Ceiling Cat

Ceiling Cat is watching you.

Sometime before June 2003, someone took a photograph of a cat peering through a hole in a ceiling. The image was uploaded to FunnyJunk as "Stalker Kitty," a simple observation of feline curiosity. It would become one of the foundational texts of internet cat worship.

By February 8, 2006, the image had found its destiny on YTMND, paired with the caption that would echo through eternity: "Ceiling Cat is watching you masturbate." The internet, in its infinite wisdom, had found divinity in a cat looking through drywall.

Ceiling Cat became more than a meme—it became mythology. In the LOLCat Bible project, Ceiling Cat was cast as God, the benevolent creator watching over his creatures from above. Basement Cat emerged as his adversary, the devil lurking below. An entire theology developed around a photograph of a curious feline.

The meme peaked around April 2008, spreading across 4chan, forums, and the early social web. It was the golden age of cat memes—a simpler time when Longcat was long and the internet's favorite animal hadn't yet been replaced by dogs in videos.

A "Wall Cat Theory" briefly emerged, suggesting the image was actually of a cat in a wall, not a ceiling. The debate was never resolved. Perhaps both are true. Perhaps Ceiling Cat transcends physical orientation.

According to internet lore, the original cat passed away in 2010. The photographer was never definitively identified. But Ceiling Cat's legacy endures in every surveillance meme, every omniscient observer, every reminder that someone—or something—is always watching.

Ceiling Cat saw everything. And judged nothing.

Rest in peace, holy watcher. The ceiling is quieter without you.