Today, a quick Google search will yield over 4.40 billion pieces of cat-related content in less than a minute. The astounding number doesn’t really come as a surprise, since new pictures and videos are uploaded by doting owners and amused creators every day. More and more felines become global sensations thanks to the internet. Some have won hearts simply by being their cute, fluffy selves like Ikiru. Others, like Wendy the Chimera Cat, seem to have been destined for worldwide adoration. And others became internet sensations thanks to their humans, like Atlas and CleoCatra. This paw-some twosome have caught the eye of the online community thanks to the funny facial expressions given to them by their human Adrian.
Atlas, Adrian’s British Shorthair, has an Instagram page (@atlas_scottish_fold) that she shares with her sister, CleoCatra. They’ve lived together with their doting humans in Melbourne, Australia for 2 and a half years now. With more than 1,700 posts, the paw-some twosome’s Instagram account has earned over 125,000 followers. The majority of their posts showcase the feline sisters daily antics. However, their human came up with a way to have a bit more fun with them without disrupting the felines’ routines. When asked how he got the idea to place funny facial expressions on his cats, Adrian said:
“I’m always looking for ideas for creating creative posts and came across an image online with a white face mask with different facial expressions on it. This gave me the idea to do the white strip facial expressions focusing on the mouth and eyes, as these are the most expressive parts of the face.”
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Atlas and CleoCatra are biological sisters
“CleoCatra is actually Atlas’s biological sister but from a different litter. Their mother is a Scottish Fold and [their] father a British Shorthair – which is the ethical way Scottish Folds should be bred, hence why Atlas has folded ears and CleoCatra doesn’t.”
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“Atlas looks like her father but inherited her mother’s folded ears and CleoCatra looks like her mother but inherited her father’s straight ears. CleoCatra is the typical little sister and loves to follow Atlas around. Atlas loves her little sister and you will often find them cuddling together.”
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And their owner has decided to have some fun with them by giving them funny facial expressions
“It’s sometimes hard to get a cat to pose the way you want it to for a photo, so I always make sure I have my phone/camera at hand. There is, however, trickery behind the images of Atlas and CleoCatra.”
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While his cats’ photos are undeniably “aww”-inducing, Adrian noticed that there were too many other cat pages showing the same things. Clearly, he needed to do something to make his pet cats stand out from the adorable crowd. Luckily, he chanced upon a photo of a mask with different expressions printed on it. This gave him the idea of superimposing different, animated expressions over his cats to create different comical photos of Atlas and CleoCatra. The style is very similar to the “Disneyfying” trend that’s become so popular among pet owners lately.
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“The snippets of card and hand have been photoshopped in after I took the picture as it would have been too difficult to match the same pose with different mouths and eyes each time. The eyes and mouths are modified from online clip art to suit the facial expressions. It was just a matter of working out which expressions worked best.”
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His Photoshop trick isn’t exclusive to clipart facial expressions only
“Atlas is a joy to have around the house. She’s quirky and loves to play on her back with her paws up in the air. She loves to follow me around and is always curious and needs to know what I’m getting up to. She enjoys a good pat and kitty massage followed by a long cat nap.”
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“CleoCatra is very much a lap cat and loves human attention and she is so loving and smoochy. She is full of curiosity and you’ll often find the two of them following you around the house or waiting at the shower door. They both enjoy a good pat and human attention. CleoCatra is a little cheekier and will often wait around the corner for her big sister, ready to pounce.”
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“The facial expressions were a hit, but I try not to repeat the same theme over and over again. I’m always coming up with fun and creative content so stay tuned to see what we do next.”
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It seems that Adrian has decided to stop editing his cats’ faces and giving them facial funny expressions. Many of their followers expressed their dismay over this decision, but we can’t help but look forward to what Adrian’s going to come up with next! Which of Atlas’s and CleoCatra’s expressions did you like the most?
Source: Instagram