Footage of the incident, shared widely online, shows lawyer Rod Ponton struggling to remove the filter, while Judge Roy Ferguson attempted to help him.
Mr Ponton can be heard solemnly informed the judge: “I don’t know how to remove it… but I’m prepared to go forward with it.
"I'm here live, I am not a cat."
Mr Ponton told BBC Radio 4's Today show that the mishap happened while he was using his secretary's computer during the Zoom call.
"I got on the Zoom, everything seemed fine, my picture popped up when I was in the waiting room with the judge when he called the case", he said
"But when the judge called the case I disappeared and a cat appeared instead of me - to my great surprise of course."
Mr Ponton said he was unaware that Zoom had a cat filter.
"I did not know that Zoom could turn me into a cat, I did not know that a cat Zoom could turn me into an internet celebrity", he said.
"But it all happened in just a matter of hours."
Asked about the moment he told the judge "I am not a cat", he said: "I wanted to explain to him that I had not suddenly transformed by some rocket ship in outer space into a cat."
The video was posted on Twitter by Judge Ferguson, Mr Ponton said, and it has amassed millions of views.
After being initially concerned about the reaction to the video, Mr Ponton said he has now embraced becoming an internet sensation.
“As it turns out in hindsight it’s provided a good laugh, I think, for the country,” he said.
“I think anybody that’s ever struggled with a computer, with Zoom, can recognise that those kinds of things can happen and it certainly did happen to me.
“I think the judge was amused, and he took it in good humour, and he’s the one who posted the video to share a funny moment and caution people to make sure your kids don’t have a filter on the computer when you’re trying to do something serious.
“It was certainly a matter of consternation and concern as the deluge of phone calls and emails came in."
