After Roaring Kitty posts a picture of a cartoon dog, Chewy stock experiences a jump.

On Thursday, shares of the online pet food retailer surged after Roaring Kitty, the leader of meme stocks, posted a picture on social media platform X that resembled the company's logo.

Keith Gill, known as Roaring Kitty online, has caused a stir in trading speculative stocks like GameStop by posting cryptic images and memes. On Thursday afternoon, a picture of a cartoon dog on his X feed briefly increased Chewy shares by 34% to $39.10.

Chewy was founded and led by GameStop CEO Ryan Cohen, who played a key role in PetSmart's acquisition of Chewy in 2017 and its subsequent IPO in 2019.

In January 2021, Cohen became a member of the GameStop board of directors, alongside two other Chewy executives. This contributed to the initial surge in GameStop's stock price. Later, in 2023, Cohen was appointed as the CEO of GameStop, leading a successful turnaround of the brick-and-mortar video game retailer.

During the pandemic, pet retailers like Chewy and Petco experienced significant growth due to the surge in pet adoptions among stuck-at-home consumers. As a result, sales of accessories such as beds and leashes for their new furry family members also increased.

As the pandemic ended and people resumed outdoor activities, adoption numbers decreased and consumers had less demand for luxury pet products like toys and cages, which have higher profit margins than pet food.

Sales of pet food have been consistently strong over the past year or so, but revenue for higher margin categories has decreased.

Massachusetts Mutual Life Insurance's former marketer, Gill, gained notoriety in 2021 for motivating retail investors to purchase GameStop shares and call options, resulting in a short-selling hedge fund squeeze. This frenzy led to congressional hearings on brokerage practices and the gamification of retail trading.