The OIIA cat meme: where the spinning cat and its sound come from
The OIIA cat is a grey tabby named Ethel whose photo gets spun like a top to a chant that sounds like “oiia oiia oiiai”. If what you really want is that spinning cat video with your own cat in it, open the OIIA Spinning Cat template on ReelMe, upload one clear photo of your cat and pay $3.99: the AI makes your cat the spinner, keeps the original sound, and the clip is ready in about a minute.
How to do it in 4 steps
- Pick a template, for example OIIA Spinning Cat.
- 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
Pick a template
748M views
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260M viewsThe cat came first, years before the sound. Ethel is a rescue cat, and Know Your Meme traces her picture to a January 2019 post in a Facebook cat group. Latin American meme pages passed the image around, and in 2022 she became the face of the “I wake up, there's another one” circle-diagram meme on Instagram. She is not Maxwell, the black-and-white cat from the older “spinning cat” meme, although the two get mixed up all the time.
The sound has a separate origin. In October 2021 a Turkish TikToker posted screen recordings of a Friday Night Funkin'-style song played back at different speeds, and the sped-up vowels (“oo ee a e a”) became a meme on Turkish TikTok. In April 2023 Chinese users on Bilibili put Ethel's photo on a turntable-style spin and synced it to that sound; one remix drew millions of views and was reposted to YouTube, where rhythm-game remixes kept it going.
The version most people know is the TikTok wave from December 2024, when creators dropped the spinning cat into pop songs and the clips spread far beyond meme accounts. The Dutch DJ duo W&W then released “OIIA OIIA (Spinning Cat)” in early 2025, which is why “oiia cat song” is one of the top searches. The meme works because it is a perfect loop: a cat, a spin and a sound that never really ends, which is also why “10 hours” versions exist.
Variants you will run into: the original sped-up sound on its own, the Bilibili spin edits, pop-song remixes, face-filter videos where people mime the sound, AI covers that make the cat “sing” other songs, and green-screen GIFs for editing. Downloadable GIFs and sound files let you reuse Ethel, but they can't make your own cat the one spinning; that needs a photo of your cat and a generator that redoes the clip.
For the ReelMe template, use a photo where your cat is sitting upright with its face and front legs visible and nothing in front of it. Tabbies look closest to the original, but any coat works: black, ginger and white cats all spin cleanly as long as the face is sharp and not lost in a dark background.
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
- 56 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
What is the original OIIA cat?
A grey tabby rescue cat named Ethel. Her photo dates back to 2019; the spinning edit synced to the “oiia” sound was made by Chinese users on Bilibili in April 2023 and blew up on TikTok in late 2024.
Where does the OIIA OIIA sound come from?
From a 2021 Turkish TikTok trend built on a Friday Night Funkin'-style song played at different speeds. The sped-up vowels are what people hear as “oiia oiia”. It is not the cat's real meow.
Is the OIIA cat the same as Maxwell the spinning cat?
No. Maxwell is a black-and-white cat from an older spinning-cat meme with a different song. The OIIA cat is a grey tabby, and the two memes have separate origins.
What is the OIIA cat song called?
The meme sound has no official title, but the Dutch DJ duo W&W released a full track called “OIIA OIIA (Spinning Cat)” in early 2025, and that is what most streaming searches find.
Can I make my own cat do the OIIA spin?
Yes. On ReelMe you upload one photo of your cat to the OIIA Spinning Cat template and pay $3.99 once; the AI spins your cat to the original sound and the video is ready in about a minute, no account needed.
Related guides
- OIIA spinning cat meme with your cat
- Huh cat meme explained: the original clip, the sound and how to remake it
- Chipi Chipi Chapa Chapa meme: the Chilean song behind the dancing cat
- Cat meme templates that use your own cat, no green screen
- AI cat dance video with your own cat
Updated 2026-11-01
