# Can Your Cat Sit Upright? **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [January 6, 2009, 8:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-your-cat-sit-upright/480128 "2009-01-06T20:38:15Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 19\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Markxxx](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/5daacb/32.png) [@Markxxx](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Markxxx)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2009, 4:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-your-cat-sit-upright/480128/41 "2009-01-07T16:43:53Z")
> [@Wile\_E](#): > > I have only seen it on rare occasions from a couple of my cats. The weird behavior that gets me is my cat, Pi, sleeps on his face. He will be sleeping sternal but instead of extending his neck out or turning his head to the side, he has his face turned down so it’s flat against the surface. I always thought it odd since he has a chronic stuffy nose problem and I would think that would make breathing more difficult. I have never seen another cat sleep like this. My cat used to sleep on its head. I asked someone who said, when cats sleep on their heads it means rain within 24 hours. And it was usually right and rain almost always happend within 48 hours. I think that “myth” seems to have some sort of validity to it ---
**Author:** ![EddyTeddyFreddy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eddyteddyfreddy/32/18796_2.png) [@EddyTeddyFreddy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EddyTeddyFreddy)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2009, 5:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-your-cat-sit-upright/480128/42 "2009-01-07T17:21:02Z")
> [@freckafree](#): > > When I started reading this thread, I thought “I hope **EddyTeddyFreddy** pops by with a link to her video of Peanut!” - blushes \* You remember me, and my weirdo Peanut? Golly! Please allow me to thank you by sharing one of my favorite lolpix from [ICanHasCheezburger.com](http://ICanHasCheezburger.com): [Worth a thousand words](http://icanhascheezburger.com/?s=worth+thousand+words) ---
**Author:** ![MissTake](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/misstake/32/3189_2.png) [@MissTake](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MissTake)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2009, 5:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-your-cat-sit-upright/480128/43 "2009-01-07T17:40:32Z")
Both of our cats prairie dog pose, mostly for food. Cleo will do it when a light turns on or off, the wind blows, a mosquito farts in Ghana - IOW for no known reason. She’ll be curled up, all content, and suddenly hop into prairie dog pose. Bernie has taken to posing when I’m in the facilities. Usually with a [Puss in Boots](http://www.whataboutmomblog.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/01/puss-in-boots.jpg) look on her mug. It’s difficult to pee and laugh at the same time. And Bernie is sleeping on her head as I type. Often she will also wrap a paw around the front of her, leaving her ears lying on top of her arm. It’s weird. **ETF** : Peanut has become our kitty meme when Cleo prairie dogs for no obvious reason. Cleo only delicately bats at nothing, no where near Peanut. TheKid sings (to the tune of Yankee Doodle) “Peanut Cleo in our house, crazy in the dinger. What she sees are magic bees, planning on to sting her” Yes, we _are_ odd. What’s your point? ---
**Author:** ![Mahna\_Mahna](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e47c2d/32.png) [@Mahna\_Mahna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mahna_Mahna)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2009, 5:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-your-cat-sit-upright/480128/44 "2009-01-07T17:59:17Z")
Ariel does this too, usually when there’s something on the kitchen counter that smells interesting like canned corn or chickpeas or roast chicken. I think she’s trying to get as close to the smell as she can without actually jumping on the counter, which she knows if off-limits (when I’m around to see it, of course… she’ll happily jump on if I’m out of sight because she’s a perverse little brat). She seems pretty comfortable with the pose and usually stays that way for about 5 minutes or so, when she finally decides that despite her cuteness the scraps are not forthcoming. ---
**Author:** ![EddyTeddyFreddy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eddyteddyfreddy/32/18796_2.png) [@EddyTeddyFreddy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EddyTeddyFreddy)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2009, 6:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-your-cat-sit-upright/480128/45 "2009-01-07T18:26:10Z")
> [@MissTake](#): > > **ETF** : Peanut has become our kitty meme when Cleo prairie dogs for no obvious reason. Cleo only delicately bats at nothing, no where near Peanut. TheKid sings (to the tune of Yankee Doodle) “Peanut Cleo in our house, crazy in the dinger. What she sees are magic bees, planning on to sting her” > > Yes, we _are_ odd. What’s your point? Well, you ARE cat people, which explains so much. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Shirley\_Ujest](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/45deac/32.png) [@Shirley\_Ujest](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shirley_Ujest)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2009, 6:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-your-cat-sit-upright/480128/46 "2009-01-07T18:36:03Z")
Our cat, Lilly ( Maine Coon mixed with total distain for everyone) can sit up. ---
**Author:** ![Barrels](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/b5a626/32.png) [@Barrels](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Barrels)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2009, 7:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-your-cat-sit-upright/480128/47 "2009-01-07T19:25:46Z")
My cat Kanga, can do it. Want to guess how she got the name? ---
**Author:** ![EddyTeddyFreddy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eddyteddyfreddy/32/18796_2.png) [@EddyTeddyFreddy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EddyTeddyFreddy)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2009, 8:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-your-cat-sit-upright/480128/48 "2009-01-07T20:01:33Z")
> [@Barrels](#): > > My cat Kanga, can do it. > > Want to guess how she got the name? So, what a roo suggesting? ---
**Author:** ![chocolatefrog](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/41988e/32.png) [@chocolatefrog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chocolatefrog)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2009, 2:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-your-cat-sit-upright/480128/49 "2009-01-08T02:27:21Z")
I used to have a fat cat who would sit slouching with his back against the sofa. He would sometimes sleep on his back too. He was truly the definition of lazy. ---
**Author:** ![Leiko](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/c5a1d2/32.png) [@Leiko](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leiko)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2009, 3:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-your-cat-sit-upright/480128/50 "2009-01-08T03:15:41Z")
Today my cat, Zathras, proved he could do what I imagined the thread title meant- going from lying down to sitting on his back legs, with his front legs out in front of him like he’s going to touch his toes. He had to dig into the back of the chair to finish hauling himself up all the way, but he was cute when he did it. Especially with his tummy pudge hanging out on the side. And come to think of it, back when he was a kitten, he did kangaroo/groundhog sometimes. But then he got distracted attacking dust motes. ---
**Author:** ![LurkMeister](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/3da27b/32.png) [@LurkMeister](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LurkMeister)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2009, 12:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-your-cat-sit-upright/480128/51 "2009-01-08T12:11:26Z")
Last night Rascal was doing this. I was in bed reading and he climbed onto my chest, reared up on his hind legs, and started trying to catch some very small bugs (at least I assume they were bugs - they were so small they might have been dust motes) that were hovering around my bed light. He alternated between batting at them with one paw and trying to clap them between two paws. ---
**Author:** ![Annie-Xmas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecc23a/32.png) [@Annie-Xmas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Annie-Xmas)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2009, 8:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-your-cat-sit-upright/480128/52 "2009-01-08T20:03:23Z")
> [@EddyTeddyFreddy](#): > > [Did he look like this?](http://pets.webshots.com/photo/1109846547000735275qSmGNn) My word. That has to be one of Ralph’s descendants. I did have a photo of the “bent Ralph.” Everyone who saw it would turn it around, trying to figure out how he was lying. ---
**Author:** ![EddyTeddyFreddy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eddyteddyfreddy/32/18796_2.png) [@EddyTeddyFreddy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EddyTeddyFreddy)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2009, 10:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-your-cat-sit-upright/480128/53 "2009-01-08T22:05:28Z")
Freddy’s brother Teddy doesn’t go in for the pretzelling; he’s more a [stretchy kinda guy.](http://pets.webshots.com/photo/1109846713000735275qIDOkt) ---
**Author:** ![Barrels](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/b5a626/32.png) [@Barrels](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Barrels)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2009, 10:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-your-cat-sit-upright/480128/54 "2009-01-08T22:33:35Z")
> [@EddyTeddyFreddy](#): > > So, what a roo suggesting? Nothing right meow. ---
**Author:** ![Clothahump](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/51bf81/32.png) [@Clothahump](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Clothahump)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2009, 1:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-your-cat-sit-upright/480128/55 "2009-01-09T13:49:29Z")
> [@EddyTeddyFreddy](#): > > Sit up like a kangaroo? Not only can my Peanut do that, without needing back support; he also while he’s up there does this… this weird… [Well, see for yourself.](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hpFlMqq6654) > > 😃 Sometimes when cats do that, bad things happen to them. [![](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/dk8UpHqtvSY/hqdefault.jpg "kung-fu cat") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dk8UpHqtvSY) ---
**Author:** ![EddyTeddyFreddy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eddyteddyfreddy/32/18796_2.png) [@EddyTeddyFreddy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EddyTeddyFreddy)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2009, 6:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-your-cat-sit-upright/480128/56 "2009-01-09T18:50:52Z")
> [@Clothahump](#): > > Sometimes when cats do that, bad things happen to them. > > [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dk8UpHqtvSY](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dk8UpHqtvSY) 😃 A familiar favorite among the online videos, but it never gets old, does it? Schooner, my new kitten, has gotten to that stage with the young adult cats and doesn’t hesitate to fling himself headlong (or madly kicking hind feet first) into wrestlemania with partners who triply outweigh him. This makes a nice change of pace for me, as it (a) provides much amusement for the spectator, and (b) distracts him from ramming his cold wet nose in my face and batting it with his immense double paws. ---
**Author:** ![EddyTeddyFreddy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eddyteddyfreddy/32/18796_2.png) [@EddyTeddyFreddy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EddyTeddyFreddy)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2009, 6:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-your-cat-sit-upright/480128/57 "2009-01-09T18:59:37Z")
Drat! Missed the edit window! [Obligatory double-paw picture](http://good-times.webshots.com/photo/2384967230000735275UZklei) [Another angle](http://good-times.webshots.com/photo/2923415620000735275JnBjRS) [Putting said paw to good use](http://good-times.webshots.com/photo/2762246400000735275QgLkSY) ---
**Author:** ![TroubleAgain](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/e480ec/32.png) [@TroubleAgain](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TroubleAgain)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2009, 11:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-your-cat-sit-upright/480128/58 "2009-01-09T23:56:42Z")
> [@Clothahump](#): > > Sometimes when cats do that, bad things happen to them. > > [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dk8UpHqtvSY](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dk8UpHqtvSY) I got that in an email years ago, and I loved it so much I saved it to my hard drive to look at when I needed a pick-me-up.🆒 ---
**Author:** ![Jillyvn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ecb155/32.png) [@Jillyvn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jillyvn)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2009, 12:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-your-cat-sit-upright/480128/59 "2009-01-10T00:08:17Z")
I had never seen a cat do this before I got my most recent kitten. He is not declawed, but he will frequently “gopher” without any support, when he is curious. It’s the damndest thing - so strange to see. I wish I could get him to do it on command. The first time he did it, I think I scared him because I kept telling him how clever he’d been. [Xander](http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?pid=1673637&l=02510&id=713270980)is pretty shy. I was hoping he would teach his brother [Izydor](http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?pid=1673636&l=b38f0&id=713270980) to do it, but it hasn’t worked thus far. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-your-cat-sit-upright/480128.md?page=2)