‘Y’all this cat is bad bad:’ TikTok has finally found the winner of the bad cat trend!

TikTok’s best challenge of the year has a winner! It all started with user @dept_of_redundancy_dept saying, “Stitch this with your bad cats,” and the chaos that ensued has been perfection. Cats climbing curtains, stealing bread, opening cabinets, and more. Bad cats have officially taken over, and TikTok is loving it.

Move over, dog people. TikTok’s new trend is here to remind everyone that cats are the internet’s true stars and absolute chaos goblins. If you haven’t yet fallen down the “bad cat” rabbit hole, let me break it down for you. First, let’s talk about what makes a “bad cat.” These aren’t your average kitties who occasionally knock a glass off the table, or swat at the family dog.

No, the bad cats in this trend are the feline equivalents of chaotic neutral characters. We’re talking about cats aggressively pushing glasses off counters while maintaining unnerving eye contact with you while you’re begging them to stop. Cats climbing curtains as you scramble to get them off, which only makes the ripping worse. Kitties stealing entire loaves of bread and refusing to share.

Cats are tiny agents of chaos

One standout video for me is about a cat who somehow learned to open kitchen cabinets. It proceeds to raid the area for snacks like a drunk person at 2 am. Can you imagine watching your cat steal an entire loaf of bread or a whole bag of Doritos and run through the house with it? 

Another video showcases a determined kitty repeatedly trying to make the Christmas tree his personal cat tree while the owner yells, “Stop it!” He even keeps swatting at his owner while she tries to remove him.  If you’re a cat parent, these moments feel a bit too real. I have two cats that couldn’t care less about our Christmas tree, meanwhile, I think the third would LIVE in it if we let them.

The comments on these always have me cackling until I can’t breathe. One viewer says. “I think having a raccoon loose in the house would be easier at this point,” and another, “That’s not a cat, that’s a criminal ?” All extremely fair and valid points.

And the winner is … an orange cat, obviously

It was only a matter of time before TikTok crowned a champion in the “bad cat” trend, and let’s be honest, of course, the winner is an orange cat. If you know anything about cats, you know that orange cats are chaos incarnate.

The iconic winning video from @mitay_cat showcases this orange menace living his best life—or worst, depending on your perspective. We see him spinning while falling off a ceiling fan, clearly unbothered by gravity or consequences. He’s also caught digging through his mom’s purse, probably looking for snacks or car keys to steal. I mean seriously, what is this guy up to?

The carnage doesn’t stop there: he goes on to excavate a houseplant, bites his mom for good measure, and then empties an entire cabinet of dish towels. The last clip even features him chasing something, and running directly out of a window busting the screen and all! Watching him in action is honestly art. 

Naturally, the comments section is a goldmine. “Y’all this cat is bad bad??” perfectly captures the vibe of the video, while another user writes, “The spinning fall off the ceiling fan???,” which is absolutely me reliving that moment on a loop. The real standout, though, is the declaration: “He’s a level orange that all orange cats aspire to.” It’s a badge of honor for this little rascal, solidifying his place as not just a bad cat but the bad cat of TikTok.

Ultimately, the “bad cat” trend is a love letter to the wild, unpredictable nature of cats. Sure, they break things, steal food, and terrorize innocent plants, but they also make us laugh every single day. Some cats might be naughty, but TikTok proves they’re still the absolute best.