The pointed ears and long tail do most of the work in making this little cat read as a cat, so the main body can stay simple. Crochet the body and head in one continuous piece, checking the stitch count at each change in shape. The separate parts are small enough to finish with leftover yarn.
Materials and abbreviations
Skill level: beginner-friendly, assuming you’re comfortable with single crochet and simple decreases. The finished cat is about 5 inches tall in worsted-weight yarn with a 3.5 mm hook. Gather a small amount of cat-color yarn, fiberfill, a stitch marker, a yarn needle, two 6 mm safety eyes or embroidery thread, and a little contrasting yarn for the nose.
Instructions use US terms: MR is magic ring, sc is single crochet, inc is two single crochet in one stitch, and dec is an invisible single-crochet decrease. Work in continuous rounds and mark the first stitch of each round. Stitch counts appear in parentheses.
Work the one-piece body
Begin at the base: R1, 6 sc in MR (6); R2, inc around (12); R3, repeat sc, inc six times (18); R4, repeat 2 sc, inc six times (24). R5–R8, sc around (24); R9, repeat 2 sc, dec six times (18); R10, sc around (18). Stuff the base so it will sit upright.
Shape the head: R11, repeat sc, inc nine times (27); R12, repeat 8 sc, inc three times (30); R13–R17, sc around (30). Set the eyes between R15 and R16, about five stitches apart, before closing the head. R18, repeat 3 sc, dec six times (24); R19, repeat 2 sc, dec six times (18); R20, repeat sc, dec six times (12); R21, dec six times (6). Top up the stuffing, fasten off, and close the opening.
Add ears, tail, and face
Make two ears: R1, 4 sc in MR (4); R2, repeat sc, inc twice (6); R3, repeat 2 sc, inc twice (8); R4, repeat 3 sc, inc twice (10); R5, repeat 4 sc, inc twice (12). Sc around for R6–R7 (12), then fasten off and flatten the lower edge. For the tail, make 6 sc in an MR, then sc around for R2–R12 (6); leave it unstuffed or add just a little fiberfill at the base.
Make two feet using the bunny-foot rounds: 6 sc in an MR, inc around (12), then sc around once (12); fasten off with a sewing tail. Sew the feet to the front of the base and the ears to the top of the head, keeping their points upright. Attach the tail at the back near the base, then embroider a small nose and short whisker lines; check the cat from the front before securing each piece fully.