Meet Sir Indiana Bones, the Oklahoma museum cat going viral on TikTok

Slinking around a bunch of bones is the norm for Sir Indiana Bones, the black-haired feline employee of this Oklahoma museum.

Sir Indiana Bones, lovingly called "Indy" by his coworkers, was adopted by the Oklahoma Museum of Osteology in 2019 and has a strong following on Instagram, and recently garnered thousands of new online fans through his new TikTok account.

In just six days, more than 70,000 people have followed his account after seeing clips of him on the museum's main TikTok account, and a video announcing his Employee of the Month status has been seen more than 200,000 times. Employees said he was given this esteemed title for catching his very first mouse.

Now, the skull of said mouse has been cleaned and hangs above his bed in the Skulls Unlimited corporate office building.

"We moved from invertebrates to vertebrates, which is a big deal here," said Museum Director Ashley Meerschaert.

What is the Museum of Osteology?

Found on S Sunnylane Road in Oklahoma City, Skeletons: Museum of Osteology is family-owned and operated, and claims to be the only skeleton museum in America. There are over 450 real skeletons on display from species all over the world.

The museum was born out of the passion Jay Villemarette had for finding and collecting skulls. He and his wife started Skulls Unlimited in the 1980s, and in 2010 the family opened the museum to share his collection with the world.

"The skulls and skeletons on display in this museum represent around 10% of the current museum holdings," the website says. "Jay recently cataloged his 7,000th specimen."

Why does the cat Indiana Bones live at the museum?

In 2019, some employees wanted a museum pet. So they formed the "Kitty Committee" to convince the owners to allow them to adopt a cat, which they agreed to.

Indy at the time was at the Moore animal shelter, where staffers went looking for their new feline friend. He was the most persistent of all the cats, said Brenna Glover, supply chain manager of Skulls Unlimited.

"He would paw through the kennel, or if he was out, he'd like slink in between you and another cat," Glover said. "Indy just was like, 'Hey, me, me, me, me.' So it was just overwhelming, like, alright, well, this is the cat. He definitely wants to come home with us."

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Glover said Indy's unofficial title is "Therapy Cat" for the museum's employees.

"If you're having a bad day, he'll come up to you and you can pet him or snuggle him or whatever it is," Glover said.

A day in the life of Indiana Bones

Indy sleeps overnight at the museum, except on holidays or when a staffer needs some extra Indy time, Glover said.

Whoever arrives first is greeted at the door by the cat, who promptly demands attention and breakfast.

On weekdays, he alternates between the museum building or the corporate office. Sometimes, people drive hundreds of miles hoping to meet Indy, but Glover said like all cats he decides whether he feels like being social.

"He gets a little overwhelmed with huge crowds," Glover said. "So we'll kind of remove him to make sure he's always comfortable."

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Indy spends weekends at the museum building, whether its testing out the mats for the weekend morning yoga class, running across the tables set up for forensics night or hanging around at his leisure. One of his favorite spots is the museum gift shop, especially sun-bathing on the rug.

Indiana Bones collar-cam?

In addition to all of this, he is busy being an online sensation. He first started earning his own money through Instagram Reels, and the museum had to make him an official employee because of the amount of money coming in.

The money he earns goes to buying his food and all of his luxury living items, like a tent bed and a fancy water fountain.

He's hoping to get to 100,000 followers on TikTok by the end of the weekend, at which point the Kitty Committee has promised to buy him a camera for his collar, a request from his fans.

"I know you guys want some of this 'Indy Vid,' so let's make it happen," he said in a TikTok video.

How this museum cat is giving back

Over the years, Indy has hosted fundraisers for the Moore Animal Shelter, his previous home.

He's doing another fundraiser now through Amazon, where anyone can order a donation item for the shelter.

Proceeds from Sir Indiana Bones merchandise also goes to help the shelter.