About

Drooling Cat and Crowd of Drooling Cats refer to several low-resolution reaction images of cats with drool hanging from their mouths that were popularized in the first half of 2026. The memes are typically used to convey the feeling of staring in dumbfounded awe at a subject.

The first drooling cat memes were popularized through image macro posts on sites including Reddit, TikTok, Instagram and X / Twitter starting in February 2026 alongside captions about staring at something. By June 2026, a version of the meme showing a whole crowd of drooling cats was popularized on X, with one of the most viral examples reading, "A street full of grown men the second they hear a helicopter."

Origin

The origin of the original Drooling Cat reaction image is unclear, but it purportedly started circulating online as early as February 2026 in the comment sections on Instagram and TikTok.

On February 20th, 2026, Redditor tryagaininXmin made a post to the /r/HelpMeFind^[1] subreddit asking for help finding the image, specifically claiming they regularly see it on Instagram and Reddit and describing it as a "fried ass cat that looks stupid as hell and has its mouth wide open and someone drew in a big blue line of drool coming out its mouth."

On February 22nd, Redditor azdful posted the image in the comments, and the OP confirmed that it was what they were looking for.

Spread

The Drooling Cat meme spread over the following months in early 2026, inspiring edits that alter the appearance of the cat and add more cats alongside it.

On March 18th, 2026, Instagram^[2] user catto.strophic posted the meme, writing in the description, "The inner machinations of my mind are an enigma," gaining over 112,000 likes in three months.

On April 4th, Instagram^[3] user sillyanimalspost posted it to over 84,000 likes in two months, and on May 8th, Instagram^[4] user sayaartss posted it to over 41,700 likes in a month.

On May 26th, X^[5] user @Meliiiks posted the meme, writing, "I love this cat," gaining over 2,600 likes in a week.

On May 28th, 2026, the same user posted a version of the meme featuring three drooling cats that gained over 160,000 likes and 18,000 reposts in five days.^[6]

On June 1st, X^[7] user @Kama_Kamilia posted another edit of the image, this time featuring a massive crowd of drooling cats, writing, "A street full of grown men the second they hear a helicopter," garnering over 137,000 likes in a day.

That day, X^[8] user @literallymecats reposted the image, writing, "so many of them," gaining over 18,000 likes in the same span of time.

Later on June 1st, 2026, X^[9] user @impossiblyeve posted the image under the caption, "so called 'free thinkers' when the cheddar bay biscuits come out," garnering over 3,100 likes in a day.

The Instagram^[10] page softcatmemes also posted the meme that day, gaining over 300,000 likes in the same timeframe.

Various Examples

Templates

Search Interest

External References