‘The Friskies’ award celebrates the best new Internet cat video

There are a lot of cute cat videos on YouTube. Only one of them is now a $15,000 grand prize winner.

Oskar the cat, of Omaha, Nebraska, took home top prize at Wednesday night's "The Friskies," a Hollywood awards show that celebrates the best of cat videos online, for the viral video he starred in: "Oskar's First Toys."

Cat owners attended the "Friskies formal" event in tuxedoes, ball gowns and cat ears — and even dined on cat-shaped cupcakes.

Oskar's grand prize winnings included an official Friskies Catuette, a $15,000 cash prize, and a year's supply of cat food.

"Oskar is completely blind, but he doesn't let that slow him down one bit," winning video director Mick Szydlowski said in a statement. "He's healthy, he's happy, he does everything a regular cat would do."

"His radar ears and amazing memory help him find everything. He rarely bumps into anything now, and he has never once made a mess due to not finding his litter box. Basically, he never ceases to amaze us with his playfulness, amazing senses, and his thirst for adventures," Szydlowski told The Pet Dish.

Oskar's viral video, which beat out 1,400 entrants for top spot, appeared on CNN, Ellen, Countdown with Keith Olbermann, among other other shows.

Winning videos in each category — Catness, Catcom, Catventure, and Catchall — took home $2,500 apiece. Watch those winners here.

"A dog lets you know right away what he's thinking, but cats are fascinating precisely because they are so inscrutable," Tom Maynard, channel head of the Pet Collective, said in an e-mail to Wired. "That's why cat videos are so popular — cats are completely unpredictable and an endless source of entertainment, and given the massive popularity of cat videos online, everyone felt it was about time they had their own major award."

What's your favourite cat video?