International Cat Day might have fallen on the 8th of August, but we're sure many cats would argue that every day is their special day to be worshipped. They've been on a mission to take over the internet for the past couple of years, and for all we know, they're secretly planning to rule the world. Possibly plotting away at a cat convention while their families think they're casually roaming the streets.
If you've never found yourself unexpectedly caught up in cat content while you're meant to be doing something else, who are you even? There were an estimated 1.3 billion cat pictures on the internet back in 2010. Today's data puts that number at more than 6.5 billion.
Human beings have a long history of feline fascination. Ancient Egyptians considered them to be sacred, and there are cave paintings of cats dating back 10,000 years. Even lolcats have been around longer than you might think. They made their first appearance in the 1870s, when a photographer called Harry Pointer captured pics of cats mimicking human activities and added some witty captions.
The invention of the World Wide Web has just made it that much easier to get our paws on kitty content. "It's not so much creating this interest in cats; it's more about exploiting this interest that was already there,” explains cultural historian Miles Orvell.
Some experts believe there's a psychological reason that cats go viral. It's a social psychology principle known as scarcity. And it has nothing to do with the number of cats on the planet. Interestingly, it's more about wanting what we can't have. You see, unlike dogs, cats basically domesticated themselves.
"As we began farming, they moved in to prey on rodents attracted to crops, and they stuck around for the easy meals," explains treehugger.com. "Even after living alongside us for more than 9,000 years, scientists have concluded that house cats are still only 'semi-domesticated,' and cats remain far less studied than dogs, meaning much of their behavior remains a mystery to us."
Dogs are known to be more affectionate than their feline counterparts. In case you haven't noticed, cats are aloof. They can almost have you begging for attention. They love to play hard to get. Or rather, hard to pet. They make you work for their affection and earn it. And this ties into the scarcity principle we mentioned earlier. It argues that we assign greater value to items that are scarce or difficult to obtain.
According to the BBC, there are other reasons that cat content is so wildly popular and why it easily goes viral. One is the emotional appeal of these creatures. The site notes that at least one study has found that videos evoking strong emotions such as joy or surprise are twice as likely to be shared on social media platforms. Funny and cute cat content certainly isn't lacking in this area.
Another reason we find ourselves obsessed is relatability. "When a video shows something we can all relate to, it makes us feel connected and more likely to share it," explains the BBC. "A report by cat welfare charity Cats Protection found 25% of all UK households owned a cat in 2024, so as a nation of cat lovers, we can really relate to our furry friends."
Then, of course, there's the shareability factor. "Videos that are easy to share and use popular hashtags or trends can reach a bigger audience quickly," explains the site, adding that the hashtag #catsofinstagram has more than 212 million posts on Instagram. While the hashtag #cat is in the top 100 trending hashtags of 2025.
Perhaps we seek out cat content because we sub-consciously know it's good for our mental health. A 2020 University of Leeds study found that watching cute animals can help reduce stress and anxiety by up to 50%. So don't feel guilty, scroll away!
There could be another reason for the billions of kitty pics on the net: Social media is like a dog park, but for cats.
While Fido, his friends, and their paw-rents are able to get together during walks and exchange cute compliments, there hasn't really been a place for cats and their owners to congregate until the internet. It's a daily virtual cat convention.
As you might know, dog people and cat people possess certain characteristics, and they're quite different. According to a University of Texas study, cat people are more introverted, sensitive, non-conformist, and creative.
"Cats have an independence and playful inventiveness that appeals to the solitary geeks who spend their time writing computer code," says blogger Jack Schofield. "Cats require relatively little maintenance and are basically nocturnal animals, so they're a perfect match for the Internet geek/coder/hacker lifestyle."
Treehugger's team argues that the people who are most inclined to create and share Web content are often the same people who are likely to self-identify as cat people.
"And because users determine what content goes on the Internet — and what goes viral when they share it with their network — it’s hardly surprising that this content frequently features felines," concludes the site.
