Cat Breading

2011photo fadclassic

Cat Breading is a 2011 photo fad where owners cut a hole in a slice of bread and slip it over a cat's face like a collar. The name puns on 'inbred.' The trend started on Reddit and Tumblr, hit mainstream press in early 2012 after a Gawker piece, and got a second life in 2016 as a Snapchat lens.

photo fad memescatsearly 2010s memes2012 memespun memes

Overview

Cat Breading, also called Breading Cats, is a photo fad from 2011 where people cut a hole in a slice of bread and slip it over a cat's face like a collar1. The name is a pun on 'inbred,' playing off the visual of a cat sitting motionless with a piece of white bread around its neck. Photos typically show a bewildered cat staring at the camera before the bread inevitably falls off.

The format took off because it needed nothing more than a household cat and a loaf. Photos spread as Facebook uploads, Tumblr reblogs, and Reddit submissions through late 2011 and into 20122. Gawker writer Adrian Chen later admitted the mainstream push was partly a manufactured pageview grab, which makes Cat Breading one of the more openly cynical meme launches on record3.

How It Spread

A dedicated Facebook page launched in late 2011 to collect fan submissions, going by the alternate name 'walking sandwich'2. By early 2012 the page had passed 9,000 followers1. Around the same period, Tumblr photosets and copycat blog posts kept the format ticking along without much wider attention.

On January 31st, 2012, Gawker's Adrian Chen ran a piece calling cat breading a 'hot new internet meme.' The framing was a stretch, since the format had been circulating for months, but the article kicked off a wave of copycat coverage. The International Business Times ran its own writeup the same day, comparing the trend to the older Japanese 'putting food on rabbits' meme1. The FW joked that breading 'has been around for a few months already,' teasing Gawker for showing up late2. On March 28th, 2012, South Park aired an episode titled 'Faith Hilling' that parodied photo fads, with a subplot where the cats themselves invent cat breading and start snapping selfies5.

The meme picked up two later spikes. In November 2012, mobile studio Bake450 released Bread Kittens, a Pokemon-style collection game where players capture stray cats by placing bread around their heads, with 60 collectible cats and 24 unlockable bread recipes4. In July 2016, Snapchat rolled out a 'Breading' lens that placed a virtual slice of bread around the user's own face. Twitter user @annamelissa posted a viral clip of Oprah Winfrey wearing the filter on July 2nd, and Select/All traced the lens back to the original 2011 photos, prompting Chen to comment that he was glad breading was still bringing joy after all those years3.

How to Use This Meme

Creating a Cat Breading photo typically requires one slice of soft white sandwich bread, a hole bitten or cut out of the middle, and a cooperative cat2. The owner slips the bread over the cat's head so it sits around the neck like a bib, then shoots a portrait before the cat paws it off. The classic frame is head-on, with the cat looking mildly annoyed or resigned. Some posters use bagels or toast, but soft white bread is the common convention because it bends without tearing.

Cultural Impact

The Gawker article is a small case study in early-2010s meme manufacturing. Chen later described his own post as a 'big, ironic, meta joke' aimed at driving traffic and boasted about killing the meme the same week he elevated it3. That admission turned Cat Breading into a footnote in wider debates about how blogs invented viral trends. The 2016 Snapchat lens then pushed the format to a mass audience that had no idea the reference was five years old3.

Frequently Asked Questions

Cat Breading

2011photo fadclassic

Cat Breading is a 2011 photo fad where owners cut a hole in a slice of bread and slip it over a cat's face like a collar. The name puns on 'inbred.' The trend started on Reddit and Tumblr, hit mainstream press in early 2012 after a Gawker piece, and got a second life in 2016 as a Snapchat lens.

photo fad memes cats early 2010s memes 2012 memes pun memes

Overview

Cat Breading, also called Breading Cats, is a photo fad from 2011 where people cut a hole in a slice of bread and slip it over a cat's face like a collar1. The name is a pun on 'inbred,' playing off the visual of a cat sitting motionless with a piece of white bread around its neck. Photos typically show a bewildered cat staring at the camera before the bread inevitably falls off.

The format took off because it needed nothing more than a household cat and a loaf. Photos spread as Facebook uploads, Tumblr reblogs, and Reddit submissions through late 2011 and into 20122. Gawker writer Adrian Chen later admitted the mainstream push was partly a manufactured pageview grab, which makes Cat Breading one of the more openly cynical meme launches on record3.

How It Spread

A dedicated Facebook page launched in late 2011 to collect fan submissions, going by the alternate name 'walking sandwich'2. By early 2012 the page had passed 9,000 followers1. Around the same period, Tumblr photosets and copycat blog posts kept the format ticking along without much wider attention.

On January 31st, 2012, Gawker's Adrian Chen ran a piece calling cat breading a 'hot new internet meme.' The framing was a stretch, since the format had been circulating for months, but the article kicked off a wave of copycat coverage. The International Business Times ran its own writeup the same day, comparing the trend to the older Japanese 'putting food on rabbits' meme1. The FW joked that breading 'has been around for a few months already,' teasing Gawker for showing up late2. On March 28th, 2012, South Park aired an episode titled 'Faith Hilling' that parodied photo fads, with a subplot where the cats themselves invent cat breading and start snapping selfies5.

The meme picked up two later spikes. In November 2012, mobile studio Bake450 released Bread Kittens, a Pokemon-style collection game where players capture stray cats by placing bread around their heads, with 60 collectible cats and 24 unlockable bread recipes4. In July 2016, Snapchat rolled out a 'Breading' lens that placed a virtual slice of bread around the user's own face. Twitter user @annamelissa posted a viral clip of Oprah Winfrey wearing the filter on July 2nd, and Select/All traced the lens back to the original 2011 photos, prompting Chen to comment that he was glad breading was still bringing joy after all those years3.

How to Use This Meme

Creating a Cat Breading photo typically requires one slice of soft white sandwich bread, a hole bitten or cut out of the middle, and a cooperative cat2. The owner slips the bread over the cat's head so it sits around the neck like a bib, then shoots a portrait before the cat paws it off. The classic frame is head-on, with the cat looking mildly annoyed or resigned. Some posters use bagels or toast, but soft white bread is the common convention because it bends without tearing.

Cultural Impact

The Gawker article is a small case study in early-2010s meme manufacturing. Chen later described his own post as a 'big, ironic, meta joke' aimed at driving traffic and boasted about killing the meme the same week he elevated it3. That admission turned Cat Breading into a footnote in wider debates about how blogs invented viral trends. The 2016 Snapchat lens then pushed the format to a mass audience that had no idea the reference was five years old3.

Frequently Asked Questions