memeworld

Coughing Cat Meme Generator

Caption the photoshopped stairs cat: the claim or cough-cover on top, the incredulous reaction on the bottom.

Drag a box to move it, or its corners to resize. Everything renders on your device — nothing is uploaded.

Meme lore

What is the Coughing Cat meme?

Coughing Cat is a photoshopped white cat on wooden stairs, mouth open, one paw hanging off a step, derpy wide eyes. It went viral as “this is how little kids cough,” then as a reaction for swallowing a lie, stifling a laugh, or catching a fake-sick excuse.

Origin & history

Instagram account @idascreatures (photoshopped animals) posted the still on 2018-11-27. On 2018-12-03 Twitter user @aliahgeyes captioned it “this is how little kids cough,” and it exploded (Know Your Meme: Coughing Cat, added 2018-12-12). The pose came back in 2020 as a COVID cough joke. This PNG is an 836×846 crop of that stairs take, Instagram chrome removed; the creator watermark stays.

Photoshop: @idascreatures on Instagram, 2018-11-27. Viral caption: @aliahgeyes on Twitter, 2018-12-03 (“this is how little kids cough”). Know Your Meme: Coughing Cat.

Caption this Coughing Cat meme with your own text in the editor above, then download the finished PNG free — for Reddit, X, Instagram, WhatsApp, Discord or the group chat.

Best used for

  • reacting to an obviously exaggerated story
  • the polite cough after an embarrassing confession
  • calling out a fake-sick excuse
  • how little kids cough in public
  • stifling a laugh in a serious conversation

Template details

Size
836 × 846 px
Download
PNG
Caption slots
2
Layout
Caption Top Bottom
Category
Animal
AnimalAwkward Moments

Step by step

How to make a Coughing Cat meme

  1. 1

    Open the Coughing Cat template

    The blank Coughing Cat meme is already loaded in the editor at the top of this page. There is nothing to install and no account to create.

  2. 2

    Write your captions

    Type into the the claim and the cough fields in the panel beside the image, or tap one of the example captions to start from a working joke.

  3. 3

    Place the text

    Drag a caption box on the image to move it, or drag a corner to resize it. The text rewraps and shrinks to fit as you go.

  4. 4

    Download your meme

    Press Download PNG for the finished 836×846 image, or Copy to paste it straight into a chat. Turn the watermark off first if you would rather not have one.

How the joke works

Top is a claim, excuse, or “how X coughs”; bottom is the cat’s shocked, stifled-cough punchline. Keep Impact off the face and paw.

Tone: incredulous, playful, awkward

mock disbeliefcalling out exaggerationcough-cover for a liekid-cough comparison

Caption tips

  • Keep captions short and conversational.
  • Use the top line for a claim, excuse, or setup.
  • Use the bottom line for the cough, shock, or call-out.
  • Do not describe the photoshop or stairs; the image already does that.
  • Captions covering the cat’s face or raised paw
  • Treating this as an unedited pet photo
  • Long medical explanations of coughing
  • Confusing it with Smudge / Woman Yelling at a Cat

AI studio

Let AI write the captions

Describe the joke once and get four captioned variants on the templates that fit it — then open the one you like in this editor.

Generate captions

For agents

memeworld ships a REST API and an MCP server, so Claude, Cursor or your own agent can pull this template, caption it and render the image.

GET /api/v1/templates/coughing-cat-415Agent docs

Coughing Cat meme generator FAQ

What is the Coughing Cat meme?

Coughing Cat is a photoshopped white cat on wooden stairs, mouth open, one paw hanging off a step, derpy wide eyes.

How do I make a Coughing Cat meme?

Open the editor at the top of this page, type your captions, drag the text where you want it, and download the finished PNG. It takes about twenty seconds.

Is the Coughing Cat meme generator free?

Yes. Captioning and downloading are free, there is no account to create, and there is no cap on how many you make.

How many captions does the Coughing Cat template take?

2 captions: the claim and the cough. You can leave any of them blank, and you can move or resize each box on the image.

Where does the Coughing Cat template come from?

Instagram account @idascreatures (photoshopped animals) posted the still on 2018-11-27. On 2018-12-03 Twitter user @aliahgeyes captioned it “this is how little kids cough,” and it exploded (Know Your Meme: Coughing Cat, added 2018-12-12). The pose came back in 2020 as a COVID cough joke. This PNG is an 836×846 crop of that stairs take, Instagram chrome removed; the creator watermark stays.

What file do I get?

A 836×846 PNG, ready to post to Reddit, X, Instagram, WhatsApp, Discord or the group chat.

Is there a watermark?

A small memeworld watermark is drawn in by default. Switch it off in the editor panel before you download and the export is clean.

Are my memes uploaded anywhere?

No. The renderer runs in your browser, so your captions and the finished image never leave your device.

Can an AI write Coughing Cat captions?

Yes. Describe your joke on the Create page and memeworld writes captions onto the templates that fit it, ready to open in this editor. Agents can do the same through the REST API and the MCP server.

Related meme templates

Templates that share tags with Coughing Cat — similar characters, formats and reactions, not just the most popular blanks.

Browse every template