Back in 2024 we published a story about cats doing the begging paws/praying gesture.
For the uninitiated, it’s a quirky behavior in which a cat sits upright on its back feet, then places the front paws together and moves them up and down as if fervently at prayer — or begging for something. (Though that’s undoubtedly our anthropomorphic interpretation of a distinctly feline quirk.)
Our post about the begging paws has become one of the most popular stories on this site, with people regularly finding us via search engines as they try to learn more about this strange behavior.
The last time we asked around, several veterinarians and behaviorists were happy to speak to us about the subject, but no one could say for sure what the begging paws motion means.
We’re going to give it another shot and hopefully get some answers by comparing notes with people whose cats engage in the behavior. If your cat does the begging paws/praying gesture, we’d love to hear from you!
Please comment here or email paininthebud at gmail along with:
- The name, age and gender of your cat
- How frequently your cat does the gesture
- Anything patterns or related behavior you’ve noticed: does your cat “pray” at certain times or in response to something she sees? Do you reward the behavior with treats, affection or attention? Has your cat always done it, or did the behavior emerge at a particular time?
Any detail could help uncover what exactly our furry friends are doing.
If you have photos or video of your cat “praying,” we’d love to include those clips in our follow-up story as well.
Hopefully by working together we can understand this quirky behavior and finally solve the mystery of why our cats do it!
Pain In The Bud 
Interestingly, no cat I’ve ever lived with displayed this behavior…
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It seems to be a rare behavior, which makes it more mysterious and difficult to study. If enough of us share info, maybe there’s a commonality that will reveal itself. That’s my hope.
Either that or we’ve discovered a feline religion that has been kept secret since the days of Bastet worship in ancient Egypt!
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They are imaging a large toilet paper roll in front of them.
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I’ve had over 25 cats over the years and have gotten close to many, many community cats, too. I have never witnessed this behavior in any of them.
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It figures that Bud is a weirdo!
It’s gonna be a challenge trying to figure this out, for sure, but “crowdsourcing” it seems like the most promising way.
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It’s a rare and special behavior, then.
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In 40 years i have never seen anything close to it. Including 15 years of cat rescue. Including feral colonies i have fed. And nothing from my cats through the years.
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Yup, it’s apparently extremely rare. Hopefully that will be another thing we can shed light on: how many cats have this quirk?
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Holly is 10 and I’ve never seen her do it. I had 3 other cats Buttons (aged 10 yrs), Jelly Bean (aged 18 years) and Chelsea (aged 20 years) and never saw any of them do it! I didn’t even know they did this until I saw it online!
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Hey Dee, long time no see. I’m glad you’re still around.
Well, I am determined to get to the bottom of this. I have a strong suspicion it may be something that just feels good to cats, like scratching an itch. But hopefully some patterns emerge as we compile more information.
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Maybe only cats on the internet do it? Because I’ve had many cats, and I never saw even one of them do it.
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Well, I’ve told Bud many times he has his own website and people who know and love him from the internet! He just says “Mrrrrrp!” and insists I keep scratching his head.
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Our visiting cats don’t do this…too busy manipulating us for treats and attention.
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Those three are pros. You’re probably house #2 on their daily circuit, then they’re like: “Okay guys, next up is the blue house where they feed us eggs and those delicious salmon crunchies! We’ll take a nap there after our third lunch, then move on to the red house two doors down with the super comfortable couch…”
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Ours does this move, both standing on his hind legs and also while lying down on his side!
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Thanks for getting in touch, Nicky. Do you have photos or video, and would you mind answering a quick question or two about your cat? I’m trying to compile information on cats who do this to help figure out what it means.
You can reach me at paininthebud at Gmail dot com
Cheers
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Yep no worries, have emailed you.
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