'''Basic Trope''': During a suspenseful moment, there is a quick moment of relief via something harmless (often a cat) being shown to be the source of suspicious noises.
* '''Straight''': A character investigates some strange noises... and a cat jumps out at them, apparently the source.
* '''Exaggerated''': A character hears strange, frightening noises, and finds... a pile of puppies and kittens.
* '''Downplayed''': A character is caught off-guard by the sound of a meowing cat, but quickly recovers their wits.
* '''Justified''': A cat jumps at a character investigating a strange noise, because it was [[EvilDetectingDog fleeing terrified from the killer]].
* '''Inverted''': The cat's owner jumps out and frightens it on purpose...then the real threat arrives as the owner is oblivious to his pet's continued reactions
* '''Subverted''':
** The cat jumps out, and the character is initially relieved after the scare, but it turns out the cat '''is''' the monster and it kills the character.
** It is set up for a monster to jump out, but then nothing happens.
* '''Double Subverted''': A character investigating frightening noises has the cat jump out at them, and feels relieved, nothing happens for a good while. And then the psycho jumps out.
* '''Parodied''':
** An intelligent cat hangs by its claws from ceilings and makes a bunch of noise so it can jump out at those who investigate and laugh at their reactions.
** A character investigating frightening noises finds a cat... it's a [[OutOfTheFryingPan ''Panther''.]] [[note]]And if they really want to parody it, it's not a Panther, it's a ''[[TankGoodness Panzer]]''.[[/note]]
** A cat walks through the house, we hear strange noises... then someone jumps out at the cat.
** [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rC2ZruUMefY The cat scare leads to...another cat scare...then another and another.]] Eventually, the victims of the cat scare [[SkewedPriorities ignore the actual threat to deal with the cat.]]
* '''Zig Zagged''':
** The cat ''is'' the psychopath, and tries to kill the character. But wait, no it's not, it was just ''very'' startled- it's harmless after all. Wait a minute, the cat couldn't have made all that noise, there must be something worse there! Wait, no there isn't...
** Both the cat ''and'' the psycho jump out at the same time, startling each other.
* '''Averted''': A character investigates strange noises. The killer pops out right away.
* '''Enforced''': The hero is way too smart and fast to be surprised by the clumsy, slow monster. So a CatScare is used to lower his defense and let the final showdown begin.
* '''Lampshaded''': "Oh, it's just the ca- wait a minute, there's something worse waiting for me, isn't there?"
* '''Invoked''': A killer hides in houses and throws cats at those who investigate in order to keep suspicion off himself.
* '''Exploited''': The killer knows that the hero will be distracted by the cat, and sneaks up on the hero by surprise.
* '''Defied''': When the cat jumps out, the character is not at all relieved and gets ready to face whatever else is lurking.
* '''Discussed''': "Uh-oh. The cat jumped out at me. I shouldn't be relieved, it probably means something worse is going to follow."
* '''Conversed''': "No no no! Augh, she thinks the noise was just the cat- how could she be so ''stupid''?"
* '''Deconstructed''':
** The cat actually scares the victim into a fatal heart attack, and the killer finds their dead body.
** The killer is actually a pissed-off feral cat.
* '''Reconstructed''': Cats are benevolent creatures that are trying to warn the hero.
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GYAAAAH!! O-oh, it was [[CatScare just a cat...]] ...Wait a minute...
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%% Optional items, added after Conversed, at your discretion:
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%%* '''Implied''': ???
%%* '''Plotted A Good Waste''': ???
%%* '''Played For Laughs''': ???
%%* '''Played For Drama''': ???