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What Kind of Cat Is Smudge From the Internet Memes? Iconic Kitty Facts

Written by: Adam Mann

Last Updated on March 7, 2025 by Catster Editorial Team

If you were on the internet in 2019, you couldn’t miss the “women yelling at a cat” meme. On one side of the meme was a picture from The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills with a woman yelling and pointing, and on the other side was a picture of a cat sitting in front of a salad at a dinner table.

That cat’s name is Smudge, and it’s quite an interesting story about how he got there. He’s a rescue cat, and we’re not quite sure exactly what kind of cat he is, but there’s no doubt that he took the Internet by storm, and you can still see pictures of him circulating from time to time!

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What Kind of Cat Is Smudge?

Finding out what kind of cat Smudge is is actually pretty difficult. But that’s probably because Smudge is a rescue cat and likely isn’t a purebred. In fact, even Smudge’s owner might not know what kind of cat Smudge is.

As of right now, it doesn’t seem like the owners are allowing that information out to the public. And since Smudge is likely a mix of cat breeds, we can’t tell what kind of cat Smudge is from the memes and pictures alone.

Where Did the Smudge Memes Come From?

The Smudge cat memes burst onto the scene in 2019, but the original picture of Smudge sitting in front of a plate of salad actually first appeared on Tumblr in 2018. At this point, the picture of Smudge didn’t include the lady yelling at Smudge.

Over the next year, the post gained over 50,000 likes and reblogs. But while this is a pretty impressive number by itself, it doesn’t fully account for Smudge’s viral fame.

This started in May 2019—almost a full year after Smudge first appeared on Tumblr in June 2018. An unknown Twitter user with the handle @MISSINGEGIRL combined the photo of Smudge with a picture from The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills, and the Internet loved it.

From there, Smudge has acquired a website, over 1.6 million Instagram followers, and even has tons of unofficial Facebook groups in his honor.

While the picture of Smudge sitting in front of a plate of salad is by far his most well-known, there are plenty of other pictures out there of him to look through.

A Little More About Smudge

While Smudge is most famous for his picture of him sitting in front of a plate of salad, there’s more to a cat than just a single picture. Smudge’s owners state that Smudge loves to sit at the table for dinner, which is where the original picture came from.

If Smudge’s owners sit down for a meal, he wants a seat at the table! And while Smudge certainly isn’t a big fan of salad, there are plenty of meals that Smudge gets that he happily gobbles down. But if you’re looking for a similar reaction, Smudge really doesn’t like nachos either.

Smudge’s owners report that he certainly has a strong personality and attitude, but overall, he’s a very loving cat. Finally, Smudge was 6 years old when they took the picture that has taken the internet by storm.

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Final Thoughts

Smudge’s owners have used the attention he’s gotten to try and raise awareness for shelter cats, and we want to take a moment to do that here. Smudge is a great cat that needed a home, and even though he doesn’t have a high-end pedigree, that didn’t keep him from warming the hearts of millions of people around the world.

So, if you’re looking for a cat like Smudge, check out your local shelter and there will likely be plenty of cats for you to choose from.

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Featured Image Credit: The3dragons, Unsplash

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