About

Cat Ancestors refers to an exploitable image of a cat sitting proudly in front of spectral illustrations of its ancestors illuminated in the sky above. The illustration was released in June 2020 as part of the collectible trading card game Magic: The Gathering (MTG), titled "Nine Lives." The cat ancestors meme was popularized as an image macro meme on Reddit and Instagram in early 2024, while also inspiring the catchphrase and trend I Need Wisdom from My Ancestors on TikTok in early May 2025, which features montages of house cats being advised by lions, tigers and other relative feline species about their instincts.

Origin

On June 17th, 2020, Scottish artist^[1] Paul Scott Canavan posted the illustration for an MTG card titled "Nine Lives" to the /r/magicTCG subreddit. The image shows a house cat proudly in front of spectral illustrations of its ancestors in the sky behind it. The post amassed more than 740 upvotes and 30 comments in five years.

The illustration was featured in the official Magic: The Gathering^[2] trading card game (TCG) in September 2021 as the enchantment card Nine Lives.

Spread

Memetic usage of the cat ancestors illustration gained viral traction in early 2024, mainly on Reddit, Instagram and X / Twitter.

For example, on February 2nd, 2024, X^[3] user @BrendanDaGawd posted the MTG illustration accompanied with the caption, "my ancestors in heaven smiling down on me when I get a crown win in Fortnite." The tweet (seen below) amassed over 349,000 views and 9,000 likes in a year.

On June 13th, 2024, Memedroid^[4] user @Ta3vex posted a version of the meme as an image macro with the text, "My ancestors looking down on me after I pulled the finest woman in our family history." The post (seen below) received roughly 370 likes in a year.

Related Memes

I Need Wisdom From My Ancestors

On April 17th, 2025, TikTok^[5] user @trufflescult posted the earliest known version of the "I need wisdom from my ancestors" trend, which features a montage of their pet over the "cat ancestors" original illustration and comedic texts of the animals talking. The post (seen below) amassed more than 339,000 plays and 89,000 likes in two weeks.

Various Examples

Template

Search Interest

External References