This post is for anyone choosing between our three 3D printed cats: the Flexi Cat, the Chubby Cat and the Mini Cat. A 3D printed cat is one of the first things people pick up at our booth and one of the most searched-for items on our site. Cats already curl, stretch, loaf and drape themselves over furniture, and a print-in-place articulated cat does the same in the palm of your hand.
The Flexi Cat comes in six sizes from a 1 inch Micro to a 6 inch X-Large. The Chubby Cat is a rounder design sold by color in one size. The Mini Cat is a slim design with an optional keychain loop. We compare how each one moves, what colors it comes in, and which suits a child, a desk or a gift. Pick the Flexi Cat for a choice of sizes, the Chubby Cat for a calm, rounded desk companion, and the Mini Cat for a cat that lives on your keys.
All Three Cats Print in One Piece, but They Are Different Designs
Each cat comes off the printer in a single piece, with the joints already formed and a hair of clearance between the segments. There is nothing to assemble or glue. Flex the tail and spine a few times after unboxing and the cat moves.
What separates them is body shape, size and how they are sold. The three designs come from different digital artists, so they are not one cat scaled up and down. They have different proportions, different numbers of joints and different personalities, which is why we carry all three.
Browse the whole set, along with our dogs, foxes and other companion animals, in the Furry Pets collection.
The Flexi Cat Is the Classic Sitting Cat in Six Sizes
The Flexi Cat is our original 3D printed cat and the one most people mean when they search for a flexi cat 3D print. It is a sitting cat with a long, segmented tail, a jointed spine and a head that tilts. Laid out straight it looks like a cat mid-stretch. Curled up it looks like a cat asleep on a windowsill.
It is the only one of the three in our full classic size ladder, so it is the one to choose when size matters.
Micro (1 inch) is a cake topper or dollhouse cat. The joints are too small to fidget with, but a row of Micros in different colors along a shelf edge is charming.
Mini (1.5 inch) is the pocket cat. It hides in a closed fist, the tail has enough travel to curl, and it is the size we hand out most at parties. This Mini is a size of the Flexi Cat, not the separate Mini Cat design below.
Regular (2 inch) is the everyday size. It is big enough for a young child to grip, small enough for a jeans pocket, and the detail in the face and ears is fully visible.
Large (3 inch) starts to feel like a desk piece. Each tail segment is large enough to click satisfyingly, and the cat holds a pose when you set it down.
X-Large (6 inch) is the display cat. The spine has a slow, heavy sweep, and the cat drapes over the edge of a monitor or bookshelf the way a real one would.
Keychain adds a printed loop and a ring, at a size close to Regular. The loop is part of the print, so there is no glued hardware to fail.
The Chubby Cat Is Round, Calm and Made for a Desk
The Chubby Cat is exactly what it sounds like. The designer calls it a Fat Cat, and it has the low, wide, loaf-shaped body of a cat that has decided the afternoon is over. The articulation runs through a rounded chain of body segments and a short tail, so instead of stretching long it rolls and rocks.
It comes in one size and is sold by color. The three standard options are Grey, Black and White, the three cat colors people ask us for most. If your cat is orange, calico or something we have not printed yet, the Custom color box on the product page is there for exactly that.
The Chubby Cat is the one we recommend for a desk. The rounded body sits flat without tipping, and there are no thin ears or tail tip to catch on a sleeve. Rolling the segments under a palm is the quietest fidget we make. It is also the sturdiest of the three, because there is more plastic in each segment.
The Mini Cat Is a Slim Walking Cat With a Keychain Option
The Mini Cat is a separate design from a separate artist. Despite the name, the product page lists it at about 4 inches, longer than a Regular Flexi Cat. Mini refers to the slim, low-profile body rather than the length.
It is a walking cat rather than a sitting one, long and lean, with a tail that makes up a good part of its length. Articulation runs the whole way from neck to tail tip, which gives it a slinky, wandering movement when you hold the head and let the body swing.
The Mini Cat has a single choice: keychain or no keychain. Choose Yes and it prints with an integrated loop and comes with a ring attached. Choose No and it is a plain flexi toy. Because the body is slim, it rides best on a set of keys or a backpack zipper. It is the one we point to when someone asks for a cat keychain.
To keep the names straight: Mini (1.5 inch) is a size of the Flexi Cat, while the Mini Cat is its own slim design at about 4 inches with no other sizes. For a very small cat, order the Flexi Cat in Mini. For a slim cat on your keys, order the Mini Cat with the keychain set to Yes.
The Flexi Cat Poses, the Chubby Cat Rolls, the Mini Cat Slinks
The Flexi Cat has the widest range. The tail curls in a full circle, the spine bends far enough to touch nose to tail, and the head tilts. At Large and X-Large the segments are heavy enough to hold a pose, which makes it the best of the three for a shelf.
The Chubby Cat moves less but moves smoothly. The rounded segments rock against each other rather than hinging, so it rolls in the hand like a string of beads. It is not a cat you pose so much as a cat you hold.
The Mini Cat is all tail and spine. It has the most joints in a row of the three, which gives it that slinking, fluid motion. It does not hold a pose the way the larger Flexi Cat does, but it is the most satisfying to swing and dangle.
Whichever you choose, the joints should move freely out of the package. We flex every joint on every cat by hand before it ships, and a joint that fused during printing goes back to be reprinted.
Matching a Real Cat Works Best With Solid Colors
The most common request for a 3D printed cat is a match for a real cat, and this is where the Custom color box earns its keep.
Solid cats are easy. Black, white, grey and orange cats translate directly into a single filament color. Tell us the shade in the Custom color box, for example charcoal rather than jet black, and we will get as close as our filament shelf allows.
Tabbies, calicos and tuxedos are harder, because a print-in-place flexi toy is printed in one color at a time. We cannot print stripes or patches. We can pick the dominant color, or use a filament with some variation in it, such as a silk or a color-shift. That reads as depth rather than a flat tone. Our earlier post on choosing filaments that pop shows what those finishes look like.
Fantasy cats are the fun ones. A glow-in-the-dark cat for a nightstand, a rainbow cat for a child who does not want to choose, or a translucent cat that catches window light are all regular orders.
Flexi Cat for a Child, Chubby Cat for a Desk, X-Large for a Gift
For a young child, choose the Flexi Cat in Regular. It is one solid piece with no small parts, big enough to grip, and tough enough to be dropped. Skip Micro for anyone under three, because a 1 inch print is small enough to swallow.
For an older child or a fidgeter, the Mini Cat without the keychain is a good pick. The long chain of joints gives busy hands a lot to do, and it is quiet in a classroom.
For a desk, the Chubby Cat. It sits flat, rolls quietly, and looks like it belongs next to a keyboard.
For keys or a bag, the Mini Cat with the keychain option, or the Flexi Cat in the Keychain size. The Mini Cat is slimmer and snags less. The Flexi Cat keychain is rounder and more recognizably a sitting cat.
For a cat person who has everything, an X-Large Flexi Cat colored to match their own cat gets the strongest reaction we see. Add the cat's name in the order notes and we will make sure the color is right.
For someone who has lost a cat, the same idea, gently. A small cat in the right color is a quiet keepsake, and we are always careful with these orders.
Common 3D Printed Cat Questions
Is a 3D printed cat a toy for my actual cat?
No. These are toys and collectibles for people. PLA is a plant-based plastic, but a determined cat can chew the tail tip off a small flexi toy, and the segments are not meant to be swallowed. Keep them on the desk, not the floor.
Which 3D printed cat is the most durable?
The Chubby Cat, because its segments are thick and rounded. The Flexi Cat in Large or X-Large is close behind. The thinnest points on any of the three are the ear tips and the very end of the tail, so protect those from a hard floor.
How do I keep the tail moving?
Flex it. A tail that has sat still for months can feel stiff, and a dozen gentle bends will loosen it. If lint has packed into the joints, rinse the cat under warm, not hot, water and pat it dry. Keep it out of hot cars, because PLA softens on a Texas dashboard long before anything else in the car does.
Choose by Where the Cat Will Live, Then Pick the Color
The Flexi Cat gives the widest choice of sizes and the best poses. The Chubby Cat is the calm one for a desk. The Mini Cat is the slim one for your keys. None is the wrong answer, and plenty of customers end up with one of each.
If you are still deciding, think about where the cat will live. A shelf wants a Large or X-Large Flexi Cat. A pocket wants a Mini or Regular. A keyring wants the Mini Cat. A desk wants the Chubby Cat. Then pick the color, and if it is meant to match a real cat, tell us the shade.
At Cosmic 3D Creations, every 3D printed cat is printed to order in premium PLA and flexed joint by joint during inspection. Each one comes in any color you type into the Custom color box. Orders over $100 ship free and local pickup is available. If you would rather hold all three side by side first, they are on our table at Canton Trade Days in booth 4268 and 4269.