The Pop Cat meme features a domestic shorthair cat named Oatmeal who was filmed by his owner chirping at a bug with its mouth opening and closing in a wide 'O' shape. The original video was posted on Discord in 2020 and quickly gained traction on Twitter and TikTok after being edited with a 'pop' sound effect. It evolved into a global phenomenon, even inspiring a competitive worldwide clicker game where users click to make the cat pop. The meme is primarily used to represent excitement, loud noises, or simply as a cute and rhythmic visual gag that works perfectly with various music tracks and high-energy situations.