The ever obedient dog might be man’s best friend, but that’s only because man had by that point already been shrugged off by its first choice; the cat! And ever since then, we’ve tried to remedy said rejection by worshiping the feline race from afar, whether that’s by constructing mammoth icons of worship (here's looking at you, Ancient Egyptians!), dedicating entire evenings to Youtube, irresistibly watching one cat-centric clip after another in the false promise that we’ll stop after just... one... more, or seamlessly blending the cute fwuffy things into pop-culture at any god-given opportunity.
And in a continuation of that blind devotion, we decided to painstakingly choose our top ten favourite pop-culture cats ever! Dogs, eh? Pfft.
Garfield
Dunno why, but something about Garfield’s round, cuddly shape and oh-so fuzzy ginger fur speaks to us. Wait a minute...
Keyboard Cat
With a cool 49 million youtube views to her name, Keyboard Cat’s not only one of the most famous felines to have ever graced the planet, but very possibly one of the most famous pianists, too. And like all true geniuses, whether it’s Van Gogh or Galileo, her raw, unparalleled talent was completely overlooked until almost twenty years after her untimely death in 1987.
Pusheen
Ice cream, donuts, pizza, sushi, noodles, pie, pancakes… You name it, Pusheen’s eaten it. And looked darn cute doing so. She also looks pretty bad ass in a monocle and top hat. #JustSayin
Lil Bub
We never thought we’d say this, but when it comes to cuteness, runt-of-the-litter Lil Bub can give even the likes of Pusheen a run for her money, and she don’t need to be eating no ice cream, donuts, pizza, sushi, noodles, pie or pancakes to do it!
Trixie, Purrfect Date
Sure, we could have included all five of the lovable Purrfect Date rogues in this list, but then again, you guys did officially vote for Trixie as your fave feline, and who are we to argue? Besides, I’ve been trying to get an invite to her cave for a while now, so, ummm, Trixie, if you’re reading this...?
Grumpy Cat
It’s testament to the pure magnetism of cats, that all it takes is for one to look a little bit grumpy, and wham, bam, thank you, mam, that’s suddenly 2.4 million instagram followers in the bank.
ThunderCats
ThunderCats basically took everything that was good about the eighties (IOW, muscles, lycra and dangerously volumized hair), and threw it in a pot with cats. The result? Only the best cartoon ever made. EVER. MADE.
Maru
Just try watching Maru belly-slide into an undersized cereal box - an expression of pure, unadulterated joy on his face - without suffering a severe pang of the ol’ heart strings. *clutches chest*
Hello Kitty
A few Hello Kitty facts for ya: 1) She’s over forty years old (I know, right? WTH’s her secret?!). 2) Story goes, the reason she doesn’t have a mouth is because she speaks from the heart. 3) She’s the official ambassador of Japanese tourism in both China and Hong Kong. All in all, three very legitimate reasons why the red-bowed Japanese bobtail totally deserves a place in our top ten favourite pop culture cats of all time!
Cat, Red Dwarf
Because what good is any self-respecting ‘top ten’ list without a token humanoid descendent with a penchant for zoot suits. Altogether now… DWAYNE DIBLEY?!?!
So, who’ve we missed? From Mufasa to Nyan, Salem to Aslan, let us know in the comments below who’d make it into your own top ten list of pop-culture cats. And if for some reason you’re suddenly in the mood to hang out with a bunch of the fetching felines, get on and download Purrfect Date now!