Cats have been quietly running the internet since before “going viral” was a phrase, and the challenges people film with them are a genuinely sweet way to spend an afternoon together. But here is the part the trend videos leave out: some of these bits are a delight for the cat, and a few are basically a prank at the cat’s expense. The camera does not know the difference. Your cat does.
So this is not just a list of eleven cute things to try. It is nine challenges sorted by one question a behavior consultant would ask first, which is whether the cat is actually having fun or just being startled for your feed. Read the stress-signal cheat sheet, then pick your bits accordingly.
Read the room first: your cat’s stop signs
Before you hit record, learn the tells that mean stop. A cat that is not enjoying itself will show it fast:
- Ears flattened or rotated sideways into “airplane ears.”
- Pupils blown wide open in a normally lit room.
- Tail thrashing, thumping, or clamped tight to the body.
- Body crouched low, stiff, coiled to bolt.
- Escape attempts, or sudden hiding after.
“One startled reaction is content. A pattern of them is a cat learning that your phone means something unpleasant is about to happen,” says Nina Vasquez, a feline behavior consultant on the Pet Times roster. “The best challenges work because the cat is curious or playing. The worst ones work because the cat is scared, and cats do not forget that as quickly as we do. If you see the ears go flat, the shoot is over.”
One universal rule before any of these: trim the claws first, so a surprised swat does not draw blood.
The green-light challenges
These lean on curiosity, play, or plain napping. Your cat is an actual participant, not a target.
1. The wall “IQ” challenge. Hold your cat upright facing a wall, hands tucked under the front legs, and ease them toward it. Brace with the front paws? Tiny genius. Go limp and let themselves be squished? A street-smarts type. Harmless either way, and quick.
2. Mimic your cat. We say “copycat” for a reason, and researchers at Eotvos Lorand University have documented house cats mimicking human actions. Flip it. When your cat sprawls, grooms, or hits the zoomies, mirror them. It is pure play, and cats often find the role reversal interesting rather than alarming.
3. The face-filter reveal. Slap a giant cartoon-cat filter on yourself while your real cat watches, and film the confusion. Keep it low-key and let them sniff you afterward so the “new roommate” resolves into just you.
4. The sleepy song. Cats sleep 12 to 15 hours a day, so a doomed battle to stay awake is easy footage. Queue a slow, quiet song and film your cat losing the fight to keep their eyes open. This one is the opposite of stressful, which is exactly why it works.
5. Favorite-words story. Cats pretend not to hear you, but they are listening. Tell a story loaded with your cat’s trigger words, bird, fish, treat, toy, plus whatever electrifies your particular gremlin, and watch the ears swivel toward you. It is attention, not alarm.
6. The level-up jump. Cats clear four to five feet, roughly six times their own height. Build a low wall of toilet-paper rolls or boxes and raise it a little at a time, letting your cat choose to leap. Because the cat opts in and gets the satisfaction of clearing the bar, it doubles as real enrichment.
The watch-carefully challenges
Fine for the right cat, but read the stop signs closely and bail at the first flat ear.
7. The egg test. Hand your cat an egg to see if a gentle, cradling streak shows up. Sweet when it lands, but some cats find an unfamiliar object stressful, and you are one paw-slip from a mess. Use a hard-boiled egg and keep it brief.
8. The blanket vanish. Hold up a blanket, drop it, and “disappear.” A few seconds of your cat scanning for you is an object-permanence experiment and mildly flattering. The caution: for an anxious or bonded cat, a sudden vanishing act can read as a real loss rather than a game. If your cat gets frantic instead of curious, skip it.
9. The Sandman grid. The crown jewel, and the most work. A nine-panel grid, a little cat choreography, and a dreamy soundtrack turn your cat’s best moves into a mini masterpiece. It ranks here only because “getting the shot” can tempt people into repeating a pose past the point the cat is willing. Quit while they are still into it.
The two I left off, on purpose
You will notice this list is shorter than the usual eleven. Two popular bits did not make the cut. The gasp challenge works by triggering a cat’s inherited danger reflex, which is the definition of scaring your cat for a laugh. And the “summon your cat” distress-call sound is, by many accounts, an imitation of a cat in distress; leaning on it teaches your cat that a fake emergency is coming. Both “work” precisely because they alarm the animal. That is the one thing a good challenge should never do.
However your cat performs, the real prize is not the view count. It is the twenty minutes you spent goofing off with an animal who chose to play along. Fame is fleeting. A cat who tolerates your nonsense is forever.
References
- Fugazza, Claudia, et al. “Social learning of a cat imitating human actions.” Animal Cognition, 2020. https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10071-020-01428-6
- PetMD. “How to Read a Cat’s Body Language.” https://www.petmd.com/cat/behavior/cat-body-language
- Best Friends Animal Society. “How to Read Cat Body Language and Emotions.” https://bestfriends.org/pet-care-resources/how-read-cat-body-language-and-emotions
