SEATTLE – In a city bursting with Internet start-ups, software giants and high technology, a Web site that features pictures of cute kitties is making a giant paw-print.

The Seattle-based site I Can Has Cheezburger, www.icanhascheezburger.com, has emerged as an unlikely hit.

I CAN HAS CHEEZBURGER?

The Web site derives its name from this image, posted by Eric Nakagawa when he started the blog.

Its concept is simple: Users provide their own silly captions for photos of cats. It was started as a joke of sorts, but it has clawed its way into a profitable Web site that gets 1.5 million page views a day.

Recently,  the Web site has been ranked as one of the top 10 Seattle start-ups. This spring, creators will launch a new spin-off Web site, and even a book.

"I think the number one appeal is humor - and beyond that - I've given up trying to figure out why people love it," said Ben Huh, CEO of Pet Holdings Inc., which operates the site. "It almost captures something primal about why people find pets cute."

Eric Nakagawa, 26, created the site in January of last year, based on an obscure Internet hobby in which people would caption cat photos and post them on Internet forums. He was working as a computer programmer in Hawaii at the time.

"I love the pictures – at the time there wasn't a place to go to find more," he said. "It was like all over the forums and Internet – but it wasn't in one centralized place."

He started the Web site by posting a now famous photo of a gray cat with the caption: "I Can Has Cheezburger?"

Nakagawa didn't think the Web site would be so popular, but its growth has allowed him to quit his day job. He moved to Seattle a month ago to focus on the business.

One aspect that helped it grow is a function that allows users to upload their own photos – which are known as "lolcats." Huh says they get up to 8,000 submissions a day. Nakagawa and his partner used to sort through them all, but with the mass numbers, they decided to allow users to vote on their favorites.

I CAN HAS CHEEZBURGER?

"It's getting bigger and bigger," he said. "It's like one of those Web sites, where if you direct people to a link, it could bring down servers now, it's getting so big."

If the captions on the site seem childish or goofy, it's because users type in an Internet-based language known as "LOLspeak" that's found new popularity since the launch of I Can Has Cheezburger.

"They took chunks of Internet based language … and morphed (it) into this unique language," Huh said. "We've got a lot of people like – why can't you guys speak in proper English? It's not about that. It's about people expressing themselves through their own language."

(But srsly, ur doin it wrong.)

"If you do it wrong – people will tell you," Huh said. "It has grammatical rules."

It's not always just about getting a few chuckles. In February, one user proposed to his girlfriend on the Web site. And sometimes a post that's not humor related will go viral. Huh points to a January 1 post of a solider petting a cat that quickly spread across the Internet.

"The soldier was decked out in full gear with gun on shoulder," he said. "The caption said 'no fight, just rubs.' It's not funny – it's poignant."

Huh says people use the Web site as a form of self-expression. And he and Nakagawa are building on the idea. They recently launched "I Has a Hotdog," www.ihasahotdog.com , a Web site that features pooch photos. And a people-based Web site will launch in March, but they're mum on details.

"The new site is geared toward people who need pictures for their blogs," Nakagawa said. "If you want to express a sentiment, we'll provide a way for you to express that."

Finally, fans should also be on the lookout for a new book based on the Web site, to be published by Penguin.

I CAN HAS CHEEZBURGER?

While the Web site can seem a little foreign to first-time visitors, it's continuing to grow. Friends forward links to friends and people get hooked.

Nakagawa said it's not just for pet-owners. He doesn’t even own a cat.

"I've never been able to have an animal since I've started the Web site," he said. "It's kind of like an outlet for people who didn’t have a certain pet."

Liek, OMG, dat is rly awsum.