Kitten lovers are a strange breed.

by kittymowmow on February 26, 2008

You probably already know that I started this site to support the radio show I created (Kitty Mowmow’s Animal Expo) for my university’s student radio station, 90.7 The Capstone, at the University of Alabama. However, this site has developed a life of its own and today I received a record number of hits. Thanks for your support!

I wondered, “Where on earth are all these hits coming from?” and did a little research. The answer? A surprisingly large number of you are finding me via Google Image Search, looking for pictures of cute little kittens. You folks apparently really like this one:

Aw, wook at dis cute widdle fluffness kitten! Dusnt u wants to cuddle & snuggly & loves her fourevars and evars? U name dis kitten Muffin & loves her and Muffin wil alwais be lovings u bak!

Yup, my little kitten is, at the time of this posting, the #3 most popular kitten on Google Image Search. I have to note that I found this image somewhere on the web - I take no credit for its incredible cuteness and glowing aura of light and goodness.

After my discovery of this fact, I sat looking at the search results, pleasantly surprised that so many people agreed with my belief that the little kitty was a perfectly adorable addition to one of my news posts. Then I looked to the right.

This is the # 4 most popular Google Image Search results for “kitten”:

Poor kitty. :(

Apparently a vast chasm divides kitten lovers. Some of you want sugary, lovey-dovey cuteness, and some of you want… cyclops kitten.

This photo had its moment in the limelight a while back, when it made the rounds of the internet and cyclops kitten fans went crazy for it, going so far as selling cyclops kitten merchandise. This blogger has an excellent post cataloging the cyclops kitten phenomenon - read it here.

Personally, I thought the hoopla surrounding cyclops kitten was more than a little sick at times. The kitten didn’t just look odd - it suffered from a birth defect. And it died from that birth defect. Maybe I misunderstood people’s intentions, but a doll that mocks a terminal birth defect just seems wrong.

Speaking of birth defects, did you see Google Image Search’s “kitten” result #1?

Find out more about it here.

My hypothesis? Morbid curiosity beats the appeal of “cute” any day of the week.

Like I said, kitten lovers are odd. :)
PS - #2 is another ridiculously cute kitty:

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