# Nyan Cat

> An animated cat-and-song mashup reached 70 million YouTube views in its first year.

- Owner: Chris Torres
- Kind: Meme & format
- Sector: Culture (no sector)
- Seed date: 2011-04-02
- Peak date: Week of Jun 25, 2011
- Date basis: Dates use the stated precision; chart positions are date anchors.
- Spread Score: 45 (Notable, provisional), v1.2
- Mechanics: Platform jump, Response chain, Press loop

## Summary

Torres's April 2011 GIF became a YouTube mashup when saraj00n added a song cover. Coverage, remixes and extended loops followed. YouTube reported sustained viewing across the first year; games and licensing disputes extended its afterlife.

## Timeline

- 2011-04-02 — Chris Torres / prguitarman (Open web) — Torres published the Pop Tart / Nyan Cat GIF on LOL-Comics.
- 2011-04-05 — Sara June / saraj00n (YouTube) — saraj00n combined Torres's GIF with a Japanese song cover and uploaded Nyan Cat.
- 2011-04-19 — Brian Balthazar / Chris Torres (Open web) — Torres described early G4 and CollegeHumor exposure in an interview.

The full timeline, metrics and sources are on the case page, or via the Pro API (https://howitspread.com/developers).

Canonical URL: https://howitspread.com/cases/nyan-cat

Cite as: How It Spread (2026). “Nyan Cat.” Case HIS-01013. Spread Score v1.2: 45/100. Updated 2026-10-17. https://howitspread.com/id/HIS-01013