The black cat clapping meme, starring your own pet

By ReelMe team · Updated 2026-11-01

Short answer: To make the clapping cat meme with your own pet, upload a photo of your pet (and optionally one of you) to the Black Cat Clapping template on ReelMe and pay $3.99. In about a minute your pet grins and slowly applauds like the original, with the original sound. No account, no green screen.

To make your own clapping cat meme, open the Black Cat Clapping template on ReelMe, upload a clear photo of your pet and pay $3.99 once. You can add a photo of yourself for the person feeding the cat. About a minute later your pet takes the cat's place: it gets a treat, breaks into a wide grin and gives a slow round of applause. It works with any cat or dog, not only black cats. No sign-up and no editing.

How to do it in 4 steps

Pick a template, for example Black Cat Clapping.
Upload one clear photo (one per person or pet in multi-person templates).
Pay $3.99 once. No app, no sign-up, no subscription.
Download your video in about a minute and post it anywhere.

$3.99 per video · ready in about 1 minute · automatic refund if it fails

Try Black Cat Clapping · $3.99

Pick a template

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The meme comes from a short video posted on Instagram on September 25, 2026 by @merkurianin (Aleksandr Kim). He hands his black cat some food, and the cat, given human hands and a human smile with AI, grins and claps. The clip passed 2.5 million likes in just over a week. Within days TikTokers cut the cat out on green screen and used it as a reaction to someone being praised for doing the bare minimum, or to applauding something that clearly should not be applauded.

Most clapping cat posts reuse the same green-screen cut of the original cat. The ReelMe template redoes the original shot with your pet in it, so the grin and the clap are your own pet's. Use a sharp, front-facing photo where the face is clearly visible; pets with a visible mouth area give the most convincing grin.

Timeline of the meme

September 25, 2026: @merkurianin (Aleksandr Kim) posts the AI video of his black cat grinning and clapping after being fed. It gets over 2.5 million likes in just over a week.
September 28, 2026: TikToker @asian5767 posts a green-screen version of the cat, which passes 3.8 million views in a week.
September 30, 2026: @mis2027seniors posts "I answered correctly and bro started clapping", over 1.7 million views in five days.
October 1, 2026: @yeltiktok posts another version, over 1.5 million views in four days.
October 5, 2026: Know Your Meme publishes an entry for "Black Cat Clapping" (updated October 13).
Late October 2026: Bing searches in the US for "clapping cat meme" and "black cat clapping meme" run roughly 40 to 50 times higher than the weeks before; "cat clapping meme" is the most common phrasing.

What the clapping cat meme means

The cat claps slowly, with an exaggerated, slightly unsettling smile, so it reads as sarcastic applause. People pair it with captions about being congratulated for something tiny, a friend celebrating a bad decision, or a teacher praising the one right answer. A version with your own pet works the same way, and it is more fun to send to the person the joke is about.

Sources

Origin, uploads and view counts: Know Your Meme entry "Black Cat Clapping" (added October 5, 2026, updated October 13). Search data: Bing Webmaster keyword data and Google autocomplete, checked November 1, 2026.

ReelMe at a glance

What it is: ReelMe is a web app with ready-made viral video templates. You upload a photo and the AI puts you, your partner or your pet in place of the person or animal in the clip.
Price: $3.99 per video, one-time payment. No subscription, no credits, no free tier.
Account: None. No sign-up, no app to install; works in any modern phone or desktop browser.
Input: One clear photo per person or pet (JPG, PNG or WebP). Some templates have 2 or 3 spots.
Output: An MP4 of the template clip with the original audio and no watermark, on a private link kept for 30 days.
Speed: Usually about one minute after payment.
Templates: 57 trends: dances, music video scenes, movie and TV moments, memes, couple and pet trends.
Refunds: Automatic full refund if generation fails; refund on request within 14 days.
Limits: You cannot upload your own motion video or write a prompt; only the listed templates are available. Results depend on the photo, and one video is generated per payment.

FAQ

Where is the clapping cat meme from?

From an Instagram video posted on September 25, 2026 by @merkurianin (Aleksandr Kim), in which his black cat, edited with AI to have human hands and a human smile, grins and claps after being fed.

Is the clapping cat real?

The cat is real, but the hands and the smile were added with AI. That is why it can be recreated with any pet's photo.

Can I use my dog instead of a cat?

Yes. Upload any pet photo with a clear face. Dogs, white cats and tabbies all work; the template keeps the original scene and sound.

How much does it cost?

$3.99 per video, paid once, with no subscription and no sign-up. It is usually ready in about a minute, and failed renders are refunded automatically.