February 23, 2026
Attack of the clone cats
Ask HN: Have you ever cloned a cat?
“You spent HOW MUCH to copy a cat?” Internet melts down over $60k clone plan
TLDR: A poster asked about spending $60,000 to clone a beloved cat, hoping to recreate a lost furry family member. The community clapped back hard, saying that money should save existing animals instead, warning that cloned pets won’t act the same and could turn grief into an expensive emotional mess.
A simple question — “Has anyone cloned a cat?” — turned into a full‑blown internet brawl after one user casually mentioned it would cost about $60,000 to copy their beloved pet. The original poster framed it as grief-driven love: they’d lost pets before, saw them as family, and were willing to pay big if there was even a chance of getting a similar personality back.
The crowd? Absolutely not having it. One of the top reactions basically said, “Just get a new cat and donate the $60k to a shelter,” capturing a huge wave of outrage that anyone would spend house‑down‑payment money on a single designer clone while real animals sit in cages. Another commenter didn’t hold back, saying anyone who’d clone a cat instead of helping existing ones “hardly deserves to have a cat.” That line became the unofficial flamethrower of the thread.
Others took a softer but still skeptical angle, warning that the clone won’t act the same and that constantly comparing it to the original could emotionally wreck both human and cat. A darker twist: people worried the new animal would live in the shadow of a ghost it can never be. And because it’s the internet, there was also comic relief: one user claimed they’d been “cloning and battling cats” all week — then dropped a link to a cat battle video game, turning a grief thread into a meme moment. Only on the web could a $60k cat clone debate end with digital cat warfare.
Key Points
- •The article states that cloning a cat is estimated to cost about $60,000.
- •The author believes obtaining genetic material for cloning a pet is relatively straightforward.
- •The author is looking for recommendations for services that offer cat cloning.
- •The article emphasizes that some people experience deep grief after losing a pet, viewing them as family members.
- •It acknowledges that cloning does not guarantee an identical pet, but suggests some may still be willing to pay for a chance at a similar personality.