Hi, I’m Amanda! Read my introduction to learn more about me and Blue, my fluffy fire point Himalayan-Persian cat.
Chances are that if you’re plugged into cat blogs and videos, you have seen a few viral cat trends circling the internet on various social platforms.
I understand that not every cat is the same, and some are a little more detached from their wild cat ancestry (like Blue, little mama is a princess), but I thought we’d give some of these viral video trends a go to see how Blue would fair.
The objective of our experiment is to either confirm or debunk the legitimacy (at least for our house) of feline behaviors in odd but innocent situations, Blue being my muse. Are the things we see on our screens typical cat reactions? We had to know.
Here are five viral video trends that I’ve seen most often: the hands (paws) in the circle, quiet place test, the sound of a comb, cats stopping themselves when you attempt to press their face against the wall, and the most famous, cats being afraid of cucumbers.
Without further ado, here are our results.
The 5 Cat Video Trends We Tried to Recreate:
1. Hands/Paws In
This trend calls on pet parents to sit on the floor and stack their hands on each other between them with the idea that their kitty would watch and follow suit. With the help of my little family, we all placed our hands one on top of the other and waited for a response from Blue. It’s not the most engaging activity, so Blue was disinterested in participating. We tried a few different times, but it’s not her thing. It is safe to say Blue won’t be joining team sports any time soon.
2. The Quiet Place
If you are a movie buff, you’ve likely seen The Quiet Place. If the world was overtaken by blind alien raptor creatures who attacked anything that made noise, would Blue and I survive? Blue doesn’t mind being held against her will for short periods but wouldn’t make a ton of noise trying to escape. She also sat soundless as I trotted around with her in my arms. I’d give our survival rating here a solid 8 – as long as she never gets hungry, I’m assuming we’d be all right.
3. The Comb
Running your finger across the prongs of a comb gives off a sound that makes cats gag, allegedly. Not the cutest of trends but an easy one we could try. With a few different combs in hand, I went on a mission. I thought maybe I got one little retort, but no. It was a false alarm. This is not a sound that gets a reaction from Blue.
4. Reflex Test
Blue is in her double digits now, so I would have imagined her reflexes tapering off in recent years. I was pleasantly surprised when every time I tried this challenge, her paws went up. This cat reflex is alive and well! Not sure what this means – maybe that she’s on alert? Either way, Blue passed this challenge with flying colors.
5. Cucumber Scare
Blue is chill and as long as her environment is still and quiet, she’s content, so I was curious to see her reaction to the cucumber. I found myself wondering why this was the first time I had ever tried to spook her with a vegetable. Setting the cucumber down was not as easy as one would hope. This is my invitation to you to sneak up on your cat and secretly place an object behind them without them noticing. I’ll have to chalk this one up as a fail. Maybe it’s not the cucumber that freaks the cats, it’s the ninja moves from their owners.
Real or Not So Real?
It would have been pretty cool to see all of these trends pan out the way they are portrayed on socials, but I think the truth is that most videos we see might be the exception to the rule. The one cat with an outstanding and over-the-top reaction instead of something typical for a feline. Have any of these videos worked for you and your cat?
Anyway, here’s a blooper reel of us attempting to be internet sensations:
This article is a part of Amanda and Blue’s series.