Ang orihinal na animation ay ginawa ng dalawampu't-limang taong gulang na si Christopher Torres ng Dallas, Texas. Ginagamit niya ang pangalang ""prguitarman"" sa kanyang website na LOL-Comics. Ito ay i-pinost noong ika-2 ng Abril, 2011. Sabi ni Torres sa isang interview: ""I was doing a donation drive for the Red Cross and in-between drawings in my Livestream video chat, two different people mentioned I should draw a 'Pop Tart' and a 'cat'."" Bilang pagtugon, gumawa siya ng pinaghalong imahe ng Pop-tart at pusa, na ginawang animadong GIF nang ilang araw ang nakalipas. Sabi niya: ""Originally, its name was Pop Tart Cat, and I will continue to call it so, but the Internet has reached a decision to name it Nyan Cat, and I’m happy with that choice, too.