Mystery Surrounds Cat Who Has 'Unexpected' Reaction to the Netflix Sound

One cat always loves it when his owner puts on Netflix. He shows his appreciation by meowing to the "ta-dum" start-up sound every time it comes on.

Sawyer has gone viral since the video was posted on TikTok (@britishshortiez) and generated more than 4.7 million views.

Sawyer's owner now jokingly refers to him as "the Netflix cat" on social media, because he loves the "ta-dum" so much.

Many cat owners will notice their pet paying attention to what's on the television. A 2008 study that tested the behavioral effects of different types of stimulus found that there are benefits from this. Published in Applied Animal Behavior Science, it revealed that cats can be enriched by sequences they see on television, despite the images being two-dimensional.

After sharing Sawyer's talents online, Caroline Vein of Los Angeles told Newsweek how funny she finds it every time her cat does this.

Vein said: "He's been reacting to the Netflix theme tune ever since I've had him, which is about four months, and it never gets old.

"Every time he sees the Netflix intro, he has the same reaction. It's totally unexpected and random, but beyond cute."

Vein's two cats, Sawyer and his brother Finn, were named after the famous characters from the classic 1876 Mark Twain novel, The Adventures of Tom Sawyer. The duo are referred to as @thetwainbrothers on their Instagram page.

After Vein and her roommate and business partner, Sophia Buturoaga, first heard Sawyer respond to the sound, they knew his talents had to be shared on social media.

"People love it," Vein said. "I think it's an intro we all know, but having that extra cute reaction makes it all the more wholesome.

"My roommate Sophia and I found the Netflix reaction hilarious, and we needed to share it with the world," she added. "We are so excited to have this response and traction since sharing the video in such a small amount of time."

The TikTok video was shared on March 18 and is captioned, "petition to make Sawyer the Netflix cat." It's already received over 1.3 million likes.

The clip has gained plenty of attention online with thousands of comments, including one from Netflix's very own TikTok page. The streaming giant commented on the video, "that second meow went hard."

Many other people joined in the fun to joke about Sawyer's talents, with another comment reading: "He was the MGM lion in a past life."

Do you have funny and adorable videos or pictures of your pet you want to share? Send them to life@newsweek.com with some details about your best friend, and they could appear in our Pet of the Week lineup.