Woman Makes Fun of Cat's Selfie Pose, He Responds Accordingly

A video of a cat appearing "embarrassed" after "posing" for a selfie has gone viral on TikTok.

The video was posted by @farhana.ruby and has had 10.7 million views since it was posted two days ago.

The footage shows a woman appearing to hold a camera in front of her, with a cat seen next to her. The pair tilt their heads towards each other while looking at the camera. The woman is later seen giggling while looking at the cat, who later moves out of the camera frame before the clip ends.

A message overlaid on the video says "I think he got embarrassed that I laughed at him for posing."

The feline's reaction in the latest viral clip is understandable because "cats have a general mental representation" of the emotions of humans and other cats, according to a July 2020 study published in Animals.

The study found that "cats integrate visual and auditory signals to recognize human and conspecific [those from the same species] emotions and they appear to modulate their behavior according to the valence of the emotion perceived."

In the study, cats were able to "cross-modally match pictures of emotional faces with their related vocalizations, particularly for emotions of high intensity."

You might think since felines are known to be quite independent, they wouldn't normally be bothered by how their humans react to them. However, a study published in September 2019 in Current Biology noted: "Research suggests we may be underestimating cats' socio-cognitive abilities."

'He Wanted to Have a Moment'

Users on TikTok adored the cat's reaction in the latest viral video.

Marissa the legend said: "THE WAY HE LEFT THE CAMERA."

Genesis wrote: "Oh nooo you broke his heart."

User @soulishy said: "He wanted to have a moment :(."

User yasmine said: "noooo you made him feel bad."

12anisa noted: "NOOO PLSSSS GO HUG HIM RN AND LET HIM POSE."

Miss K asked: "Now why would you kill his spirit like that."

N said the cat must have been thinking "Fine no pictures then."

Edinburgh Remakery demanded: "APOLOGISE TO THE LITTLE FUR BALL NOW."

User @iiirxm wrote: "Go to him give him a treat and say you're sorry..."

Forest Spearman noted: "He was like, 'Damn. Forgot I gotta act like a house cat'."

Newsweek has contacted the original poster for comment via TikTok. This video has not been independently verified.

Woman posing with her cat for picture.
A stock image of a woman lying down with a cat while taking a picture with a mobile phone. A video of a cat's reaction to being "laughed at" after posing for a selfie has... iStock / Getty Images Plus

Do you have funny and adorable videos or pictures of your pet you want to share? Send them to life@newsweek.com with some details about your best friend and they could appear in our Pet of the Week lineup.

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About the writer


Soo Kim is a Newsweek reporter based in London, U.K. She covers various lifestyle stories, specializing in travel and health. 

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