Article by Michael Palmer
If you ever had any doubt about just how much love there is in the world for cats, all you need to do to dispel them is go online. If you’re determined to make a celebrity out of your feline friend, these are the videos to watch for inspiration.
1 – Keyboard Cat – http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J—aiyznGQ
In 1987 Charlie Schmidt recorded his cat ‘playing’ the keyboard. 20 years later he posted the video to YouTube and the rest, as they say, is history. The Keyboard Cat video hasn’t only been viewed millions of times online, it’s made an appearance on The Daily Show With John Stewart, it has played at the end of concerts by alternative rock band Weezer, and has even appeared in a number of video games, including Scribblenauts and Splinter Cell.
2 – Surprised Kitty – http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0Bmhjf0rKe8&
As the smallest cat on this list, Surprised Kitty already gets points for cuteness, but the way the kitten stretches out its four paws after being tickled is so adorable it beggars belief. The video, posted in October 2009, has almost 70 million views, and also several parodies, such as Surprised Darth Vader and Not So Surprised Puppy.
3 – Cute Baby Kittens Boxing – http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QpRzfRKTarQ
This video currently has under a thousand views, but it still makes the list because the cute kittens paw at each other so delightfully that they almost make you want to rush out and buy a couple of kittens of your own. These kittens are so adorable the video should come with a health warning.
4 – Funny Cats in Water – youtube.com/watch?v=ctJJrBw7e-c”>http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ctJJrBw7e-c – this link is now broken – sorry.
If you thought all cats hated water have a look at this compilation video. You’ll see cats happily dipping their heads under running taps, lounging about in baths of water, and even swimming across streams with ducks bobbing along by.
5 – Cat Meets Snow – http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UW1j7lzX0dw
From water to snow, the cat in this video, which resembles a snow leopard, proves that cats are happy to dance about in the snow.
6 – Annoying Kitten vs Patient Cat – youtube.com/watch?v=7J9bdzWSZMs”>http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7J9bdzWSZMs – this link is now broken – sorry.
The magnificent thing about this video is how it captures the contrast between the playfulness of a young kitten and the more sedentary life of a full grown cat. You can actually see the look of disdain on the face of the cat as the kitten won’t stop running around, trying to play-fight with its older friend.
7 – Kitten Meets Hedgehog – http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D36JUfE1oYk
Harley the hedgehog meets Loki the kitten in this wonderful video that highlights the inquisitiveness of young kittens. The video starts with the kitten being startled at even seeing the hedgehog, but growing more used to its company. While the two don’t end the video sharing a hug (ouch!), the music playing in the video, ‘You’ve got a friend in me,’ suggests that they become unlikely buddies.
8 – Stalking Cat – http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fzzjgBAaWZw&
A camera moves back and forth between an open view of a bedroom and behind a desk. Every time it moves to the bedroom the cat has advanced several feet, providing proof that our domesticated cats still haven’t lost their instincts which are so vital for surviving in the wild.
9 – Angry Cat – http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1hPxGmTGarM&feature=player_embedded
It should be noted that the cat, who hisses very angrily and seems distressed, wasn’t harmed in this video, but was actually a rescued cat. Thankfully, so the poster tells us, despite his rather aggressive nature he was able to find a happy family to re-home him.
10 – iPad Cat – http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q9NP-AeKX40
How long before Apple makes an iPad for cats? While most cats are content with a ball of string, this feline prefers the technological wizardry of the latest tablet, particularly when it comes to making music.
The internet is made of cats
The massive popularity of cats online has even led many to claim that the internet is made of cats. While some dispute this claim, there’s no doubt that for millions and millions of people the internet is a much richer place for its many fantastic cat clips.
This article was written by Michael Palmer on behalf of MORE TH>N. To find out more about caring for and insuring your favourite feline, visit the MORE TH>N website today.
Image credit – rezzanatakol on DeviantArt
The problem is that though the cat videos show real cat behavior, take them all together and you have an unreal picture of what a cat is. They aren’t human. They are predators. We love animals that look cute to us and hate ones who don’t. Animals that aren’t cute have a hard time surviving near man. A lot of snakes are killed for no good reason. In my state we have only two poisonous snakes, neither of which are found in the area where I live. Yet often, out of fear people will kill harmless snakes. But that snake I saw was cute in his own way. And cute or not he had eyes, he had a mouth, he had nostrils– basically he had a face. I looked at his tiny eyes regarding me as he was devouring his meal and a part of me realized, “He is just like me– he sees, he breathes, he eats… How many people watching cute cat videos perceive cats in that way? I think if you care about living creatures you won’t objectify the cats in Internet videos. But if you are prone to see animals as objects, as possessions, and not as living, breathing beings, then the cat videos win’t do anything to change that perception.
Why is it always cat videos? Why aren’t dog videos as popular? Why not other animals.
I could have taken a video of an Eastern Garter Snake eating a large toad yesterday. I decided not to since the poor toad was in a fight for his life, one he probably was going to lose. I didn’t think I’d want some jerk filming it if I were about to die. My friend Melanie said I should have filmed it since wild life videos are popular. It was quite amazing. I was sure that toad would never fit in that snake’s mouth. I was wrong.
Today I tried to film some frogs doing it, but we were just too far away to get it with an iPhone camera. If I’d have had a real camera with a zoom lens, I could have caught it. The sound of all those frogs chirrupping was amazingly loud, and I did manage to capture that.
There is so much more to the animal kingdom than cute cats. Once Elisa put a picture of Furby with a mouse in his mouth on here and some people were upset by it. But Furby with a mouse in his mouth is as much the real Furby as Furby being cute after having some cat nip. Monty catching a chipmunk (or trying to) is as much nature as Monty rolling around in the grass enjoying the warm sun.
The cuteness of nature is marketable. The reality of it– not so much. I used to watch “Mutual of Omaha’s Wild Kingdom” on Sunday nights when I was a kid. That program never showed a kill. If you watched it you got the impression that every predator went away hungry every time. Well, yesterday I saw with my own eyes what Mutual of Omaha didn’t want to show me. It was pretty raw. But it was real– as real as the cute cats in internet videos.
Big question and an important question. There seems to be a love for the funny cat video that is not reflected in the love of real cat. If I am correct, the general public who don’t necessarily keep a cat prefer the cat to be something other than what it is. They like to be amused by the cat but don’t, at heart, particularly like the cat. A lot of the comments below videos are crude and show a lack of appreciation of the finer points of cat behavior.
The cat in the video has become a pure source of entertainment that is unconnected with the cat. Cats are amusing because they are cute and because of their antics. This is what I feel and I don’t think it is healthy. I don’t believe that cat videos have benefited the cat or the human-cat relationship from the standpoint of cat welfare generally. It fact, they have objectified the cat as an object the amuses not as a living creature with emotions etc.
First off, I want to say what a beautiful photo of a cat at the top of this blog post. I absolutely love cat videos. I hadn’t seen all of these from your list yet, so it was a refreshing blog post for me. Thank you for taking the time to share your favorites list. To view funny photos of my to awesome cats visit my blog at http://iheartcatsblog.blogspot.com thanx
Hi Tara, I have published one of your comments and left in the link to your blog but can’t publish them all as it is strictly speaking spam. Thanks for visiting though.
I think most of them are pretty harmless. I love to video my cats and even when they are doing funny things. I need to catch Molly standing on 2 legs waving her arm – she looks like a mini Godzilla.
But there is also an entirely derrogatory cat video culture out there – and it’s not a clear sharp line – some things are in the grey area. Nonethless although Michael may disagree on this one I think it’s a good thing. It symbolises humanity’s negotiation of the cat – and we all know how stooopid humans often are so it’s a learning curve but one day people will respect cats. Many do and many will who don’t now and cat videos are a vessel, amongst others, for this development.
Thanks Michael. I rarely accept guest writers who promote something but there is a place on the internet for such an arrangement.
As to cat videos, despite the fact that I have made many myself and have my own YouTube channel (as a YouTube partner) I have some doubts about the whole process. I actually haven’t made a YouTube video for a long time as I ran out of good material. I also have a Vimeo channel where I put up videos from material provided by the wonderful community of ailurophiles that make up PoC.
There are lots of wonderful cat videos but looking at the downside, I see lots of unpleasant comments below videos on YouTube by ignorant and frankly aggressive people. These comments scare me a bit because they indicate a disrespect for the domestic cat.
I also see a certain amount of exploitation. I have made my feelings clear about the Grumpy Cat videos and story.
People can make quite a lot of money from Adsense advertising on videos. This can drive people to exploit the cat in video and some videos show a disrespect for the cat that I don’t believe is good in the long term for the human-cat relationship.
We need to respect the cat more not just laugh at her.