About

Rigby the Cat, also known as Cat Sticking Tongue Out or Cat Peeing, refers to a cat best known for a GIF in which she stares at the camera with her tongue poking out while a liquid sprays at the camera as if she were peeing. The GIF comes from the TikTok and Instagram pages @IamRigbyCat, which Rigby's owner operates. Rigby has a neurological condition called "fainting goat syndrome," which causes her muscles to stiffen up and become paralyzed when she gets excited. The condition results in her making some unique and funny expressions, often with her tongue sticking out. The Rigby "peeing" video was posted in late March 2025 and gained traction in subsequent weeks as it became used in reaction memes.

Origin

The oldest known post on Rigby the cat's TikTok^[1] was posted on October 9th, 2024, showing "increasingly derpy" photos of the animal. The post gathered over 21,000 views and 2,000 likes in eight months.

Rigby's first viral video was posted a day later on October 10th, 2024, showing Rigby being pet by her owner as she stuck her tongue out. The video gathered over 2 million views and 500,000 likes in eight months.

On November 30th, Rigby's owner posted a video^[8] clarifying the condition his cat has, saying that many vets initially just classified her as "special needs," but one veterinarian referred Rigby to a neurologist. The neurologist did several tests, including an EMG, where they sedate a cat and use probes to read muscle reactions. They discerned that Rigby likely had a condition called "myotonia congenita," a condition where a patient's muscles have a hard time relaxing, resulting in stiffness and a kind of paralysis.

The video on Rigby's neurological condition gathered over 800,000 views and 130,000 likes in six months.

Spread

Silly Cat Sticking His Tongue Out GIF

Rigby the cat's owner continued to post videos of his cat to viral effect in late 2024 and early 2025. On March 31st, 2025, @iamrigbycat posted a TikTok^[2] showing the owner saying, "yo it looks like we're out of hard treats.. are squeezables okay?" The camera then cuts to Rigby making a funny face and sticking her tongue out, seemingly spraying at the camera. The post gathered over 9 million views and 1.9 million likes on TikTok.

The meme is notably part of a TikTok^[4] trend in which a person asks their partner how they look, only for their significant other to "squirt" from excitement.

The video was also posted to Rigby's Instagram that same day,^[3] where it gathered over 12 million views and 1.8 million likes in two months.

On May 22nd, 2025, TikToker^[5] @IamRigbyCat posted a clip of Rigby "peeing" with an accompanying water stream sound playing in the background. The post gathered over 19 million plays and 4.3 million likes in five days.

On May 12th, X^[7] user @miukabu posted an image of the Rigby peeing GIF, asking, "WHAT THIS GIF CALLEDDD," and gathering over 300,000 likes in two weeks.

On May 16th, 2025, YouTuber^[6] @drowsy.rbx posted a version of the GIF in which Gubby from the Roblox game "Forsaken" appears to be peeing at the camera. The post gathered over 400,000 views in 10 days.

Various Examples

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Search Interest

External References