Animals·Posted on Dec 20, 2013The 30 Most Important Cats Of 2013This year has not been an easy one, but these are the heroic cats and kittens who helped us navigate it. Let us pay them tribute.by Jack ShepherdBuzzFeed StaffLinkFacebookPinterestTwitterMail 30. Cat Who Sees Her Own Reflection View this video on YouTube youtube.com This year was a mirror that showed us our darkest selves. To confront that dire simulacrum and — instead of blanching — sort of wave one's paws about worriedly is honestly about the best that anyone can be expected to muster. 29. Destiny Cat 28. Epic Boop Cat View this video on YouTube youtube.com "Who among you, when confronted by the unmanning strangeness of The Other, would have the grace and courage to look it directly in the eye and boop it gently on the forehead?" —This cat 27. Cat Who Sees His Owner After A Six-Month Tour Of Duty View this video on YouTube youtube.com Major premise: A man's life is nothing more than the sum of his actions.Minor premise: A man's actions are nothing more than the sum of his feedings.Conclusion: If a man leaves but the feedings continue, there is nothing to miss. —Logical axiom about this cat 26. First-World Cat Problems Cat 25. Cat Who Attacks His Own Leg View this video on YouTube youtube.com "If thy leg offend thee, grab it firmly with both paws and bite furiously at thy knee."—Cat Bible: Matthew 18:9 24. Cat Beards 23. Vacuum-Licking Cat View this video on YouTube youtube.com "Inevitably, the vacuum of time sucks our essence into the void of history. It is up to us whether to taste of it as it tastes of us." —Inspirational saying 22. Shell Game Cat View this video on YouTube youtube.com The unerring accuracy of this beautiful animal was a powerful reminder that you will never lose at the shell game of life as long as you keep your paws pointed in the right general direction. 21. Tearful Cat Floating Behind Miley Cyrus at the AMAs Tap to play GIF Tap to play GIF Tap to play GIF Tap to play GIF 20. Fat Cat Squeezing Through a Small Doggie Door View this video on YouTube youtube.com "Between desire and success there is a door called fear, and if you are too timid to open it, a fat cat will probably squeeze through it and yowl at you."—Metaphor about this cat that started well and then kind of went off the railsOr, to paraphrase Horace, Parturient fores, nascetur ridiculus felis. 19. Brides Throwing Cats 18. Waffles the Terrible View this video on YouTube youtube.com Next time you find yourself perched atop the slippery car roof that is your own bad planning, remember Waffles the Terrible, and brace yourself. 17. Sleep Dancing Kitty View this video on YouTube youtube.com It is said of Sleep Dancing Kitty that "he heard the songs of angels while he slumbered," but it is more likely that he was experiencing a commonplace occurrence of involuntary sleep myoclunus. 16. Sam, the Cat with Eyebrows 15. Kitten Who Tried So Hard to Meow View this vine on Vine vine.co "And I saw another mighty angel come down from heaven ... and he cried with a loud voice, as when a kitten on your shoulder meoweth adorably into your ear, and when he had cried, seven thunders uttered their voices."—Eschatological kitten prophecy 14. Topher, The Cat Who Got Stuck Between Two Trees 13. Malfunctioning Tongue Cat View this video on YouTube youtube.com "Laugh, and the world laughs with you. Stick out your tongue then somehow forget to put it back, and the world laughs at you."—True fact 12. Lion King-Reenacting Kittens 11. Dubstep Kitty View this vine on Vine vine.co "Beneath the frills and finery, the bluster and the pompeach one of us is dubstep kitty, going womp womp womp womp womp."—Actual poem 10. Two Cats Walking a Toy Kitten View this video on YouTube youtube.com "Do not be afraid of the unexpected kittens in life, but take them firmly by the leash and lead them confidently down the hallway." —Weird, but ultimately solid, advice 9. Kitten Meeting a Hedgehog View this video on YouTube youtube.com "When someone you meet is prickly and weird, it's definitely OK to smell them but you shouldn't try to snuggle with them."—This kitten 8. Sir Stuffington 7. Water Balloon–Popping Cat View this video on YouTube youtube.com "The most beautiful things in life are fragile and we can destroy them with the slightest sharpness in ourselves," says this cat. "But it's way better if you have a whole bowlful of them so you can do it over and over." 6. The "Sad Cat Diary" Cats View this video on YouTube youtube.com The sad cats of "Sad Cat Diary" reminded us this year that true petulance is an art form and passive aggression is the purest form of aggression. 5. Princess Monstertruck 4. "OMG, Is That a Balloon?" Cat View this video on YouTube youtube.com If the shirtless guy of fate passes you holding the balloon of opportunity, be this cat. 3. Maru's Cat, Hana 2. Cat Who Is Friends with an Overly Affectionate Sloth View this video on YouTube youtube.com Having suffered, for nigh a twelvemonth, the embraces of the overly affectionate sloth that was 2013, each one of us can identify with this cat right now. 1. Cat in a Shark Costume Who Chases a Duck While Riding on a Roomba View this video on YouTube youtube.com No matter what trials await us in the coming year, there is no manner of adversity that will be able to remove from our hearts the ecstatic triumph that comes with the certain knowledge that on one fateful day in our short but momentous history upon this planet, a cat, dressed as a shark, chased a duck. On a Roomba. Tap to play GIF Tap to play GIF