Maine Coon Cat Gets 'Brain Freeze' After Eating Popsicle and It's Too Funny

“When you realize why humans eat popsicles slowly,” reads the caption on this video of a Maine Coon cat trying out his first frozen churro pop. He lays into it eagerly, licking the stick until—uh-oh! He pulls away, making a hilariously awkward face as the coldness of the snack hits him hard.

“First churu popsicle experience: 10/10 taste, 0/10 brain freeze,” the caption goes on to say.

Who knew cats could get brain freeze?

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With the record for the world’s hottest day being recently broken, everyone is looking for ways to beat these terrible temperatures—even our furry friends. Whether you are adding ice in your dog’s water bowl or taking them out for a “pupsicle” at a nearby coffee shop, it seems like dogs are always getting the attention when it comes to keeping cool. But your cat might need a break too. They have thick and furry coats as well. My indoor cats spend these months looking for ways to lie right in front of our desk fans or in the direct line of air from the AC vent. I haven’t thought of frozen treats, and after seeing this video, I wonder if it would even be welcome.

Related: Farm Animals' Varying Reactions to Popsicles Are Such a Delight

Do Cats Like the Cold?

Though Maine Coon cats are adapted to colder climes, and can thank the wintry weather of Maine for their thick, dense coats, it might be harder for them to deal with the summer heat that has been wreaking havoc all over the country for the last few months.

Though the high temperatures of the season are dangerous for all animals, in general, cats handle warm weather better than cold weather, due to their extremely thin skin and ancestral background as North African wildcats. This is why cats love to snooze in the sun.

How to tell you cat is cold: they will be curled up in a tight ball and losing for warm, enclosed spots to conserve body heat. How to tell if your cat is warm: they’ll be stretched out, often on their back so their bellies can “air out.”

What Causes Brain Freeze?

Brain freeze, also called “ice cream headache,” is most correctly termed sphenopalatine ganglioneuralgia. Yeah, say that five times fast. It’s caused by an unpleasant interaction between nerve endings and blood vessels in your mouth when eating something extremely cold. The freezing sensation on the roof of your mouth will cause the blood vessels there to rapidly constrict, which is counteracted by sudden dilation of the arteries around your brain. All this action results in a lot of pain.

Fortunately, the pain is usually of short duration, and can be counteracted by sipping something warm or, occasionally pressing your tongue to the roof of your mouth. (This cure is often recommended but I can report that it rarely works for me—so If you too, are one for whom the tongue cure does nothing, you’re not alone!)

Because this reaction is one that merely involves blood vessels, it can be something that is experienced by all kinds of animals, from people to cats and dogs and maybe other creatures as well.

Has anyone tried giving a mouse an ice pop?

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