Jasper the ‘Cat Fish’ Watches Cat TV Inside a Custom Fish Tank

We’ve all seen it: the inevitable video of a curious cat falling into a fish tank. And yes, these videos are funny but they are also risky for cats and fish alike. While cats don’t often drown from this, they can and do develop hypothermia. And I’m guessing the fish aren’t necessarily thrilled about this either.

So one cat mom decided she needed to find a way to keep Jasper, her Siamese kitty safe. And Melissa Krieger did just that, in a particularly clever way that allows him to hang out with his finny friends in their Cincinnati home.

Images via Instagram/jasperthecatfish

This Cute Siamese Has His Own Customized Fish Tank

The tank has a built-in viewing box, meaning he can keep a close eye on any fishy shenanigans, Bored Panda reports. And of course, Hidrėlėy, the story’s author wanted to know how Jasper became interested in the fish tank.

“We have had a tank in the same spot since our house was built 15 years ago,” Melissa says. “I have four cats and a chair next to the tank. They would all sit and watch fish all the time. This tank was installed in December and it took about a month for any cat to really go up and check it out. We did not want to force anything but soon cat curiosity took over and Jasper was the first to do it.

The Aquarium Was Custom-Made For Jasper.

Then Melissa decided to create an Instagram account so that she could show the tank’s creator, Jason at Aquatics and Exotics, which is also in Cincinnati that at least one of her kitties was starting to check out the fish tank. Like most of us who love our cats, Melissa knew which of her kitties might be the first to check it out.

After all, when you’re a cat parent, after a while you just seem to know who’s going to do what.

“I always had a feeling Jasper would be the first up there,” Melissa says. “He’s the first one checking the new toys or scratcher, etc. I posted it to my own personal Facebook page and I got about 50 likes which was fairly good for me. It’s all my family and friends and I post kid pics and mom stuff. I don’t think many people opened the video because I put a few pics in there as well.

Then she decided to try another Facebook page.

“A few days later I decided to post just the video on a FB page my friend Dan runs called Not my cat,”she says. “Which started as a joke about how his wife feeds the cats outside, he called them all notmycat. The cats are now his beloved pets. Maybe 500 people in group at the time. I posted there and then I thought OK, fish people might be interested so I joined a group called FISH TANK AQUARIUM and posted it there. All on Facebook, which was the only social media I did at the time. From there it just took off.”

Image by Facebook*/**Jasper the Cat Fish***

Jasper Becomes A TikTok Celebrity

The next thing Melissa knew, someone had posted the video on TikTok so she opened a TikTok account where she was able to “see my own cat on Lullaby Bunny.”

“She is super sweet and you can read in the first comments where my kids and I talk with her,” Melissa says. “Since then she has helped me so much. We message each other and she is just absolutely wonderful. I credit her for making it go viral. Just can’t say enough about what a great help she was. Answered all my dumb questions and really has become a true friend.”

And indeed, the video has been a huge hit, with more than 486,000 “likes,” 3,279 comments, and 2.3 million views.

TikTok/jasperthecatfish/ Lullaby Bunny

Melissa decided to begin adding her own TikTok videos but hit a few bumps along the way.

“My first attempts were quite lame. I didn’t even know about hashtags. Then I started joining every social media site where I saw my video,” she says. “It’s been quite overwhelming from the technical side and content side. I thought I was sending a private message and it turns out I tweeted instead. Yikes! Rookie mistake but it was not pretty. Twitter people are kind of harsh.”

Image via Facebook*/**Jasper the Cat Fish***

But one thing is clear: Jasper’s having a blast watching his fishy friends. The fish tank is perfect for this sweet Siamese boy who is quite rambunctious.

“He is curious obviously. He is a little stinker sometimes and I wouldn’t call him a pampered cat but he has a pretty good life,” Melissa adds. “We love him very much. I am 53, with grown children, two away at college and two live here. We also have three other cats named Willow (Jasper’s biological sister), Indigo, and Cobalt (Russian Blues), two dogs, three tanks (freshwater, saltwater, and turtles) which, thank goodness, are maintained by Jason at Aquatics and Exotics. Jasper has to kind of compete for my time the same as the other pets with four legs. Fish-feed and enjoy, thanks to Jason.”

Melissa Knew The Fish Tank Would Be A Hit.

“I have had tanks all my life so I love watching my fish. Jason came over to do the two-week maintenance. We have been his customer for 15 years so we are good friends,” she explains. “We were standing there watching our cats who were watching the fish, and I said ‘Wouldn’t it be fun to have one of those pop-up areas, like in a children’s zoo, inside the tank for the cats?’ Jason said ‘I can do that!’ He did some drawings and pricing, I said yes, and he built it!”

Screenshot/Instagram/jasperthecatfish

Like most cats, Jasper is cute and wily. And he makes Melissa laugh.

“He loves to sit in boxes, (Of course he does. He’s a cat, after all). Any box, any size. I just walked in the house and he is sitting in a little plastic box you store leftovers in,” she says. “It was on my kitchen counter and there he is. Just looking at me like ‘What?’ When you open a box that was just delivered and take some of it out. Turn your back to box and he is in it. That fast. You don’t know where he came from but he is in your box and you have to lift him out. He goes all dead body weight too, like he’s not helping. You want him out, you do the work!”

Little stinker. His cute shenanigans have even attracted the attention of celebrity cat dad Jackson Galaxy. Pretty cool, eh?

But Does Jasper Scare The Fish?

Nope. Apparently, they’re cool as cucumbers.

“They don’t seem to be bothered by him. Some of those fish are older than Jasper,” Melissa says. “We’ve had a fish tank there for 15 years.”

What an adorable cat this little buddy is. Jasper is definitely one very lucky cat. Playing with all those fish must be quite an adventure for him and he is one of the cutest stories I’ve seen in a while.

If you want to see more of the adorable Jasper, you can check out his antics on Instagram or Tiktok.

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