Like Kylie Minogue, Cathy Freeman or AC/DC, Australia has its fair share of icons.
And one of the most unique might just be a little fat cat from Victoria who loves to meow.
Bender is the enigma known as ‘Huh Cat’ — a cat who skyrocketed to fame after a clip of him meowing was transformed into a viral meme, a piece of media that’s usually funny in nature and spread rapidly by internet users.
It’s not quite clear how and why Bender was chosen by the internet, but the celebrity cat now boasts a combined four million followers across TikTok and Instagram.
The reason for his fame? ‘Saying’ the word ‘huh?’.
Huh Cat became a viral meme seemingly overnight. A video posted in 2021 showed Bender making a confused and shocked-looking face as he meowed.
The video was later dubbed in 2023 with the now famous ‘huh?’ sound quickly going viral and gaining millions of views and fans.
But what you might not have realised is that this 15-year-old celebrity cat lives in an apartment in the foothills of Victoria’s Dandenong Ranges. Yep, Australia has its very own famous cat.
‘An overnight success’
Bender’s owner is the 73-year-old Nellie Cage. She lives inside a little unit in Tecoma, 35km east of Melbourne.
While she might never have envisioned herself becoming a content creator in her 70s, Cage has taken to the creator life and runs the Huh Cat social media pages.
Huh Cat has 3.2 million followers on TikTok and over 700,000 followers on Instagram.
“I started with bits and pieces and then one day I just posted him meowing a few things, and his meow just went viral,” Cage told SBS News.
“It was an overnight success.
“I don’t know who did the dubbing of the ‘huh’. There were two videos. One went viral when he was by the refrigerator meowing to me. Then there was another one about a year ago that I posted, and someone had dubbed ‘huh?’ over it.
“That’s when it just went crazy.”
Weighing a hefty 13kg, Cage thinks Bender was meowing about food in the viral video.
“He was hungry. It’s always about the food — I’m 100 per cent sure of that,” she said.
Bender has been put on a diet, but Cage said he’s constantly fed by neighbours in her retirement village who love spending time with the celebrity cat.
Melbourne’s Nellie Cage never expected her cat Bender to become a viral meme. Source: SBS News
But while Tecoma might be treated to a brush with feline fame, a large portion of Huh Cat’s fanbase doesn’t realise that he’s, indeed, Australian.
Cage attributes this to the European-style carpets in her home, which feature in the videos.
“People assume he’s from Eastern Europe,” she said.
Indeed, it’s in Europe that Huh Cat had quite the buzz.
Bender-themed artwork, paintings, portraits and stuffed toys come from his dedicated fanbase.
Fans cut micro bangs to match Bender’s black splodge on the top of his face.
Bender’s face has occupied billboards in Russia.
Someone even got a tattoo of him.
“The part that surprises me is how far people will go to be connected to Bender,” Cage said.
Even Cage’s grandchildren find it hard to convince their friends at school that not only do they know the infamous Huh Cat — it’s also a family member.
Nine-year-old Bastian said: “The kids at school say I’m lying.”
“I think they’re jealous.”
Bastian and his seven-year-old brother Ben’s favourite thing about Bender is that he’s “famous and very fluffy too”.
A 73-year-old content creator
A self-proclaimed “crazy cat lady”, 73-year-old Cage is the mind behind the Huh Cat account and has accidentally found herself in the content creation life.
She still can’t quite grasp her newfound fame.
“I just wonder why. I think, how did this happen? I’m in awe. I’ll never understand it,” she said.
While Cage might never have thought she would be a content creator, she’s become more and more savvy in the content creation lifestyle.
But the impact has been substantial. “I’m happier. It keeps me occupied.”
Nellie’s daughter Nikki said she can see the difference in her mum since Huh Cat went viral.
“I’ve noticed she’s much happier because she’s a part of something. She’s doing something. Not many people her age are into it, but she is,” she said.
“She can post these videos and get communication from people saying how happy Bender makes them.
“That’s what it can be … it can just be something where you just see a cat running around, and that can make you happy. Just the simplicity of it.
“That’s why I think she’s popular. It’s just how simple it is.”
Is Huh Cat aware he’s a celebrity? His owner seems to think so
Around the house, Bender likes to do his own thing.
“He’s the boss of the house,” Cage said.
He also chooses when he likes to be recorded.
“There are times I get my camera out, and he’s standing there, meowing away, and then I begin to record, and he looks the other way,” she said.
Cage thinks Bender is aware of his new celebrity status.
“He knows,” she said. “He’s the focus of attention. When we have visitors, they come to visit him, not me.”
If there’s one thing Cage hopes people take away from the videos of Bender and his Huh Cat alter ego, it’s happiness.
“I just want them to be happy.”