Kara Dennison
December 21, 2020 
Anime fans love catgirls. They’re cute, they’re affectionate, they’re unique. And these days, they’re pretty much inseparable from the medium. Shows like Di Gi Charat and Tokyo Mew Mew star them, and even classic fantasy like The Vision of Escaflowne have their own feline females. And then you have shows like NekoPara, whose whole scene is featuring these adorable chimeras.
But a lot of their appeal comes from the fact that there is more girl than cat. We looked up a few cat facts that, if they applied to catgirls, would make them a lot less cute and a lot more horrifying. Though, we don’t know… maybe these aren’t deal-breakers for everyone. Peruse these cat facts, fact fans, and tell us: would you still love your catgirl if these things applied to her?
Cats would rather starve than eat unpalatable food.
We can’t make too much fun of picky eaters; we know what we like and dislike. But cat owners know from experience that if their furry friend doesn’t like the food they’re given, there’s nothing that will get them to eat it. Anime catgirls tend to be depicted as fairly carefree and silly, so you won’t encounter a lot of picky eating. But if they leaned harder into the cat side of their DNA, you’d be spending a lot more time spoiling them with their favorite treats. Because it’s either that or… just die, I guess?
Cats are threatened by direct eye contact.
In most anime, catgirls are at least somewhat friendly. (You’ll get a few princess, but that’s true of anime in general.) If you make eye contact with one, she’ll probably decide you’re besties now and never leave your side again. But real cats instinctively read sustained direct eye contact as threatening. Those cheerful looks across the room might well read to a more realistic catgirl as an invitation to throw down. So if you’re looking to lock eyes with one, be ready to throw down. Or at least to have her perceive you as a very real threat.
Cats can sneak up on you silently.
Think of the last anime catgirl you saw in your favorite show. How quiet was she? Likely not very. Some (like Di Gi Charat‘s Puchiko or NekoPara‘s Vanilla) are more soft-spoken, but they aren’t known for being especially sneaky. Contrary to their animal/human anime hybrids, real cats can stealth around with an impressive amount of silence. You may have experienced this yourself, especially if said cat has snuck onto your kitchen table unawares. Now imagine that degree of silence with all the excitement and pounce of a catgirl — and the heart attack you’ll get when she appears out of nowhere. Speaking of jumping…
Cats can jump six times their length.
This is one you’ll know (or at least have figured out) if you’ve ever walked into a room to discover your cat chilling on top of a door or high shelf. They can catch some serious air, allowing them to get to unreachable places and knock breakable things down from even higher up. What anime catgirl wouldn’t love to take advantage of that kind of air? Fortunately, a lot of them are relatively short… but even the tiniest one could jump anywhere from 20-30 feet at a rough estimate. Lock down your breakables.
Cats can squeeze through any opening as big as their head.
How the heck do cats get everywhere? Besides their aforementioned stealth mode and long jump, they also have free-floating clavicle bones. Unlike humans with rigid shoulders, that means the only barrier to entry for kitties is the size of their skull. Anime catgirls are built more like humans, but just imagine if they could collapse their shoulders and contort through a cat door… is that a step too far? That might be a step too far. Regardless, we can’t un-see it, and now neither can you.
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