Just 15 Photos of a Cat Who Can’t Keep His Dang Tongue in His Mouth

Some tongues are just too beautiful to keep hidden away

Jack Shepherd
Published in
Oct 29, 2020

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A Siamese cat with a flat face and blue eyes, sticking its tongue out.
Photos: Neko Ikiru San via Instagram

A custom that is shared by humans and cats alike is the one where we keep our dang tongues in our mouths unless we’re using them for something. But like many such customs, this is simply something we’ve all kind of collectively landed on as a way of behaving and not, as it turns out, the law. And such is the fragility of our norms that it only takes one obstreperous malcontent to plunge us all into a topsy-turvy mayhem-world where some of us don’t keep our dang tongues in our mouths, ever.

The transgressor, in this case, is a cat named Ikiru who lives to make trouble. When it comes to our dang tongues, and whether they should or shouldn’t be in our mouths when we’re not using them, his rules are not our rules. His ways are not our ways. His mouth is a mouth that will ever be preceded by a tongue, and his tongue is a tongue that will ever be out, society be damned. He is, in short, a trailblazer and a visionary and a hero to us all.

You can follow him here.

Ikiru, tongue out, poking his head out of a leopard-print cat tunnel.

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Tenderly
Tenderly

Published in Tenderly

A vegan magazine that’s hopefully devoted to delicious plants, liberated animals, and leading a radical, sustainable, joyful life

Jack Shepherd
Jack Shepherd

Written by Jack Shepherd

I have a newsletter about crossword puzzles and a podcast about rom-coms. Formerly editorial director @BuzzFeed. Email: JackAShepherd at gmail