Who Is Tater Tot The Kitten? The Photoshop Battles Inspired By A Kitten In Splints Explained

An image of a young and angry-looking orange kitten has been making the rounds on the internet after a set of Facebook users decided to make him the subject of a Photoshop battle. The kitten is named "Tater Tot," and he first went viral after a series of photos showing him wearing pink and blue splints on his little front legs were shared across the internet.

But where did this kitten come from, what's wrong with his legs and how is he doing now? Here's more information on Tater Tot, the disgruntled kitten.

Who Is Tater Tot And Why Is He Wearing Splints?

Tater Tot first made his debut on the internet when animal care activist and Facebook user Ash Houghton posted a photo to the Facebook group "This Cat Is GROMPY," a play on the word grumpy. The photos showed a tiny orange kitten with a very angry expression on his face, perhaps partly due to his cleft palate. Houghton explains in the captions of the photo that Tater Tot was born with deformed legs, which are being fixed with the help of little splints on his legs.

What Were Some Of The Memes And Photoshops Tater Tot Was Subjected To?

Tater Tot immediately became a huge hit both in the Facebook group he was posted to and across the internet. This was partly due to his fans engaging in a Photoshop battle using his images and editing him into various funny situations.

Tater Tot found global fame when a user posted screenshots of his most liked photos to Twitter, saying, "I'm in a Facebook group called This cat is G R O M P Y and it's recently been taken over by a rescue kitten called Tater Tot and I am living for it. I am a Tater Tot stan." This led to artists on Twitter finding photos of Tater Tot and redrawing him in their style.

How Is Tater Tot Doing Now?

Tater Tot appears to be doing well, with his caretaker posting a TikTok video of him relaxing in a bike store, and then posting another video showing his leg splints coming off. The kitten seems to be making a swift recovery and can be seen zooming along on his newly straightened legs.

For the full history of Tater Tot, be sure to check out Know Your Meme's encyclopedia entry for more information.