This 17-Year-Old's Insanely Viral TikTok Of Her Cat Is Taking Over The Internet

Set to the 1954 song "Mr. Sandman" by the barbershop group the Chordettes, the 12-second video has taken the internet by storm.

Jade Taylor-Ryan is a 17-year-old high school student in Ontario with a passion for soccer; her cat, Ed (named for Ed Sheeran because they have a similar hair color, she said); and TikTok.

She's only been using the video app since last month, but on Friday she uploaded a video starring 4-year-old Ed that's become one of TikTok's most insanely viral creations.

Set to the 1954 song "Mr. Sandman" by the barbershop-pop group the Chordettes, the 12-second video shows Ed clapping his paws, peering into the camera, and twirling as Taylor-Ryan swings him in and out of frame in time with the music.

Taylor-Ryan told BuzzFeed News the idea just "popped into [her] head" Thursday night while she was watching another user combine the app's nine-camera split filter with the same song.

"I put my phone on the floor and set a timer on it so I didn’t have to use my hands to film," she said in an email. "I then timed when my cat would pop up in the frame based on the beat of the music."

For anyone worried about Ed being twirled about, rest assured that Taylor-Ryan said no cats were harmed in the making of the video. "Ed is very chill!" she said. "We pick him up and move him around all the time and he doesn’t really care, so I figured I would be able to do the same thing for the video. Turns out, I was right!"

Like many videos on the app, Taylor-Ryan's creation was her contribution to an ongoing TikTok meme — in this instance, the combination of "Mr. Sandman" with the nine-camera split filter.

Popular user Enoch True began the trend a couple months back when he posted this video to his more than 6 million followers. It's since been played more than 22.5 million times.

A few weeks later, another huge TikTok star Alana, aka @thunthunskittles (4.8 million followers), got in on the fun with what she later said turned out to be her most viral video with 23.8 million plays.

But since she posted it Friday, Taylor-Ryan's cat-themed take has already logged more than 6.8 million views and 1.2 million likes in just over 24 hours — and she had nowhere near the built-in fan base those other creators had when she uploaded it.

It's also found its way onto Twitter, where at least two mega-viral tweets have racked up hundreds of thousands of shares and millions more video views.

this is the best tiktok i've ever seen in my entire LIFE

"I didn’t think it would get as much attention as it’s getting," Taylor-Ryan said.

"I think people love it so much because of how well it's timed," she said, "and just seeing my cat's calm expression during the entirety of the film while all this twisting and spinning is going on is honestly pretty funny!"

Her creation has won a ton of praise on TikTok, with some users calling it their favorite video on the app. "I genuinely can't stop watching this," one wrote. "Help."

On Twitter, Taylor-Ryan was being praised for reinspiring people's faith in the goodness of the internet.

The only problem with this Tik-Tok is that I now need to see a video for the full song more than anything I’ve needed in my life.

@_glittergoth maybe the internet wasn’t a mistake

@lillguillotine @_glittergoth The internet and its true origin of bringing us cats was never a mistake. We just allowed ourselves to be misguided along the way

It also inspired others to try the same with their pets.

@_glittergoth @piIotsharry k but what about this one of my pup

As her video continues to be shared online, Taylor-Ryan has now accumulated more than 30,000 fans on TikTok — not bad for someone who said she only downloaded the app initially as a joke because all her friends wouldn't stop talking about it.

She also said she's not sure whether Ed knows he's now internet famous.

"Knowing him, you wouldn’t be able to tell if he knew or not," she said, "and if he did know, I think he would act like nothing is happening and keep his cool!"

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