Cats Who Made Us Laugh the Hardest in a Crazy, Terrible Year

2020? Gak. Thbbft. The general consensus regarding the year of coronavirus, forest fires, cancelled plans, and social isolation can only be summarized in GIF format: dumpster fire. Maybe a row of hostile emojis. 😡 😤 No matter how you communicate your feelings about 2020's most trying circumstances, skimming the interwebs for funny cat pictures and videos definitely helped to take the edge off! Here, we'll share a few of our favorites with you.

Frightened striped cat with medical cone on head sits under wooden piano bench
Frightened striped cat with medical cone on head sits under wooden piano bench

Devon OpdenDries / Getty

Expressing Our Feelings in Cat Language

Amelia, a darling Russian Blue, demonstrates a more, shall we say, PG version of our feelings about this year in a nutshell. Not great. Two thumbs down. Yuck all around.

The Solution to Screen Fatigue

About those endless Zoom sessions: if your cat hasn't obstructed your coworker or classmates' view during at least once during our extended time working from home, your feline has much better manners than ours.

How We Passed the Time

There's not even a need to explain why we might have been tempted to dress up our kitties when we haven't left the house in 57 days. Dressing them up with a little friend to help stave off loneliness during our ump-teeth month of social distancing? Well, that's understandable. At any rate, this Scottish fold (and her little friend) are adorbs.

Speaking of Fashion...

"On the catwalk...on the catwalk, yeah, I shake my little tush on the catwalk." How many times have we watched this hilarious cat fashion show? You don't want to know! (Really—you don't. We're embarrassed.) But if you're looking for a fun going-out look for your fur baby to rock once we can all leave our homes, these cat harnesses might do the trick. Work it, Kitty!

Meanwhile, In Another Part of the House

Being in quarantine definitely created strategic alliances between certain members of the family. Take this very talented black cat and her tiny human apprentice, who've figured out how to escape quarantine like a scene from Mission: Impossible. Now we know why it's so easy for them to stare at us from the foot of the bed while we sleep.

Well. This Explains the Toilet Paper Shortage

All those trips to Costco? We wish we could say it was only for the industrial-sized bag of Veggie Poofs. This Bengal kitty is more than a bit naughty with the bathroom tissue. Listen, Mittens—there's a national shortage and the humans need this more than you!

Funny Cats from a Different Perspective

Maybe it's our junk food-induced dreams prompting this Harry Potter meets Alice in Wonderland vibe, or maybe it's the surreal artistic vision of Insta-sensation Koty Vezde. The artist creates mixes like these with your cat's face. Peek at the whole portfolio on Cat Universe (it's a great way to break free of the doomscroll).

Collage of cat faces photoshopped onto an ice cream cone, peacock, ball of dough and giraffe
Collage of cat faces photoshopped onto an ice cream cone, peacock, ball of dough and giraffe

Katy Vezde

Who Has Cabin Fever?

We've been cooped up too long in the house, or maybe we were just trying new dance moves but didn't think anyone was watching. This little cat has a relatable moment with the mirror. Too bad their humans never left the house, so they saw everything. How embarassing!

When the Internet Goes Down

No!
(big breath)
Noooooooo!

Veggie Poofs Taste Better

The reaction of this cat when confronted with broccoli is all of us who'd turned to comfort food and treats this year over, shall we say, greener options. We feel seen, Kitty. You might want to try other veg and fruit options instead.

Is That a People?

This silver Siberian forest cat personified what it felt like to leave the house after so long: a little surprised, and a little off-balance. Our hair didn't look nearly as good, though.

The Cute! It's Too Much!

It's those stubby lil' tails! And itty-bitty wobbles! And the peeping! This video of "squeee!"-emitting British shorthair kittens has more than 26 million views, and we probably account for 4 million of them (replay! replay!)

Playing With the Box It Came In

With all our online shopping, this happened more times than we can count, but probably not with funny cats as frisky as these two goofballs. These two bring a whole new level of joy to the rule "if it fits, I sits."

Simon's Cat 2020 Recap

English animator and illustrator Simon Tofield introduced the world to the mischievous antics of Simon's Cat more than a decade ago with a short film Cat Man Do. Though numerous books, comic strips, games, and additional films since, both Simon and his cat purred into our hearts and made us giggle.

This 2020 recap is through August (you know, when we thought things were changing). Pretty accurate summation of the year's emotions.