Fun YouTube Videos with Dogs & Cats

By Julia Williams

When I’m writing, I like to take a break now and then because it recharges my batteries and allows me to keep working for longer periods than if I just wrote nonstop. I might go for a short walk, play with my cats or see what’s shakin’ on Facebook or Twitter. My favorite online “break room” though, is YouTube. Founded in 2005 by three ex-PayPal employees, YouTube has grown tremendously since then and now claims that 48 hours of new videos are uploaded to the site every minute. It’s also estimated that more than 2 billion videos are viewed every day. Isn’t that astounding?

Some of the most popular videos on YouTube feature dogs and cats. With approximately 75 million pet dogs and 94 million pet cats in the U.S. alone, it’s easy to see why. But did you know that the very first YouTube video posted featured an animal? It wasn’t a dog or cat, however – it was elephants. The “Me at the Zoo” video featured founder Jawed Karim in front of the elephants at the San Diego Zoo. There are so many dog and cat videos on YouTube that I could watch dozens every day and never come close to seeing them all. Here are just a few of my favorites:

Singing and Talking Dogs

Huskies are the paw’s down winner in the Singing Dogs category, because of their natural inclination to sing and howl. A singing Siberian Husky named Mishka has dozens of entertaining videos on YouTube, and “Mishka’s Song” is now also available on iTunes! Mishka has appeared on TV commercials and talk shows, including LIVE! with Kelly Rippa and Bette Midler. Mishka is also famous for her talking ability, and the video of her saying “I love you” is great. It kind of sounds like “I ruv roo” but still…

“Ultimate Dog Tease” is a hilarious conversation between a guy and his dog about the different kinds of meat that’s in his fridge, and what he does with it that causes the dog to howl in dismay. Cute videos of dogs singing are in abundance on YouTube. One of my favorites is “Corgis Singing Happy Birthday,” which was supposedly made for the Queen Mum’s 100th birthday.

Talking Cats

This is another popular category on YouTube. “Senile Talking Cat” features two felines in a rather tense stand-off, and one seems to be really telling the other one off! Another funny talking cat is Menzo, who is filmed plaintively begging to be let into the garage.

YouTube has hundreds of funny videos of cats “talking” while eating. Although I think it’s probably more likely that the kitties are actually growling as if to say, “Leave my noms alone!” they’re still amusing to watch. Two of my favorites are “Cute Kitten says Yum Yum Yum While Eating” and “Kitty said OM NOM NOM NOM!”

Funny Cats

“Charlie Schmidt’s Keyboard Cat – the Original” cracks me up no matter how many times I watch it. This video has inspired countless thousands of keyboard cat wannabes, including one that starred in a recent TV commercial for Pistachios. But there is only one original Keyboard Cat – an adorable orange boy kitty named Fatso.

Another amusing video is titled simply “Funny Cats” and it is just that: it features hundreds of felines jumping, falling, flipping, ambushing, and getting into all sorts of mischief as only kitties can.

In the “Barking Cat” video, a kitty gets caught barking by a human and then resumes meowing, with a look that says, “Oops, I’m busted!” Although it looks real enough, I’m not entirely sure this isn’t fake. Nevertheless, it is funny to watch.

Cat Versus Dog

Another popular category on YouTube features feline-canine showdowns of all sorts. “Pitbull Vs. Kitten” is destined to be a classic. It shows the budding friendship of a tiny kitten named Visa and an American Pitbull Terrier named Spike. The two engage in lots of mock sparring which is quite entertaining, but it’s the images of the itty bitty kitten cuddling with the dog that will make you go “awwwww.” If I could only turn off the annoying song, this video would be a ten.

“Crazy Cat Attacking Spuds Dog” is, in my opinion, mislabeled – because it’s the dog who is acting a bit crazy, running around in circles trying to engage the cat in a play fight. Guess who wins!! “Get Out of My Bed” features Rudy the dog desperately trying to get Babe the cat out of his dog bed. “Play Fight Race” features kitties Tiggy and Wiggy playing on a trampoline with Diddy the poodle, to the song Yakety Sax. I laughed at the video, as well as the funny names bestowed upon these cats and dogs.

Photo by Barbara Quinn

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