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Cat ASCII Art

Ascii art cat designs to copy and paste, from a three-character face to a cat on a fence at night. Tap a cat to copy it; use the code block button for Discord.

By Maya Chen, lettering designer and type educator · Checked by Jordan Hale · · How we review content

Tiny cat faces

One line, 5 wide · traditional
One line, 7 wide · traditional
One line, 7 wide
One line, 7 wide

Small cats

3 lines, 7 wide · traditional
3 lines, 10 wide
6 lines, 12 wide
4 lines, 12 wide

Bigger cats

7 lines, 25 wide
8 lines, 19 wide
5 lines, 24 wide
8 lines, 23 wide

Made with our image converter

We drew a simple sitting cat shape and ran it through the image to ASCII converter on this site. Braille pieces pack eight dots into each character, so they look smoother but rely on a font with Braille Patterns.

9 lines, 16 wide
14 lines, 25 wide
6 lines, 10 wide

15 pieces on this page. All are drawn for this site except those marked traditional, which have been shared online for years without a known author. Copy one and paste it into a code block, a terminal or any app that uses a monospace font; in a proportional font the lines drift apart. Make your own with the text to ASCII generator or the image to ASCII converter.

Key facts

  • Cat ASCII art is built from a few parts: ears as /, eyes such as o.o or ^ ^, whiskers, paws as (")(") and a wavy tail.
  • Under 20 columns fits a phone screen in most chat apps that use code blocks; over 40 columns starts to wrap on a phone.
  • One-line cat faces such as =^.^= work in bios and comments, while multi-line cats need a monospace font.
  • The Braille cats use Unicode Braille Patterns, where each character holds a grid of up to eight dots.
  • Pieces made for this site can be used freely in posts, chats, code comments and personal projects.

How do you draw a cat with characters?

Every cat on this page is built from the same few parts, and once you see them you can make your own:

Part Characters Why it works
Ears /\ Two slashes meet in a point
Eyes o.o -.- ^ ^ Open, sleepy or happy
Whiskers > < ~~> <~~ Lines leaving the face sideways
Paws (")(") Rounded toes from quote marks
Tail ~ )~~~ A wavy line off the body

Small cats are the most useful because they fit in a chat message. The three-line cat face is the classic: ears on the first line, eyes on the second, whiskers and mouth on the third. Change only the eyes and you get a sleepy, surprised or happy cat without redrawing anything.

ASCII art cat: size and where it fits

ASCII art is measured in columns (characters per line) and lines. Under 20 columns fits a phone screen in most chat apps that use code blocks. Over 40 columns starts to wrap on a phone, which scrambles the picture. Each card shows its size so you can pick one that fits.

The Braille cats at the end are made from Unicode Braille Patterns, where each character holds a grid of up to eight dots. They look smoother than letters but need a font with those characters; most phones and computers have one.

Want a cat that says something? Put a word above it with the text to ASCII generator, or turn your own cat photo into text with the image to ASCII converter. Whichever ascii art cat you pick, paste it into the app you plan to use and check the lines before you send it.

Frequently asked questions

Basics

Can I use these cats in my own project?
Pieces made for this site can be used freely in posts, chats, code comments and personal projects; a link back is appreciated but not required. The pieces marked traditional have no known author, and the same courtesy applies.
What do the parts of a cat in ASCII art stand for?
Ears are two slashes that meet in a point, eyes are o.o, -.- or ^ ^, whiskers are lines leaving the face sideways such as > <, paws are rounded quote marks, and the tail is a wavy tilde. Change one part and the whole cat changes mood.
What is the smallest cat face I can type?
=^.^= is a traditional cat face of only five characters: the carets are happy eyes and the equals signs read as whiskers. Because it is a single line, it keeps its shape in bios, comments and chats where multi-line art would break.
Are the Braille cats real ASCII art?
Not strictly. They are made from Unicode Braille Patterns, where each character holds a grid of up to eight dots, so they look smoother than letters. They need a font that has those characters, and most phones and computers do.

Where it works

How do I post cat ASCII art in Discord without it breaking?
Use the Code block button, which wraps the cat in three backticks. Discord shows code blocks in a monospace font, so every line keeps its width. Without the backticks Discord uses a proportional font and the cat's whiskers and legs drift out of line.
Which cat works in an Instagram or TikTok bio?
Only the one-line faces, such as =^.^= or (=^-^=). Bios use proportional fonts and often strip extra spaces, so multi-line cats lose their shape. Test the face in the app before saving. If a face shows as boxes, swap to a plain ASCII one such as =^.^=.

How it works

How do I make a cat from my own photo?
Open the image to ASCII converter, choose a photo with a plain background and a clear outline, and try 40 to 60 characters wide. Braille mode keeps more detail in a small space. Everything happens in your browser. The photo never leaves your device, so private pictures are safe to try.
How do I change the mood of an ASCII cat?
Change only the eyes. Swapping o.o for -.- gives a sleepy cat, and ^ ^ gives a happy one, while the ears, whiskers and mouth stay as they are. You never need to redraw the whole cat, so mood changes take a few seconds.
How do I add a word above my cat?
Type the word into the text to ASCII generator, pick a font and copy the result, then paste it on the lines above the cat. Keep the banner no wider than the cat and under about 40 columns so nothing wraps on a phone.

Tips & limits

How wide should a cat be for a phone screen?
Under 20 columns fits a phone screen in most chat apps that use code blocks, and over 40 columns starts to wrap, which scrambles the picture. Each card on this page shows its width and line count, so you can pick one that fits before copying.
Why are my pasted cat's whiskers crooked?
The app is using a proportional font, where spaces are narrower than letters, so the lines no longer share columns. Paste the cat into a code block, a terminal or a plain text editor with a monospace font and the whiskers line up again.

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