We love cats but there are many other cute animals on the internet

From the cat who had kittens in some random guy's jumper drawer, to the ginger kitty who interrupted a very serious TV interview, they're pretty much always unintentionally hilarious. And cute. Very cute.

Plus it's Black Cat Appreciation Day - a day to honour black and black and white cats, which are often the last ones to be adopted from shelters. Some think it's because they're more common than other cats, so there are more of them. Some say it's because of old superstitions about black cats being unlucky, or associated with witchcraft. And others reckon it's because they (sniff) don't look as good on Instagram.

We know how you feel, black cats.

But as sad as we feel, we can't help but feel like there's a lot of love for cats on the internet. Too much, maybe. We've already had International Cat Day (8 August), and are about to have Ginger Cat Appreciation Day (1 September), Happy Cat Month (for the whole of September), and International Black Cat Awareness Month (all of October).

And as great as cats are, like all weird best friends they can also kind of be... annoying.

Oh, come on. You know you agree. They're constantly wanting to go out, then come in, then go out, then come in, and so on for the rest of your life. They sleep for 16 hours a day, and then meow loudly in your face at 4am. They murder innocent birds, and then proudly show off the corpses. 

And let's not forget, they like to do stuff like this. For fun.

Plus, we all know cats are super-adorable - but did you know they evolved to look like cute, fluffy kittens for their entire adult lives, on purpose, so that you would look after them? It's called neoteny, and if you really think about it, it's messed up. Cats intentionally evolved so that they could exploit your love of cute fluffy babies and manipulate you.

Not. Cool.

But not everyone is so easily convinced. Just look at this local councillor in Canada, whose controversial International Cat Day take put him at the centre of a massive dungstorm last year.

But don't worry Norm, we're taking a stand. We've decided to fight against the indoctrination, and are going to give a shout out to some of the other animals we love. Take that, kitties.

Although if you are into cats - especially black cats - be sure to check out the hashtag for #BlackCatAppreciationDay, which is now full of itty bitty cutey fluffy little kittie pies, they're so sweet! (*Slaps self in the face* STOP. NO. STAY STRONG.)

So without further ado, our other faves...

Ducks

Everybody loves ducks - the little quackers have waddled out of the pond and straight into our hearts.

And who can forget the hysteria earlier this year around the '90s cartoon Duck Tales theme song? Why was it in everything? Why was everyone singing it?

Anyway if it weren't for ducks, we wouldn't have experienced that joy. 

Plus, some of them are pretty damn fancy - like this Mandarin Duck (sna-zzy).

Tortoises and turtles

Looooook at his little tortoise face trying to eat the little flower! What a sweetie pie!

Yep, tortoises are cute - and their turtle cousins are simply badass. 

Seriously. Look at this one doing a runner from the police...

(Not that we advocate that sort of thing).

Snakes

If you look closely, it kind of looks like they're smiling...

Yes, snakes are adorable, and we don't care what anyone says.

They smell with their tongues! What's not to love?

Bumblebees

Bumblebees are sweet and buzzy, AND under threat from humans callously wrecking the planet. 

All they want to do is buzz around, smell some lovely flowers and hang out at the hive - and we're making that difficult.

Frankly, they've earned their place on this list.

And finally...

Cats

Cats are...

NO WAIT, ARGH, DAMMIT. Okay, we give up - you win.

Originally published on 8 August 2018.