When it comes to comedy, timing is everything.
Peanut the cat is clearly no stranger to that particular phrase if the clip posted to social media by his owner, Angela Oñate from Ohio, is anything to go by. When Angela began recording the now-viral clip, she could never have envisioned what would follow next.
After all, as the video shows, she was clearly in the midst of giving her followers an update on her day-to-day life when things got seriously derailed by her interfering feline. “I just got off work, so don’t look up here,” Angela says, as she steps back away from the camera at the start of the clip, pointing at her face as she does.
Yet any plans she may have had for the video soon fall by the wayside when Peanut comes into shot. In truth, that’s being generous with Peanut not so much coming into shot as he is interrupting it by standing directly in front of Angela.
What makes the clip that bit more hilarious is that Peanut appears to be defying his owner’s instructions, with the cat spending much of the clip looking up at something off screen.
Angela, to her credit, appears as bemused as the rest of us and is only too happy to keep the camera rolling to see what her feline friend might be up to. After pausing for several seconds while her pet takes in the scenery, Angela decides to take action, picking Peanut up and moving him off screen.
But in another hilarious twist, any hopes Angela may have had of reconvening the recording are quickly shot down again as Peanut comes back on screen and resumes looking up at nothing in particular. Angela lets out a laugh as the clip concludes.
Posted alongside the caption “it’s Peanut’s world we’re just living in it,” the video has now been viewed over 6 million times on TikTok with fans flocking to show their appreciation for the cat and his adorable antics. The clip can be watched here.
“That cat is the Main character,” blackpnwlady said, with Keith Curtis808 declaring that Peanut’s “comedic timing is wonderful.”
Belle Delphine loved that Peanut “understood” his owner and yet “did the opposite,” while destinys_ghost69 wrote: “no offense to you, but I’m sure that was better than whatever you were about to do.” Angela happily agreed, responding: “no offense taken, you are completely right.”
Eeveeandyoshi said the clip summed up “life with cats in a nutshell.” Addisonw21, meanwhile, commented: “The timing is exquisite.” Amika said: “He knows that he’s the star,” with Angela replying: “he is and it’s gonna get to his head.”
Newsweek has contacted Angela for comment.
Cats like Peanut may be more receptive to understanding human speech than many realize. In a 2013 study published by Animal Cognition, the cats they studied were found to be responsive to their pet parents when they said their names.
Researchers found the cats largely responded to their owners’ voices through a mix of orienting behavior like ear and head movements, rather vocalization or tail movement.
A Persian cat recently found a new army of fans after their owner shared a clip of her pet’s distinctive meow to social media. Elsewhere, the internet fell in love with another cat with a special trick of its own: somersaulting.
