How to Make the Cat Dance AI Video From One Pet Photo

The Cat Dance trend copies the Cat Dance meme that took off on TikTok on October 20, 2026, when a white kitten wearing a tin can as a hat, waving from the window of a yellow New York taxi while kittens in glasses watched from the back seat, passed a million plays in five days (about 1.1 million plays on the @cocoacat3 post). Here is how to make your own version with your dog or cat: the one-click way, and the do-it-yourself way with the exact prompt we use.

The photo this video was made from — **Cat Dance** — your cat leans out of a yellow taxi in a tin-can hat and waves to the beat.

What you need

One clear, well-lit photo of one pet, whole body visible, no people in the picture.
A few minutes while the video renders.
TikTok, Instagram Reels or CapCut, to add the trending sound.

The one-click way (free)

Open the Cat Dance AI template.
Upload your pet photo and press Make my free video. No sign-up, no prompt to write.
Watch your 5-second preview a few minutes later. Unlock the download for $2.99, or make 10-second 720p HD videos from $4.99.

Make my Cat Dance video

The do-it-yourself way

You need a video model that takes a photo and a reference video together. We use Seedance 2.0. The photo decides who is in the video; the reference video only decides how it moves.

Cut a 5 to 10 second clip from the original viral video. This is the motion reference. Make it vertical (9:16) and not too small: around 640 × 640 pixels in total or more, or the model rejects it.
Give the model your pet photo as Image 1 and the clip as Video 1.
Paste the prompt below and ask for a 10-second vertical video.

The main character is the pet from Image 1. Video 1 is ONLY a motion reference; the white kitten in Video 1 must not appear.
10-second vertical video at night, handheld close shot of the open back window of a yellow New York taxi; the pet from Image 1 is at the window from the very first frame. Keep the pet's species, breed, face, eye color, fur color and markings exactly as in Image 1. Copy the motion from Video 1 beat by beat: the pet leans out with one front paw hooked over the door and an empty tin can worn on its head like a little hat. The pet swings a front paw out, bobs its head to the beat and waves a paw up at the camera. Mouth timing: the pet talks like the person inside the taxi, so its mouth moves as if speaking during 0-0.4 s, 1.3-1.8 s, 3.0-3.8 s and from 5.3 s to the end. At about 0.9 s, 2.4 s and 4.7 s someone outside the car speaks, and then, and at every other moment, the pet keeps its mouth closed. On the back seat behind it, a row of tiny kittens wearing round glasses sits and watches. The pet from Image 1 is the only big animal and the only one at the window. No people, no human hands, no driver, no text, no captions, no logo, no watermark.

Two lines do most of the work. The first says Video 1 is only a motion reference, so the animal from the original does not end up in your video. The last keeps it to one animal, with no people, text or watermark.

Cost tip: with Seedance the reference clip is billed too, at your output resolution. Shrinking it saves nothing; cutting it shorter does.

Tips from making our Cat Dance example

Cut the opening wide shot of the taxi out of the reference. When the cat is tiny in the frame, the model copies the original white kitten for the first second or two before switching to yours.
Say the tin-can hat and the kittens in glasses on the back seat in the prompt. They are the joke people recognise.
Use a photo where your cat's face is sharp and well lit. The whole clip is a close-up at the window, so the face matters more than the body.

Add the sound

Our videos come without audio. Before you post, add the original sound from the @cocoacat3 Cat Dance post from the TikTok or Instagram sound library. The in-app sound is easier than editing music in, and the app takes care of the music license.