We all know the Internet was invented for one purpose—awesome cat videos—and the popularity of cats on the Internet continues to rise. From TikTok to Instagram, “cat influencers” have become some of the most fun and entertaining follows across almost all social media platforms, transplanting their YouTube fame across the Internet.

ExcitedCats.com wanted to explore the popularity of cats on the World Wide Web, from the most popular breeds to the most widely followed feline influencers. These were the findings.

The Most Popular Cat Breeds:

Excited Cats looked at the most popular cat breeds according to Google search volume, Instagram hashtag volume, and TikTok views, and the results were not all that surprising.

The elegant Maine Coon reigned supreme, with 9.4 million Instagram hashtag results, over half a million hits in monthly organic Google search volume, and an astounding 3.7 billion TikTok hashtag views. The Cat Fancier’s Association (CFA) reported the Maine Coon as the second most popular breed of 2022 based on breed registrations, so this is not too surprising.

With its unique wild-looking coat, the Bengal is the perfect Instagram model and unsurprisingly came in second overall, with over 3 billion TikTok hashtag views. Somewhat surprisingly, the British Shorthair came in third while only ranking at number 6 on the CFA’s list. The Ragdoll and Siamese came in 4th and 5th respectively.

The Most Popular Cat Influencers:

There are tons of “Catfluencers” bringing daily smiles to cat lovers the world over through social media sites like Instagram. But who are the most popular? Excited Cats took a deep dive, and according to followers, these were the most popular.

With an astonishing 4.5 million followers and the Guinness World Record holder for a cat account with the most Instagram followers, Nala the Tabby(@nala_cat) takes the Instagram crown. Besides this adorable tabby having tons of followers and adorable posts, she also has her very own food line and book.

Coming in second with 2.6 million followers is a feline most cat lovers will know—the one and only Grumpy Cat (@realgrumpycat). Sadly, this feline passed in 2019 but had a massive impact on the “internet of cats” with one of the most widely shared cat memes.

Coming in a close third place is Bub (@iamlilbub), another cat that is sadly no longer with us. She was born with several genetic anomalies that made her stay permanently “kitten-sized”, and this also, unfortunately, shortened her life. However, she managed to accomplish a lot during her time, with a book, TV show, and documentary to her name. Most importantly, her parents created Lil BUB’s Big FUND for the ASPCA, a fund for pets with special needs.

@dontstopmeowing, an account featuring the cats Skye, Kai, Chase, and Millie, and @smoothiethecat, aka the “Queen of Fluff”, came in 4th and 5th with 2.4 and 2.3 million followers, respectively.

Honorable Mentions:

There were several other fascinating feline findings from the Excited Cats team that were certainly worth mentioning. In terms of search volume of hashtags on Instagram, shorthair cats got one over on longhairs, with #domesticlonghair being searched a total of 132,000 times and #domesticshorthair having a search volume of 584,000.

The hashtag #polydactylcat has a search volume of 397,000 on Instagram, which is no small feet (pun intended), and #pedigreecat was searched 83,700 times, while #hybridcat only had a search volume of 46,800. Hybrids are certainly more popular in the real world, but pedigrees won the cyber trophy this time.