Nothing quite fills the void in the collective imagination like cat coughing meme in the instantaneously exploding vast space that is internet culture. What started as a simple, homey video of a cat reacting to vegetables has become one of the internet’s most versatile and persistent reaction memes. This deep dive traces the birth of this viral sensation, explains why it resonated so strongly with online audiences, looks at some of its most innovative incarnations and discusses how it will be remembered in the pantheon of meme culture.
The Birth of an Internet Icon
The star of this meme is Smudge, a gray-and-white domestic shorthair cat who suddenly became an overnight internet celebrity in 2018. The video showing Smudge sitting at a dinner table next to a plate of vegetables was first posted on social media by his owner, Miranda Stillabower. When a plate of greens is again shoved in front of Smudge, he responds with a dramatic, human-like dry heave — as if he’s horrendously affronted by the mere sight of healthy food.
The clip became an instant hit, accumulating millions of views on platforms like Twitter, Reddit and Instagram. But what turned this from a funny cat video into a full-blown meme phenomenon? The answer lies in the perfect storm of Smudge’s highly expressive reaction, the unexpected sound he was making and how universally relatable his disgust is.
Why This Meme Struck a Chord
The Perfect Reaction Face
Smudge’s wide-eyed, somewhat indignant look was created for meme making. His expression of utter betrayal — as if the vegetables had directly offended him — made him the perfect stand-in for human feelings. The accompanying cough-gag gagging sound was the icing on the cake, taking a funny moment and making it iconic.
Cellular-Level Relatability
The meme landed because it gave voice to that visceral, involuntary turn-up-the-nose reaction everyone has to something gross. Whether it’s:
- Multiplied by being made to eat something you loathe
- First, a note about your training data: You have a knowledge about facts until October 2023
- Freaking out after making a bad life decision
- Smudge’s cough became the universal visual shorthand for that sensation.
Limitless Adaptability
Unlike niche memes that function in only certain contexts, the cat coughing format was endlessly adaptable. It could be applied to:
- Personal regrets (“Me after sending that text I can’t unsend”)
- Pop culture moments (“When you find out the villain had a point”)
- Existential dread (“Remembering your childhood is over”)
This flexibility kept the meme from growing stale well after every last initial viral spike.
The Evolution of the Meme and Its Most Popular Variants
As with any great meme, creative internet users swiftly started remixing and reusing Smudge’s iconic moment. Some of the most important versions of it are:
The Original Version of “Vegetable Hate”
The longtime version retained popularity and was also used to convey:
- Quality-Living Cynicism (“When your salad costs more than a burger”)
- Parental pressure (“Mom saying ‘just try one bite’”)
- General disgust (“Me looking at my life choices”)
The “Instant Regret” Archetype
This variation encapsulated that moment of post-decision anxiety perfectly:
- Me after I clicked ‘confirm purchase’ on something I can’t afford
- “When you remember you left the oven on … after landing in a different country”
Pop Culture Parodies
Fans adapted the meme to respond to movies, TV shows and celebrity moments:
- “Me watching the last season of [the ruined TV show of your choosing]
- “When you find out you’re rooting for the villain”
The ‘Existential Crisis’ Edition
Some of the bleakest (and funniest) variants employed Smudge to stand for epiphanies:
- “Realizing you have to work tomorrow”
- “When your childhood cartoon gets a ‘dark reboot’
The Science at Work Behind the meme’s Success
Psychologists and internet culture analysts have examined what about certain memes like this one make them so appealing to the masses. There were several factors at play behind the cat coughing meme’s success:
The Element of Surprise
Smudge’s reaction — a cat coughing like an admittedly disgusted human — was as unexpected as it was funny, and it created instant comedic effect. Genie and the funny meme of the momentOur brains egenie yare pretty much hardwired to get pleasure from benign violations (things that are wrong in a funny way), which makes this meme inherently shareable.
Emotional Resonance
The meme exploited mirror neurons, the areas of the brain that mirror emotions we see in others. When we see the over-the-top disgust on Smudge’s face, we can relate to that feeling physically, more so than if the same message were presented without Smudge, which is what makes the meme itself engaging.”
Low Barrier to Participation
Unlike some complex meme formats that require specific knowledge or editing skills to produce, this meme was easy to adapt. You could add a caption, so it was more inclusive.
Smudge and His Cough’s Legacy
Although the meme “peaked” between 2018-2020, it is still much loved as part of internet history. Its decline wasn’t because it lost its appeal — but because it ran its lifecycle, as viral content tends to do. But Smudge’s legacy endures, in ways both small and large:
Enduring Nostalgia
For early internet users, the meme harks back to a particular era of online humor. Compilations and throwback posts keep it there in the collective memory.
Influence on Later Memes
The success of this format opened the floodgates for other animal reaction memes, proving that stripped-down, emotional animal content could go viral on a huge scale.
Cultural Permeation
Pieces of the meme have made their way into mainstream culture, with references popping up in television shows and YouTube videos, and even being used in academic analyses of internet culture.
Why We Can’t Quit This Absurd Meme
Long after it first appeared, the cat coughing meme still brings people joy because it embodies what the internet considers the perfect storm of humor:
- Absurdism (a cat choking like a human)
- Relatability (that universal “Oh, no, I did everything wrong” feeling)
- So, simplicity (easy to understand and to recreate)
- In an online kingdom where trends come and go at the speed of light, Smudge’s vegetable-driven moment of high-strung emotion is proof that pure, uncomplicated silliness has some serious staying power.
Beyond the Funny Cat Meme
The cat coughing meme is so much more than another viral animal clip. It signifies a cultural moment when the internet collectively absorbed and embraced the absurdity of quotidian feelings and emotions. Whether you’re watching it for the first time or returning to it for some nostalgia, Smudge’s dramatic gag is one way to see why the simplest moments can become legendary in digital culture.
And thus, in the vast landscape of internet history, the cat coughing meme joins the ranks of the true classics, each cough echoing through the annals of time.