October 29 is National Cat Day, which means it’s the perfect moment to reflect on one of the most important memes in YouTube’s canon. Who are the most popular cats on YouTube? Have YouTube viewers tired of watching cute kittens? Are cats more popular than dogs?
We’ve crunched the numbers to deliver answers to these momentous questions.
Have we achieved peak cat?
Fans of felines can rest easy: according to figures dating back to 2007, cats are as popular as ever.
- Weekly views of cat videos have grown by over 10,000% since early 2007
- Dec 2009 – “Surprised Kitty” video finds huge popularity online
- May 2011 – A video of a cat hugging her kitten goes viral
- May 2014 – Video of the family cat saving a boy from a dog is covered by media outlets across the world
The Most Popular Cat on YouTube is…
To no surprise of YouTube’s cat enthusiasts, the most popular channel, by cat-related video views, is dedicated to Simon’s Cat. For years, creator Simon Tofield has illustrated a web series about his cat, inspired, in large part, by the real-life version of Simon’s cat, named Hugh. At the time of writing, the channel has amassed over 4 million subscribers.
(Check out their channels here: Simon’s Cat, mugumogu, ignoramusky, Talking Kitty Cat, かご猫 Ｂｌｏｇ)
Cats vs. Dogs
There are few rivalries that can match that of cats vs. dogs. And, despite the popular belief that YouTube is only an archive of cat videos, dogs seem to be the more popular of the two on YouTube. Views over the past two years seem to suggest that this trend is going to continue.
