Cat's Hilarious Reaction to Halloween Skeleton Cat Viewed 48 Million Times

A black and white cat got the scare of its nine lives after an encounter with their owner's eerily impressive Halloween decorations.

The feline's hilariously spooked reaction was shared to TikTok by bhtyler98 in a video that has already racked up 48 million views. You can watch it here.

They say that cats are born with nine lives, which is just as well given the shock this particular cat suffered after coming face-to-face with what can only be described as a mock cat skeleton.

From the looks of it, the decoration ended up being a little too close to the bone for this particular feline—in every sense of the word.

In the clip, the cat can be seen cautiously approaching the mock skeleton before stopping and reaching out with their right paw to touch the decoration.

A nasty surprise awaits them, though.

Out of nowhere, the cat skeleton's mouth opens, emitting a loud "meow!" while the model's eyes begin emitting a bright red light.

That combination is, unsurprisingly, enough to send the scaredy-cat darting for the door as the video reaches its conclusion.

Responding to the clip, fellow TikToker KK2YYY felt the cat only had itself to blame. "Why do cats always feel the need to touch things?" they asked.

Richard E Hewitt Jr thought the decoration may have been a little too real for the terrifying cat. "I'm you in the future...really? Meow!!!" he wrote. GreyCar1111 loved the clip, commenting: "Hilarious! We watched this at least five times."

However, other feline fans were less impressed. RiGirl1974 branded the video "mean," while ball.loverofficial asked: "do you guys seriously think scaring a cat on purpose is funny?" Taira.Martine agreed, writing "That's abuse."

Plenty of followers saw the funny side though with Melj.143 responding: "That's so mean. Do it again please." While some appear to be in favor of these kinds of feline scares, the experts would actually advise against decorations of this kind if you own a cat.

Mikkel Becker of VetStreet says it is important to "minimize scary hazards" wherever possible.

"Keep your cat's daily routine as normal as possible—stick with their usual feeding and play times, for example," he said. "Think twice about decorations that might frighten your feline, particularly those that move, make sound or include flashing lights or billowing smoke."

With October 31 fast approaching it would appear plenty are already well and truly in the Halloween spirit.

One couple in Utah has been turning heads after transforming their home into a ghost pirate shipwreck. Meanwhile, a grandma has been getting plenty of plaudits after fashioning a Toy Story-inspired Slinky Dog costume for her granddaughter.