25 Purr-fect Origami Cats, Fur Real, I'm not Kitten...

We’re setting the record for the most puns in a post title with this one!

Origami cats are a curious thing. I’ve come across a lot of really fantastic origami lion and tiger models. Even some panthers, leopards and other large cats.

House cats on the other hand are much harder to find. I don’t really know why that is but my theory is that it must be much harder to make natural looking origami cats than it is making origami versions of other animals.

That being said there are some really great cat and kitten models out there. It just took a while to collect enough for a post. You’ll also see some lions, tigers and other giant cats thrown in here too.

We’ll start off this post with probably the most famous house cat model designed by Katsuta Kyohei.

Paper Cat — Image source: https://www.flickr.com/photos/49643647@N06/11815345765/

Cat, Designed by Katsuta Kyohei and Folded by Eyal

Diagrams available in Origami Tanteidan Magazine #124

Satoshi Kamiya’s Smilodon model is still one of my all time favourites and I hope to manage to fold it myself one day.

Smilodon, Designed by Satoshi Kamiya and Folded by Matthew Groves

Diagrams available in Works of Satoshi Kamiya 1995-2003

This is Katsuta Kyohei’s cat again but folded by a different artist with different paper for a very different look.

Cat — Image source: https://www.flickr.com/photos/origami_vilkas/6982419877/

Cat, Designed by Katsuta Kyohei and Folded by Agnieska (Agne) Mackonyte

Diagrams available in Origami Tanteidan Magazine #124

Here are two very cute little origami kittens designed by Joseph Wu.

Kittens, Designed and Folded by Joseph Wu

Instructions not available

This lion is probably the most unique origami lion I’ve ever seen. I love the pose it’s in with the raised paw.

Lion, Designed and Folded by v.coeurjoly7

Instructions not available

Here are two more absolutely adorable little kittens.

Two Cute Kittens — Image source: https://www.flickr.com/photos/65167262@N04/23735357582/

Playful Kittens, Designed and Folded by József Zsebe

Instructions not available

Kunsulu Jilkishiyeva designed a fantastic black panther and here it is doing some hunting.

Black Panther, Designed by Kunsulu Jilkishiyeva and Folded by Luc MARNAT

Diagrams available in Pajarita Magazine #128

Here’s possibly the best origami tiger design I’ve seen by Gen Hagiwara.

Gen Hagiwara's Tiger — Image source: https://www.flickr.com/photos/origami-shop/23149540380/

Tiger, Designed and Folded by Gen Hagiwara

Diagrams available in Spirits of Origami

This is another really excellent origami cat design by Hiroaki Kobayashi.

Hiroaki Kobayashi's Cat — Image source: https://www.flickr.com/photos/kobashi_san/25438577240/

Cat, Designed and Folded by Hiroaki Kobayashi

Instructions not available

I think this picture of an origami lion after a hunt is adorable. The lion and the carcass it’s eating are folded from the same sheet of paper.

Lion Designed by Terry Nicolas — Image source: https://www.flickr.com/photos/79606072@N00/21627225489/

Lion, Designed and Folded by TERRY Nicolas

Instructions not available

Here’s another take on Katsuta Kyohei’s cat by a different folder.

Cat — Image source: https://www.flickr.com/photos/plieurfou/6218317082/

Cat, Designed by Katsuta Kyohei and Folded by Eric Vigier

Diagrams available in Origami Tanteidan Magazine #124

Here are two beautiful looking origami Smilodons.

Two Paper Smilodons — Image source: https://www.flickr.com/photos/emraya/2777663570/

Smilodon, Designed by Satoshi Kamiya and Folded by Emre Ayaroglu

Diagrams available in Works of Satoshi Kamiya 1995-2003

This is a fantastic design that really captures the essence of a Siamese cat.

Fantastic Siamese Cat — Image source: https://www.flickr.com/photos/gabrieleorigami/6946815379/

Siamese Cat, Designed and Folded by gabrixx_

Instructions not available

This next photo is a bit different from everything else here because they’re not actually real cats since they have wings. They still look really paw-some though.

Winged Cats Designed by Joseph Wu — Image source: https://www.flickr.com/photos/josephwuorigami/5193659476/

Winged Cats, Designed and Folded by Joseph Wu

Instructions not available

Hoàng Tiến Quyết’s lion is easily my all-time favourite origami lion. I absolutely love the curves and the lack of sharp edges that are signatures of Vietnamese origami artists.

Beautiful Paper Lion — Image source: https://www.flickr.com/photos/ori_q/15851300892/

Lion, Designed and Folded by Hoàng Tiến Quyết

Instructions not available

I love Hideo Komatsu’s tiger design, especially how it uses two coloured paper and folds to make the individual stripes.

Black and White Tiger — Image source: https://www.flickr.com/photos/25604109@N05/20126189771/

Tiger, Designed by Hideo Komatsu and Folded by Philippe Landrein

Diagrams available in Works of Hideo Komatsu

Here’s a more cartoonish cat design.

Cartoonish Looking Black Cat — Image source: https://www.flickr.com/photos/papygami/14659770226/

Black Cat, Designed by Sebastien Limet and Folded by Luc MARNAT

Diagrams available in the Bogota 2014 Convention Book

Next is a much scarier black panther. I especially love the claws on the feet and the teeth.

Quentin Trollip's Black Panther — Image source: https://www.flickr.com/photos/12043525@N04/3149909474/

Black Panther, Designed and Folded by Quentin Trollip

Instructions not available

Quentin Trollip has also designed a fantastic tiger that also makes excellent use of two coloured paper to form the tiger stripes.

Quentin Trollip's Tiger — Image source: https://www.flickr.com/photos/never-die/29927425866/

Tiger, Designed by Quentin Trollip and Folded by 簡單的度過-2

Diagrams available in Origami Works of Quentin Trollip

The little ball of yarn in this photo is a really nice touch.

Paper Cat with Ball of Yarn — Image source: https://www.flickr.com/photos/alexkrup/15409664061/

Cat, Designed by Katsuta Kyohei and Folded by Alexander Krupnikov

Diagrams available in Origami Tanteidan Magazine #124

Seth Friedman has designed one of the best origami cats I’ve seen. He’s really captured the spirit of a real cat with the shape of the model and its pose.

Siamese Cat by Seth Friedman — Image source: https://www.flickr.com/photos/inqorigami/10429525686/

Cat, Designed and Folded by Seth Friedman

Crease pattern available from Seth Friedman’s website

Here’s another excellent more cartoonish looking cat.

Cartoon Cat — Image source: https://www.flickr.com/photos/papygami/8164377696/

Cat, Designed by Gilgado Gomez and Folded by Luc MARNAT

Diagrams available in Origami Europe

Here’s one more rendition of Katsuta Kyohei’s excellent origami cat.

Black and White Cat — Image source: https://www.flickr.com/photos/91419009@N04/17336575301/

Cat, Designed by Katsuta Kyohei and Folded by Yery J. Astroña (yeryco)

Diagrams available in Origami Tanteidan Magazine #124

This is Gen Hagiwara’s tiger again folded by a different artist. It looks quite playful.

Tiger, Designed by Gen Hagiwara and Folded by Andrés

Diagrams available in Spirits of Origami

Our final model for this post is this absolutely fantastic and adorable mother lion with a cub. Both lions are folded from the same sheet of paper.

Mother Lion and Cub — Image source: https://www.flickr.com/photos/79606072@N00/22116961351/

Just After Birth, Designed and Folded by TERRY Nicolas

Instructions not available

That’s it for this post and there probably won’t be another post with origami cats for a long time. I still have lots of lions, tigers and those types of cats to feature but this is pretty much it for house or pet cats.

Be sure to visit each of these artists as well and let them know you like their work!