When Felix the tabby wants attention, he makes sure his owner hears about it.
The 10-year-old cat follows Ontario-based ceramic artist Catherine Przenioslo into her apartment studio, curls up in her lap while she works and meows loudly enough to interrupt a pottery session.
So, when Felix began demanding attention as Przenioslo filmed herself at her wheel earlier this year, she decided to put him to work.
“He’d been screaming for like 20 minutes,” Przenioslo said. “Let me just include him in the process.”
The result was a series of viral videos starring Felix, his clay-covered paws and an unexpected new skill: pottery. After viewers fell in love with the tabby’s studio appearances, Przenioslo turned the moment into a limited collection of Felix-assisted
ceramics.
The roughly 32-piece collection sold out in about 10 minutes.
For Przenioslo, the interest was not simply an internet success story. It showed her that people connected with the work — and the relationship behind it.
“Felix is not just my story anymore,” she said. “I put a tangible piece of him out there in the world that people love and can relate to.”
How Felix became a pottery assistant
Przenioslo is the artist behind Planthead Pots, a small business that began with hand-painted planters and now includes handmade ceramics. She works a full-time job and makes art from a small studio area in her two-bedroom apartment.
She began taking pottery courses in 2024, adding ceramics to her business after years of painting and drawing. Felix was already a regular part of her routine. Przenioslo adopted him after bringing home Salem, another cat she found while living in Vancouver, and deciding Salem needed a fellow furry friend.
In the studio, Felix's presence is unyielding.
“He’s a Velcro cat,” Przenioslo said. “When I’m at the studio, it’s almost like he’s my natural alarm clock.”
Pottery can make time disappear, she said. Felix often wanders in, meows insistently and watches her until she realizes several hours have passed and it may be time to take a break. When she sits down to glaze a piece, he often wants to be in her lap.
In this case, curiosity didn't kill the cat — it helped launch a career in "paw-tery."
Przenioslo had been filming herself at the wheel for her social media pages when Felix arrived, meowing for attention. Rather than sending him away, she put him on her lap. Felix loves water, she said, and became interested when she let him explore the water bowl she uses while working with clay.
She then guided his paws onto the spinning clay. Felix played with the material, and Przenioslo kept recording.
“He threw a pot,” she said.
From viral clip to real ceramics
Przenioslo posted the video without expecting much. Within a few days, it took off. Viewers asked to buy Felix’s work, shared pictures of their cats and posted stories about animals they had loved or lost.
She believes the easygoing vibe of the clip — a cat quietly exploring clay rather than a polished performance — was part of why it resonated.
“I think what people were drawn to with this video is that it was a slow-paced video and there’s an animal,” she said. “It’s just more calming to watch versus the fast-paced, overstimulating content that we’re used to.”
The first pot from the video ultimately became a usable vessel, meaning the original Felix-made piece was gone. But after people began asking for more, Przenioslo brought Felix back to the wheel. The second piece he helped make became the original item she sold.
She then planned a larger release, named Felix’s Pawttery.
The collection included mugs, trinket dishes, bud vases, a slow-feeder bowl and the pot Felix helped throw. While Przenioslo made the bulk of the pieces, she wanted Felix to be part of the work beyond the videos.
“His actual paw print is on [the] majority of the pieces, and it’s not just a stamp,” she said.
For some mugs, Felix sat in Przenioslo’s lap as she helped him press his paw into clay. For trinket dishes, she placed a clay slab on the floor and let him walk across it. His prints became his signature, or “autograph,” on the collection.
Przenioslo also built the collection’s colors around Felix, selecting turquoise, brown and beige glazes inspired by his eyes and tabby coat.
Each item still required the slow, technical process behind handmade pottery. Pieces must be shaped, dried, fired, glazed, fired again and tested; Przenioslo uses a community kiln and gives herself at least two months to prepare a collection.
A 10-minute sellout
Przenioslo set the release for Aug. 12, which was also Felix’s 10th birthday. She knew her loyal followers were excited, but she was not prepared for how quickly the collection would sell.
At 7 p.m., she published the pieces on her website and began sharing preplanned promotional posts. Notifications immediately began pouring in. The original Felix-made item sold within seconds, she said, and most of the collection had sold before she had finished posting.
“All I can say in terms of how I felt was just pure shock,” Przenioslo said. “I was like, ‘Wait, is this real? Is there a glitch in my website?’”
The 30-plus piece collection sold out in about 10 minutes. Przenioslo said the moment brought happy tears — not only because people wanted her artwork, but also because they had formed an attachment to Felix and the story behind the collection.
For an independent artist balancing her business with a full-time job, Przenioslo said the response felt validating. It also reinforced what the project was really about: celebrating a pet who has become part of her creative life and everyday routine.
“I truly believe he is my soul animal,” Przenioslo said. “He’s been such a big inspiration to my creative life.”
Felix has been a constant through difficult times, she said, and their relationship has shaped the way she thinks about the bond people share with animals.
“Experiencing the love of an animal is one of the purest forms of unconditional love,” Przenioslo said, “because it exists without any sort of language. It’s just an understanding between two souls.”
Przenioslo is now working toward a second Felix’s Pawttery collection, which she hopes to release before Christmas. This time, she plans to make more pieces — giving more cat lovers a chance to bring home a little piece of Felix.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: A tabby cat helped make this pottery collection. It sold out in 10 minutes.
