The Most Iconic Cat Memes of All Time — Ranked

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If you’ve spent any amount of quality time browsing the web, then you already know that cats rule the internet. They’ve had mankind wrapped around their pinky toes since the days of Egyptian worship, and thank goodness they did. Because without them, we wouldn’t have some of the best memes of all time. As a writer specializing in the intersection of pets and pop culture, I’ve curated more than a few playlists of cute puppy videos and funny cat pics over the years.

Honestly, it’s one of my favorite hobbies. After years of meticulously combing the internet for the funniest feline-filled content, I’ve decided to compile everything I’ve learned into one definitive ranking of the greatest cat memes of all time. So, whether you fit the bill of a die-hard cat person or a self-proclaimed “dog person who just listens when people talk about cats,” prepare to have your mind blown.

Why Do We Love Cat Memes So Much?

Before I get into the rankings, I want to talk a little bit about why cat memes are so successful in the first place. Everyone knows a meme when they see one, but what is it about the internet’s fascination with our feline friends that makes cats specifically so memeable? Well, the truth is that they kind of lend themselves to it. Cats are unpredictable. Cats are emotional. Cats are at once hilarious and weirdly relatable. What makes those famous cat memes iconic isn’t just humor. It’s how easily we understand the frustration, the mischief, and even the general indifference of a cat.

Sure, all kinds of memes will stick with you because you can laugh at them, but cats take it to another level. They make you feel like it’s okay to be petty AF or extra emotional about the smallest things. And you know what? Sometimes it is okay to feel that way. Blaming your short temper on Fluffy is like a digital form of catharsis, and let’s be real — we all need more of that in our lives.

What Makes a Cat Meme Legendary?

Now that we’ve gotten into the philosophy of memes, let’s talk specifics. What makes a cat meme so great that it will go down in history? Is it the number of shares? Is it how many times you’ve personally sent it to your friends? It’s something a little less tangible than that. Legendary memes are ones that you can reference in conversation and have everyone understand the context. You don’t need to explain yourself. Also, flexible memes tend to stick around longer. The best memes are ones that have been remixed, remodeled, and reshared across years, decades, and circumstances. If your meme can cater to breaking your heart, winning an election, burning your dinner, and questioning the very fabric of your existence, then that meme has earned its place on this list. Without further ado:

Memes That Have Defined Cat Humor For The Internet At Large

  1. Grumpy Cat

Look, you know this is number one. Grumpy Cat has gotten WAY more recognition than she deserves, but we love her anyway. Her dry wit and signature disdain for everything made her a superstar and created a template for dozens of her copies. Posting pictures of your cat with “reaction” captions became a full-time meme. “No.” “Why?” “I had fun once. It was awful.” Boom. Minimum effort for maximum meme-ing.

So what catapulted Grumpy Cat to the meme status she holds today? Besides one of the greatest names in meme history? Getting major. Actual. Mainstream. Attention. Grumpy Cat had birthday cakes, merchandise, commercials, a movie, and even her own wax figure at Madame Tussauds. The world mourned together when she died in 2019, but her soul will live on through every person you know who thinks they’ve got nothing to smile about.

  1. Nyan Cat

If someone asked you to explain Nyan Cat to them, could you do it without showing them? Once you know Nyan Cat, you will never forget it. Cute cartoon cat with a Pop-Tart body flying through space, leaving a trail of rainbows in his wake. On repeat: an endless loop of a Japanese pop song. That’s it. And it was amazing.

Nyan Cat was pure, unbridled internet joy. There was no real point to it other than to make people feel good. And honestly, in a world full of problems we can’t control, we all need more of that. Original creator Chris Torres sold a GIF of Nyan Cat as an NFT for $590,000, so in a lot of ways, that feels like its own perfectly happy ending.

  1. Woman Yelling at Cat

Okay, so technically this one features a woman yelling at a cat, but hear me out. This iconic cat meme template is what really got people talking about our feline friends’ reaction faces. The original photo features a woman from The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills glaring at her dinner table and yelling “don’t do that!” while cat Smudge looks on, confused and unbothered.

I love this meme because every single person I know has used this format to complain about something at least once. “Breaking up with your boyfriend.” “Being single forever.” “Quarantining with your family.” Hell, I’ve even used it to describe my political angst. You can praise, yell, vent, and commiserate about literally anything with this meme, and Smudge will be right there with you. He’s adorable and cranky AF, and absolutely deserves the fame he got from this photo.

  1. Lil Bub

Before we dive into the full list, we have to give Lil Bub her own moment. Lil Bub was special. Genetically mutated to resemble a kitten even in adulthood, Bub had a funny face and a big heart. She also had extra toes on all of her paws, which I still think about every time I pet my cat’s feet. Would she judge me? We may never know.

What made Bub different from other famous cats was how easy it was to love her. If Grumpy Cat taught us to embrace our internet negativity, Lil Bub taught us to spread good vibes. Her owner found her as a kitten and used their joint fame to raise money and find homes for special-needs animals. Bub even participated in medical research for humans, helping scientists better understand rare bone diseases. She was loved by millions and will be missed.

  1. Henri, le Chat Noir

Henri is our philosopher king. These memes feature vignettes of black-and-white footage with subtitles of our mysterious French narrator talking about his day. Henri ruminates on life, death, his dissatisfaction with staying indoors, and his feelings toward the white cat that lives with him. Like, what more could you want from a cat?

Henri is for your cool cat friend who reads way too much Foucault and also owns a cat. These little movies are hilarious and beautifully executed. They even won him a Friskies award. Yes, THAT is a real award. I want one.

  1. Ceiling Cat & Basement Cat

Ceiling Cat and his devilish counterpart Basement Cat were born of the same mentality that brought us gods, demons, and religion itself. Someone took a picture of a cat peeking through a ceiling and captioned it as if he were a god mocking them from the heavens. Naturally, someone else took a photo of a black cat lurking in the shadows and made him Satan.

You can spend hours scrolling through takes on these two because people were incredibly creative with them. There’s something incredibly charming about early-2000s internet cats, and these two deserve all the recognition they get.

  1. I Can Has Cheezburger?

We’ve already talked about how early internet cat memes really set the stage for what memes were going to look like going forward, but I Can Has Cheezburger? deserves its own special shoutout. The meme that basically founded the cottage industry centered around cats started as a weird photograph of a chubby British Shorthair. Paired with “I can has cheezburger?” it spawned a full website, a media franchise, and gave us all the absurd grammar we use to this day.

Final Thoughts

Poring over the endless archives of cat memes that the internet has bestowed upon us really taught me one thing: laughter is a spectrum. Within this tiny fraction of viral content, we have the sarcastic, the cheerful, the overwhelmed, the intellectuals, and everyone in between. Cats gave the internet a personality. No, wait — cats gave the internet faces. Faces that we all stole and put on our Facebook profiles so we could pretend to be them. But that’s not all they gave us.

Sure, we all love those cute silly cat videos, but what I think we love more are the ways they make us feel. You see that dumb cat being insane at his dinner table and suddenly you’re not alone with your problems. You watch Nyan Cat loop for the tenth hour of your shift at work and nothing else matters. That, my friends, is the true beauty of internet cats. And if you ask me? That beauty should stay online forever.

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Benjamin Otu Effiwatt
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