Chinese I wouldn’t have thought? unless its a name taken because she works with non-Chinese and as such Winnie is easier to remember. Free roaming cats are treated horrifically in China often ending up as food so nice to see this one alive and well and looking healthy and loved albeit surprised 🙂
At first immediate glance i thought “SURPRISED CAT” had its mouth open in a real surprise akin to a human face.Nature and photography has given this cat a place in the “Hall of fame” of cats. Beautiful photo,the round surprised eyes and the colour patch on its lower jaw seem artificially fabricated. A statue rather than a true living cat.
Yes, at a glance it seems his mouth is open in surprise – a pure illusion.
Let’s talk celebrity cats of the world (according to Dan).
We have those who have actual talents like Maru, who is the world’s most famous cat (or was last I checked). Maru is the one who slides into boxes. He made himself popular.
We have Angry Cat, aka Garfi. I may be prejudiced because his photo is in my Flickr group’s photo pool, but I can attest that ELA, Garfi’s owner is the opposite of Grumpy cat’s owner. She (I think) lets people enjoy her cat without acting like a diva. We’ll see if this holds out, but for now that’s how I see it.
We have Lil’ Bub. Lil’ Bub is disabled and is dang cute. When Lil’ Bub became big, her owner decided to make a difference with it! The profit from her t-shirt, mugs and magnetic sales go to cat charity. I LOVE Bub!
Daisy the Curly Cat was the world’s most famous cat before Maru. Her mother started her blog (which is no more) because she loved her cats (Daisy’s sisfur Pixie passed a few years ago and has been replaced by Harley) and wanted to photograph them and share them with the world. Daisy took off because she LOVES treats. She will do ANYTHING for her treat. Her mom tirelessly created endless content of Daisy (who I LOVE!) for our pleasure. She too tied her to charitable events and Daisy is no Spokeskitty for the online pet pharmacy PetMeds her mother works for! Teaching kitties and their owners about tons of stuff every Monday.
Finally, we come to Grumpy Cat. Poor thing is disabled. It is painful to watch her walk. I imaging it might hurt for her to be held wrong, but yet we see pix of everybody with enough $$$ holding her. Her mom acts like it is SHE that is famous. I suppose Grumps is the most famous cat in the world. I LOVE Grumpy Cat — the cat. She is so sweet and curious and everything a kitty should be. I don’t notice her grumpy frown anymore. Her eyes are too lit up for that. She is being abused by her fame-struck owner. It’s the worst kind of fame. She will fall into the lot of Danny Bonduce and the like. Grumpy will always be a favorite, but her owner makes me sad.
I honestly didn’t get the Surprised Cat image at first. I had to look for a minute to discover the patch of grey below the mouth. It’s a bit of a stretch, although he is a very handsome cat. I think he is a bit surprised looking from the camera noise. Other than that… Let’s hope he stays healthy and happy throughout this. Japan are somewhat critical on abuse. I wonder what they think of Grumpy Cat?
Is he singing, howling, wailing…?
Who knows?
Who really cares?
Not really so different from any cats of ours.
Cute but not special.
This cat is one of a kind_
I hope it isn’t too surprised when I take
A picture! Thanks Michael for all of your informative post.Great job on your part *
At first glance it does look as if Banye has his mouth open in surprise. I just hope he is only photographed in his own home and when he feels like it and not toted around amongst strangers making stupid faces, trying to look like him to be photographed with him, like they do poor Grumpy Cat.
Agreed with you Ruth and first glance was really horrified for me because as Michael said that it is a matter of an anatomical defect affecting the skeleton. Yes it is! 🙁
But beautiful cat indeed and the owner should take a very good care of it I believe <3 <3 <3
Celebrity cats are like circus cats to me. Not special but I just think how many stages of hardship these cats have to pass through to become a celebrity/ toy cat in the hands of human-beings, can't just imagine 🙁
If cats could speak in Hindi 😉 they’d say they wouldn’t like to be a celebrity because it entails doing lots of things that cats don’t really like to do such as being picked up by strangers. Celebrity cats are for the amusement of humans and their ability to make money. Not a good reason for their existence.