Mat and Jacquelyn, creators of the Pizzacat meme and its social media accounts, crafted the picture around 2011-2012 when they wanted to make something funny and quick, as previously they were making illustrations and paintings that took a long time.
"So the pizza is photoshopped," Mat reveals. "Please don’t put real pizza on your cat."
"We had tabby cats named Pizza and Cheeto and I used to also make cardboard sets with them that have gone pretty viral as well. These weren’t photoshopped. Pizza loved doing these photoshoots. Cheeto liked to watch Pizza do them," he fondly shares.
The Pizzacat meme first gained popularity when Mat posted it on Tumblr and Pinterest. Then, people started reposting it to other platforms too. "Later, I would make songs and things that went along with it. Pretty weird but I was having fun animating and making the songs," he tells us.
"Then, when Instagram came along, I started posting there. I even taught myself how to program iOS apps and made a Pizzacat app that got a good number of downloads and was featured by Vogue as a top 5 app for Instagram. I just never stopped, from Tumblr to Instagram, consistently posting pretty much every day," he said, sharing the reason for the Pizzacat's success.
Around 2018, he started making original memes, with some featured on this list. "I just make things I think are funny or that I think people will think are funny. A lot is related to my cats sometimes life sometimes things people say or just internet things."
"I love all animals and cats are very special," he adds. "My cats Pizza and Cheeto were our babies. I love them, they were the sweetest cats ever. Pizza and Cheeto used to have charity fundraisers through Instagram or merchandise and raised thousands of dollars, mostly for animal rescues," he fondly recalls.
Now, in addition to Pizzacat's Instagram account, Mat and Jacquelyn run their website Pizzacatparty.com and their Etsy store, full of cat-themed apparel, stickers, and merchandise. Mat makes all the art, while Jacquelyn also runs their @chonksdoingthings Instagram account, which has gained a substantial following too.
To learn more about cats and their unique behaviors, we reached out to Stephen Quandt, CFTBS, founder of Stephen Quandt Feline Behavior Associates, LLC, certified feline training and behavior specialist Molly DeVoss, CCBC, CRM, FFCT, and the host of The Community Cats podcast, Stacy LeBaron.
The thing we were most curious to find out is why these felines fascinate them.
"Everything about them fascinates me. Particularly knowing that they are predators and yet can bond so deeply with us while remaining predators at heart and in truth," says Quandt.
LeBaron says that she's captivated by their versatility. "They can be barn cats, working cats in warehouses, they can be therapy cats, they can be house cats, they can be adventure cats. Society has made dogs "man's best friend," but cats can be anyone's best friend."
Meanwhile, DeVoss believes they're an incredible example of evolution and adaptability. "They’ve carved out a niche in human society while keeping their independence intact. Some researchers argue cats aren’t fully domesticated because they can survive independently of humans. But others point out that their behavior and genetics have changed enough to qualify as domestication. I think it’s a little of both. They’re domesticated on their own terms."
Secondly, we asked these experts to share some facts that not everyone might know about felines because who doesn't love learning something new about their pets or animals in general?
Quandt tells us that out of approximately 42 species of cats, only two raise their tails in greeting. Felines are also crepuscular, which means they're the most active at dawn and dusk, despite some people thinking that they are the most active at night (nocturnal).
"They are also polyphasic sleepers, which just means they take lots of naps," says Quandt. "Cats have three eyelids, the third being the nictitating membrane that is protective of their eyes but which can also be seen in sick cats," he additionally shares.
Meanwhile, DeVoss says that cats have blood types just like humans and their fur can be static-charged in dry or cold weather, which causes it to pick up dust and dander more easily. Some additional ones that she shared with us include:
- "Cats have a strong “place memory,” which means they remember where objects are, rather than what they look like. This helps them navigate familiar spaces and track their food sources in the wild. It’s also why they can seem puzzled if you rearrange the furniture."
- "Hissing is a defensive body language. It is an expression of fear, stress or discomfort of a threatened cat communicating “stay away.""
- "Your house cat’s physical appearance and sensory systems are almost identical to their wild counterparts."
- "Cats are unique amongst domestic species in that they have evolved from a solitary ancestral species."
- "Cats may yawn as a way to end confrontation with another animal."
