Here's how to get the 'I'm not a cat' lawyer's hilarious filter for your Zoom calls

Want to jazz up your video meetings? Why not show up as a cat, like Texas lawyer Rod Ponton

I'm not a cat lawyer
(Image credit: Rod Ponton via Zoom)
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A Texas lawyer made headlines this week when his virtual court session over Zoom went viral because he'd somehow applied a cat filter to himself that he struggled to remove. The internet loved it, and you'll undoubtedly want to start showing up at meetings with your own fluffy face and whiskers; and you can!

All you need to do is use Snapchat's Snap Camera which lets you use the app's filters on live streams on PC and Mac. The cat filter on offer isn't exactly the same as the one from Rod Ponton's mishap, but it'll still do the job. It's not as snazzy as Ponton's either, subbing in your own eyes and mouth on the cat, but it'll almost certainly get some laughs.

You can download Snap Camera here  and grab the cat face filter to get started. Other Snapchat filter favorites include a happy dog, and a Pickle Rick-style pickle filter. If you want to go all out on the white cat face, you're out of luck – unless you have a Dell laptop.   

The cat filter, which seems pretty advanced in terms of the tech's ability to relay the expressions of the user, is actually Dell's Live Cam Avatar software that comes pre-installed on some of the manufacturer's laptops, and is decades old. The reason Ponton was struggling – and showed up as a cat in the first place – is because, for some inexplicable reason, it's the default setting for the webcam software. 

Twitter user ChemBark shared their own story from 2012 in which the offending kitty was responsible for a blown job interview (via BBC), and there's even a blog post dedicated to getting rid the "stupid white cat". Dell got in on the viral video buzz over on Twitter, and is offering a discount on its laptops this weekend with the promo code FUTUREISMEOW.

Meanwhile, if you've been silently suffering as the sad white cat on your own Zoom calls, it's probably down to an outdated driver, so update your software and you should avoid having to vocalize to colleagues that you are, in fact, "here live" and that you are not a cat. You can watch Ponton's hilarious call right here. 

Shabana Arif
Shabana Arif

Shabana worked at T3.com as News Editor covering tech and gaming, and has been writing about video games for almost a decade (and playing them since forever). She's had bylines at major gaming sites during her freelance career before settling down here at T3, and has podcasts, streaming, and video content under her belt to boot. Outside of work, she also plays video games and should really think about expanding her hobbies. If you have any tech or gaming tips, shoot over an email or DM her on social media.

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