A cream-colored tomcat with a thousand-yard stare and an unintentionally perfect frown has melted hearts online.
Uncle Potato’s grumpy-sweet expression has delighted Instagram users after he was rescued on Thanksgiving this year.
Uncle Potato’s sudden fame started with Courtney Gustafson, a Tucson, Arizona-based cat trapper and rescuer who runs the popular rescue account Poets Square Cats.
Gustafson’s work centers on TNR—Trap, Neuter, Return—a community-based approach that humanely traps outdoor cats, gets them spayed/neutered and vaccinated and returns them to their colonies when they’re not candidates for indoor homes.
But on Thanksgiving, Gustafson said, one cat changed the plan.
“I humanely trapped Uncle Potato on Thanksgiving at a feral cat colony in Tucson, Arizona, where I was trapping other community cats for spay, neuter and vaccines,” Gustafson told Newsweek. “I realized that Uncle Potato was friendly, and got permission from the people who had been feeding him outdoors to find an indoor home for him.”
His friendly nature was what turned Uncle Potato from a routine TNR case to a rescue. Despite his mournful face and crossed eyes, Uncle Potato could not be more affectionate, loving chin scratches and being held “like a baby.”
After trapping, Gustafson said Uncle Potato was neutered and vaccinated at the Humane Society of Southern Arizona, then transferred to nearby Whiskers N Wishes Cat Rescue and Sanctuary.
“The folks at Whiskers N Wishes have brought him to the vet for further vet care and are currently caring for him and learning more about him,” Gustafson said.
Uncle Potato is estimated to be about two years old and weighs 12 pounds, Gustafson explained, with one of his most commented on features being his oversized cheeks and head.
“His large head and cheeks are caused by an excess of testosterone from not being neutered—he’s a classic tom cat!” she said.
Before his rescue, Gustafson said Uncle Potato was “dirty and covered in small wounds and scars from fighting other cats,” and likely fathered many kittens outdoors. Now neutered, she said, he’s settling into indoor life fast. “When we showed him his new bed, he climbed right in, curled up, and started purring,” Gustafson said.
Uncle Potato’s popularity didn’t come out of nowhere. Gustafson says he resembles Sad Boy, a feral cat she cared for who died two years ago.
“Uncle Potato became popular online in part due to his resemblance to Sad Boy, a feral cat I cared for who passed two years ago,” Gustafson said. Sad Boy’s bonded mate, Lola, still lives on Gustafson’s roof, she added, and Gustafson continues caring for roughly 15 community cats in her neighborhood while trapping hundreds more each year for veterinary care.
As the post about Uncle Potato gained more than 44,000 likes, people shared their reactions in the comments.
“He’s perfect,” said one commenter. While another wrote: “Oh my goodness! Mr Potato has the sweetest face.”
“Imagine how powerful headbutts from Uncle Potato would be, with his giant head,” said another fan on Instagram.
Uncle Potato will be adoptable, Gustafson said, though his caregivers are still learning what kind of home fits him best. In the meantime, she said, he already has “many fans” and “many adoption applications.”
But Gustafson also offered a gentle reality check: viral cats can pull attention toward rescue—and unintentionally away from the thousands of animals still waiting.
According to Shelter Animals Count, 1,397,000 cats entered U.S. shelters in the first half of 2025, and 59 percent of those cats were strays.
Even when outcomes improve over the long term, the most fragile cats are still most at risk—kittens under five months account for 65 percent of all cat non-live outcomes including euthanasia and death-in-care.
“He wants to remind everyone that there are lots of other cats in need of homes, including many of his new friends at Whiskers N Wishes,” she said.