July 15, 2026 Back Home

The Ultimate Guide to Cat Emojis: Meanings, Vibes, and What’s Next

The cat emoji is a curious thing. So many cats. So many emotions. So many possibilities.

So, to properly celebrate World Emoji Day—held every year on July 17 because that’s the exact date on the calendar emoji 📅—we’re giving you the scoop on the past, present, and future of the cat emoji.

all about Cat Emojis

All the emojis we know and love are somewhat governed by the Unicode Consortium, a group of tech-world gatekeepers who decide which icons make the cut.

When it comes to our feline friends, they’ve been surprisingly generous—giving us a whole litter of cat emojis to play with over the years, including standard felines, wild cousins, and an entire set of emotional reaction faces. Here’s a quick breakdown:

• 16 “cat emojis” currently exist. This includes “tiger, tiger face, lion, leopard, etc. 🐱 This does not include the 🐾.
• 9 of the 16 cat emojis are cat-faces 😻.
• The most recent cat emoji added was the black cat in 2020 🐈‍⬛.

But what do the many cat emojis mean, and whatever happened to the cat with starry eyes emoji?

We’ve got the scoop!

🐱 basic cat emojis

These are your OG cats—versatile, classic, and always appropriate for any text convo.

• 🐱 Cat Face: The universal symbol for “I love cats” or introducing your pet. It’s friendly, neutral, and safe.
• 🐈 Cat (Full Body): Your basic full-bodied cat profile!
• 🐈‍⬛ Black Cat: The unofficial mascot of spooky season, witchcraft, and fighting the “bad luck” stigma. (Black cats are the best, let’s be real).
• 🐾 Paw Prints: Technically not just for cats, but heavily used by the cat community to represent kitty paws.

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😹 The Emotional Meows (The Variant Expressions)

Did you know cat variants have been around since the early days of emojis? We’re talking like 2010. These cat face emojis mirror human expressions but add about 50% more sass.

Emoji	Official Name	Potential Meaning
Grinning Cat	😺	“I am pleased, but also potentially plotting.”
Grinning Cat with Smiling Eyes	😸	“No, I’m really pleased.”
Cat with Tears of Joy	😹	LOL
Smiling Cat with Heart-Eyes	😻	“I adore this.”
Kissing Cat	😽	“MUAH”
Weary Cat	🙀	“OHH dear.”
Crying Cat	😿	“I am a sad cat.”
Pouting Cat	😾	“NOPE!”

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🦁 The Wild Cousins

Sometimes a house cat just doesn’t capture your energy, so we’re naturally including our wild friends.

• 🦁 Lion: Big main character energy. Used for bravery, strength, or Leo zodiac signs.
• 🐯 Tiger Face / 🐅 Tiger: Fierce, powerful, or used when you’re feeling yourself.
• 🐆 Leopard: High fashion, speed, or sleek stealth.

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What happened to the cat with starry eyes emoji?

Nothing, this never existed, despite widespread belief otherwise. Sorry cat peeps.

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🔮 What’s Next? The Future of Cat Emojis

While the current lineup is solid, the internet’s obsession with cats means we are still likely missing some crucial cultural touchstones.

Cat Emoji

Which Cat Emoji should be next? 😽 (ex. cat jumping, cat reading, etc.)

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If you are human, leave this field blank.

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world’s best Proposals for Next “Cat Emoji”

• The “If It Fits, I Sits” (Cat in a Box) – An absolute necessity. A cat squeezed into a tiny cardboard box perfectly encapsulates the human desire to be cozy yet entirely inconveniently placed.

• The Liquid Cat (The Stretch) – Cats defy physics. We need an emoji of a cat mid-stretch or draped over the edge of a couch like a puddle of milk.
• Cat Family – We’ve got all sorts of families represented in the emoji mix, but nothing that says “my family is cats.”
• The Zoomies – A cat blurred out by sheer speed at 3:00 AM.