Cat Leaves Internet in Stitches as He Falls Into Washer Trying to Catch Fly

It’s a good job cats have nine lives as this curious kitty might’ve lost one of them while trying to catch a fly.

A viral TikTok video shared by user @abbieleigh020200 shows her tuxedo cat perched on top of a refrigerator with his eyes on the prize. Moments later, the cat appears to have a lightbulb moment and decides to get closer to the fly by jumping up onto a washing machine across the room—but doesn’t realize that its door is open.

The feline had to learn the hard way as he fell into the washer’s drum, making a giant thud on his way down. But with a bit of perseverance, he “ended up catching the fly,” according to the video’s caption.

So far, the video of the cat’s epic fail has received over 838,000 views and 125,700 likes since it was shared by his owner on April 24.

Newsweek reached out to a cat expert to find out why felines are obsessed with flies. Paula Stewart, the director of a modeling agency for animals in London, explained that they are “natural-born predators and their predation is instinctive.”

“Even though cats were domesticated 12,000 years ago, that’s nothing compared to the dog domesticated around 30,000 years ago, so many of their natural instincts still survive; particularly because cats are, indeed, master hunters by nature,” Stewart told Newsweek.

All domestic cats are skilled hunters and their bodies are built for it, Stewart added.

“Feral cats have exhibited that they will eat what they can get; they will always look through human rubbish and will pretty much eat anything they can capture including rodents, birds, lizards, snakes, and yes, flies and insects. It’s completely normal behavior and something we cat owners expect to see,” she said.

“House cats such as the tuxedo cat featured in this video love to chase a fly because it allows them to display their instinctive behavior of the chase, the hunt and when they’re lucky, the capture! In this video, the cat doesn’t manage the capture, but look how adept he is at climbing! His physicality and focus are seriously impressive!”

For owners who want to dissuade their feline from catching flies, Stewart advises them to provide mental stimulation and enrichment activities such as a feather on a stick, cat trick training, flirt poles, playing ball or any other reward-based cat activities.

At the time of writing, more than 600 TikTok users commented on the comical clip including the owner, who said: “He was perfectly fine after this! [And] still determined to catch the fly!”

Another user said: “yo before he even THUMPED into the washer machine, I was thinking..he’s kinda heavy-footed for a cat.”

“Wipeout: cat edition,” joked a TikToker.

“The cat: I’m coming for ya. The spider: no you are not,” said another person.

Newsweek reached out to @abbieleigh020200 for comment via Instagram. We could not verify the details of the case.

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