I think this position might relate to hunting too. I remembered coming across one of my cats in a loaf pointing at the bookcase. He didn’t respond to being touched and stayed like it for hours. Turned out there was a mouse hiding behind the shelves that one of the other cats had brought in earlier. So, catloaf, conserves energy, tucks in identifiable parts (aside from those pesky giveaway ears) and leaves cat ready for action at the rustle of a mouse.
Google image search-Catloaf.
My cat does the two things the OP mentioned all the time.
Every so often she’ll spring out and try to startle us, then do the sideways hop thing and zoom away, expecting us to give chase. Unfortunately the apartment isn’t big enough to allow much chasing.
As for the turkey position (that’s what we call it) I’ve always thought that it looks uncomfortable, but she must enjoy it. My favorite is when she’s asleep and covering her face with her paws. So cute!
My guy is currently stuffed into a shoebox left over from Christmas. Sleeps in it all curled up, barely, every day, tail hanging out. When he’s not wedged into it, he chews on it, it’s all torn up on the edges…Since he has such a long thick coat, he often lies on the floor on his back, paws curled on top of his chest. We call it “ottering”. He must be hot, even in winter. Summers are really really hard on a long haired cat like him, poor guy. 
Or sleeps on the arm of the chair with his chin resting on his paws stretched out, like Superman flying.
sigh Finesigh
Obviously, because he’s doing what cats do best: loafing around. 
Our cat Archie, a fluffy cat from the Sixties, colored much like the Clintons’ cat Socks, would sit in the “ridiculous position” for hours on end, outside, looking at a hole in our house’s concrete foundation. He must have known something we didn’t. Apparently he was waiting for mice: My stepfather’s niece did some cleanup out there once and came upon a cache of mouse skeletons! :eek:
I believe this image should shed some much needed insight into this thread: http://i1226.photobucket.com/albums/ee401/benyacobi/405751_10150512449208857_544948856_9044354_2106784712_n.jpg
I approve of that image, and it was indeed enlightening. I’ve never seen a catloaf from that perspective before.
In fact, I approve of all the images in this thread.
Well, shame on Gluyas Williams for ripping him off 50 years before.
Ah yes, the infamous Hovercat. 
I always thought the meatloaf position had to do with the cat wanting to sit in varying levels of comfort. My cat, Lucky, has a particular affinity for resting on my bed. When the bed is made, she’ll meatloaf, as there’s nothing interesting on the bed’s surface to tuck herself into. If the bed is unmade, she’ll find a good sized cranny in the bedspread and sprawl out on her side with her front and back legs pointed.
Interpreting your cat’s body language, on the Friskies site, has this to say:
Seems…logical, I suppose, but I’m not convinced. I’ve never seen either of our cats adopt the loaf position at the vet, or in other similar environments. A similar one, yes - all four paws down on the ground, but otherwise trying to make themselves as small as possible.
(I’ll also note that she seems to be the default gender, for cats. I’ve noticed it before)
My cat doesn’t usually loaf. He’s a big boy, so he normally just sprawls.
We call the sideways-hopping thing “Halloween Catting”, because a young cousin saw one of Mom’s cats doing that and said the cat was just practicing for Halloween. Didn’t hurt that the cat in question is solid black. That was years ago but the name has stuck. 
My eldest cat “Buddha’s” all the time, the other two do so less frequently. Yep, that’s my name for it because they look like they are meditating. It could be a heat issue. The eldest cat is a short-hair, the others are medium-length hair.
my girlkitten loafs when she wants to sleep: my two older boycats tend to relax in curls instead.
I’ve always thought it was Feline Zen Meditation… ~ >^.^<
Great… now you’ve got the work-place internet police after me. When I try to follow your link to a picture of your cat, the company filter says that I’m not allowed to go there because the subject of “nudity” is not allowed.
I can’t wait to get home and check it out from there, although I hope there are more pictures than just those of your cat.
It is true that the convention goes back a long way, much earlier, indeed, than 50 years ago—it was a frequent device of Clare Briggs for example, and I dare say it can be readily found in Victorian numbers of Punch. But, off the top of my head, I think Kliban initiated the current wave.
In cat yoga, this is referred to as the “loafus position, wallward-facing feline”.