'Stunned': Internet in Stitches at Cat's Reaction to Feline Face Filter

Senior Internet Culture & Trends Reporter

A cat's reaction to its owner using a cat-face filter has left the internet in stitches after a viral video on TikTok received more than 7 million views.

Shared on March 26, the video was posted by Anne – who uses the handle kittanne_pixel – featuring her and her black-and-white cat Pixel. In the video, the TikTok user is trying out a filter on her face that looks like a fluffy gray cat—much to the distress of her real cat that is hilariously staring at the screen.

TikTok users have been left in stitches by the hilarious video, which has gained over 1.5 million likes and more than 29,000 comments.

Rescue cat Pixel is 3 years old and lives with his owner in Ontario, Canada.

Anne told Newsweek: "Pixel always reacts to new things that way. Example—objects, sounds, people. He has larger eyes, kind of like a kitten. Also he has great facial expressions so I decided to try out the cat-face-filter on him and wasn't disappointed."

"The sir was too stunned to speak," joked one commenter, while another said: "Your cat is stuck between confused and scared."

Far from the first comical use of a cat filter, last year one lawyer was left red-faced after accidentally using a filter on a zoom call with a judge in a video that received worldwide attention.

Filters and effects that alter the face in an image have been around for years. Often hailed as the original multimedia message platform, Snapchat was released on the App Store in 2011—allowing users to share photos and videos that could be edited with filters, effects, and captions.

But the first use of the innovative AR facial editing technology can be traced back to a company founded in 2013. Looksery launched a Kickstarter to crowdfund an app that would allow users to change their facial features, add effects and transform their faces into 3D characters in real-time with AR technology. Launched in October 2014, the app was the first view of what was to come—helping users make their faces slimmer, removing imperfections, and, of course, allowing them to change themselves into fun characters.

In 2015, Snapchat acquired Looksery for $150 million and quickly launched Snapchat Lenses which allowed users to edit their image in real-time.

By mid-2019, AR face filters were everywhere. Added to Instagram and Facebook, the immersive technology has become part of everyday life and has even prompted concern around their ability to change the way we see ourselves, causing people to become dissatisfied with their natural appearance.

Far from a subtle filter, Anne's video has delighted TikTok users thanks to Pixel the cat's hilarious reaction.

"I thought I knew pure joy, then I watched this video," wrote one TikTok user in the comments. Another said: "Never seen a cat so scared."

Reacting to Pixel's new viral fame, Anne said: "What a rush—it is very exciting. I am so happy everyone loves Pixel!"

Another commenter joked: "Cat was saying, 'That's it, no more catnip'."