Colonel Meow, 11 October 2011 - 29 January 2014
Many cats have risen to stardom on the internet and, sadly, one of these famed felines passed away this week. Here, we look back at some of the honorable, scotch-loving Colonel Meow’s greatest moments and finest frowns.
The despot kitty first came to the attention of the internet at large in September 2012 when his Facebook page appeared on Cheezburger – the home of LOLcats. He was an infinitely fluffy Himalayan Persian cat with a condescending permafrown and had been adopted by one Anne Marie Avey of Seattle, Washington.
Born on 11 October 2011, Colonel Meow was just approaching one year old when he shot to internet stardom. Following the Cheezburger feature, his Facebook page grew from less than 200 likes to more than 9,000 within 24 hours. By the end of the month, it was up to 17,000 likes.
It was on this page – now at more than 350,000 likes – that Avey announced that the beloved Colonel Meow had passed away on 29 January 2013. He had been hospitalised in November last year due to heart problems. In the months since, he seemed to have recovered and few details are yet known about his death. He was only two years old.
In his short lifetime, Colonel Meow built up an internet presence spanning Facebook, Twitter, Tumblr, Instagram and YouTube. He featured on many of Seattle’s local news and radio stations, blogs and foreign news sites, as well as US TV talk shows Ellen and Anderson Live.
Colonel Meow also starred in an ad for Virgin Mobile alongside Flaming Lips frontman Wayne Coyne, became CEO of BuzzFeed and received a Guinness World Records certificate for being the cat with the longest hair in the world.
He was a great cat and a great leader, and will be missed by all of his minions.
From Virgin Mobile’s ‘Retrain Your Brain’ ad by Mother
By Chronoperates via Know Your Meme
