What looks like an adorable photo whim has now become one of the most unique viral pet trends. On Thursday night, Stephen Colbert introduced the phenomenon on his Comedy Central talk show. Colbert’s endorsement of a person or idea is said to get the “Colbert bump,” meaning it suddenly spreads across the world faster than a celeb sex tape.
Cat breading enjoys a Facebook Page with 15,300 members, and is quickly getting media attention, from New Zealand to the U.K. Gawker is believed to be one of the news sites giving rise to even more people acquainting themselves with cat breading.
How does it work? Cat owners cut a hole in the centre of a bread slice, then gently place the bread over the cat’s face. Take a photo. Upload the pic to the Facebook Page or on Flickr.
Some observers believe placing bread around animals is cruel, such as commenters in this Daily Mail article. So far, no cat breaders are replying to allegations of animal cruelty.
Cat breading is reminiscent of a performing rabbit in Japan named Oolong, who balanced food on his head. Oolong’s website became known to the general public after it was covered in 2001 by Syberpunk, a site which focuses on odd things in Japanese culture.
