My nerves are stretched to the breaking point. [Photo/Official weibo account of Lou Banniang]

A round face, white fur, fatty body — but more importantly, a full set of funny poses — pushed a cat to stardom on Chinese internet.

Lou Lou, an instant online celebrity with over 680,000 fans on Sina Weibo, the Chinese answer to Twitter and one of the country's major social media outlets.

Its facial expressions have been adapted into emojis and widely used on the internet. "You may not know the cat's name, but you must have seen its emojis," says Lou Banniang, the cat's owner.

Sadly, Lou Lou died of a heart attack on Oct 14, leading to a wave of despair among quite a few online users.

"I cannot accept the fact that Lou Lou has gone forever, and my favorite emojis cannot update any more," Weibo user Xiao Pihai_223 said.

"One of the necessities in my life is watching each and every move of Lou Lou. It looks like an angel to me, and it has now gone back to paradise," added Pai Dadui, another user.

The cat first gained public attention last year, thanks to a short video recording its naughty yet interesting movements in the bathing process, and a clip that has been viewed millions of times.

In addition to emojis, Lou Lou's image has appeared on pillows, cups, clothes and cartoons. People may feel sorry about the death of such a cute cat, but also are surprised by the animal's power and influence.

"Cat culture seems to have exploded over the past few years, from millions of funny cat videos being shared all over social media, to cats becoming internet famous and celebrities in their own right. It would be a strange week indeed if I wasn't sent multiple links by friends to cat-related articles," said Abi Purser, director of Longcroft Luxury Cat Hotel Group.

Throughout human history, cats have been our best friends, just like dogs. They make fantastic company as pets, make us laugh with their inquisitive nature and ridiculous antics, and are independent enough to amuse themselves while we're at work, welcoming us when we get home by rolling about at our feet.

According to the White Paper on Pet Industry in China in 2017, in Britain, a total of 1.4 million photos of selfies are uploaded to the internet every day, but photos with cats dwarf that number at 3.8 million.

In China's largest question and answer community Zhihu, cat –related topics number 18,000, while dog-oriented topics are up to 90,000.