cat always stands on its rear legs

we have this cat which raises up on his hind legs when you put your hand or something else ubove him.

he does it at times when a human would say hello or greet you somehow.

sometimes he stretches higher than others, sometimes he holds himself in that position for various ammounts of time. The more he does it at one time the less far of the ground he raises (for example he may walk in and raise very High a few times and just do small jumps afer a while)

like i said he does it when a human would greet you, it has nothing to do with when he wants food attention or anything like that.

why would a cat do something like this?

It sounds to me that he may be 'reaching' out to bunt his head against your hand. This is a cat's form of 'greeting' and saying hello. You will see two cats greet each other by bunting their heads against each other's cheeks, or will greet their humans by bunting their heads against their hands or legs and twining themselves around their legs.

He may also be curious about your hand. He may be trying to see what is in your hand, or to smell it and help identify if you are one of 'his' humans or a stranger human.

One of mine sits on his haunches like that quite often. In his case it is usually when he is trying to see something that is a bit too high for him to see otherwise but he doesn't want to commit himself to jumping up closer to it yet, or he is trying to reach for a toy or something about which is he curious and has no other way to get closer to it. It is cute - he will perch there kind of like a rabbit with his two front paws dangling in front:-) and is able to maintain that position for a surprising length of time.

Kathryn

I read somewhere that this is showing a desire to be as near to your head as possible, like Kathryn says, cats greet each other by rubbing heads. I bet your cat would be ecstatic if you lifted him up so he could give you a proper head-to-head greeting!

Sue

You mean like this?



Dusty does this all the time, she begs for treats or if you get out cheese or milk from the fridge, she "prairie dogs" as we call it! (See how her front legs are just dangling?)

She can stay up on her hind legs like this for several minutes. None of my other cats do this!

Awwwwwwwwww how cute does Dusty look!

I've seen my two stand on their rear legs like that and it's normally to see over the top of something without jumping up such as the sofa.

That's it! That is how Lion stands too:-).

Dusty is so cute!!!

Kathryn

Sorry to hijack the thread with my lovely little Dusty! But I wanted to see if that's what he meant... heh... it is adorable... she's the tiniest lil thing, real short tail & has the biggest eyes I've ever seen on a cat!

Originally Posted by darkeyedgirl

You mean like this?



Dusty does this all the time, she begs for treats or if you get out cheese or milk from the fridge, she "prairie dogs" as we call it! (See how her front legs are just dangling?)

She can stay up on her hind legs like this for several minutes. None of my other cats do this!

Click to expand...

yes that is exactly what i am talking about, ours will do it for anything and not just your hand (your foot or anything that you hold out to it will do the trick)
i assume that its back is stretched in that photo

BTW we have a cat that looks just like that only it is black and white (its not the one that rises up thou)

Oh yeah, Dusty's back was stretched. Straight up!!! I was standing directly above her dangling cheese.

She is just a very short cat. I mean SHORT. So even while standing she looks shrunken. She has short legs, a very short tail, and a short body yet is so fluffy & furry, she sways when she walks!

Dusty isn't like your cat, though. She only sits up & begs like that when she thinks she is getting cheese or crackers. Ritz WITH cheese really make her stand up a long time.

hey do you think this cat looks anything like dusty



her name is pickles

Oh she's a beauty!!

we visted the local animal sanctuarry when i was about 10, (family and a few friends)

had no intention of getting another cat but you dont see cats like that very ofen so you dont let the chance to have one go

I couldn't agree more!

Winston stands up like that all the time too. It's adorable..plus he also likes to sit up with his hind legs out in front, like a person!

Quki does that too. It's so cute.

Originally Posted by katspixiedust

I LOVE the name Pickles for a kitty! It's too cute.

Waffle also stands like that from time to time. She, like a lot of the other cats mentioned in this thread, will do it to see something better. Whether it be over a table, out the window, or on top of a chair, she'll stand up like that to check things out before she proceeds. If your cat does it when anything is dangled over her head it would sound as if she wants to bump heads, like others have mentioned. Isn't it just TOO cute when they do that?!

Click to expand...

it is, but this one does it all of the time

Molly will do it to look out the window, if another cat is occupying the ledge.

I have a 12 week old orange tabby I adopted named "tiny tim", he is a polydactyl and also has shortened tendon syndrome in the front legs. he stands on his hind legs also. he looks like puss in boots when he does this. sooooo cute!!!!