Resting Cat Tea Pet

Resting Cat Tea PetThe Resting Cat Tea Pet is a small unglazed Yixing clay figure placed on your tea tray and "fed" with leftover tea during gongfu brewing sessions. Over time, the porous clay absorbs the tea and gradually changes colour, developing a smooth patina that's unique to your brewing habit. This one captures that moment when a cat has fully committed to lying down either stretched out on its side or rolled over belly up. Two poses Choose between Stretch Out

The Resting Cat Tea Pet is a small unglazed Yixing clay figure placed on your tea tray and "fed" with leftover tea during gongfu brewing sessions. Over time, the porous clay absorbs the tea and gradually changes colour, developing a smooth patina that's unique to your brewing habit. This one captures that moment when a cat has fully committed to lying down — either stretched out on its side or rolled over belly-up.

Two poses

Choose between Stretch Out (paws extended, cat on its side) and Belly Up (total relaxation). Both are made from Yixing purple clay in a pale cream tone. In Chinese tea culture, a resting cat signals contentment and the value of slowing down.

Product details

• Material: Yixing purple clay (Jiangsu Province, China)
• Colour: Natural pale cream
• Stretch Out: 6.4cm × 6.9cm × 2.7cm, approximately 50.8g
• Belly Up: 7.9cm × 6.2cm × 2.6cm, approximately 50.8g

Handmade — slight variations are normal.

This works well for

• Cat people — the poses are immediately recognisable
• Adding personality to a tea tray without taking up vertical space (both poses are low-profile)
• Pairing with the Chubby Cat for a two-cat tea tray setup
• A gift for someone who'd smile at a belly-up cat

Joanne's tip

The pale cream clay on this one shows colour change really clearly. After about a month of daily feeding with oolong, you can already see where the tea pools around the belly and paws. The Belly Up pose tends to collect more tea in its curves, so it develops character a bit faster than the Stretch Out. If someone asks me which pose, I tell them to pick whichever makes them smile — they both change at roughly the same rate.

How to care for your tea pet

Pour leftover tea over it each time you brew — oolong and pu-erh show the fastest colour results. After your session, let it air-dry on the tray. Don't use soap. Read our complete tea pet guide for more, or see the full tea pet collection.