What is a Cat Loaf?

A cat loaf or kitty loaf is the name of the position your cat sits in when they have their paws and tail tucked beneath them, resembling a loaf of bread. Humans find this behavior fascinating and perplexing. There’s something undeniably cute about a cat in loaf formation.

Other common names for the cat loaf include: the potato cat, hovercat, cat boat, loaf cat, cube cat, cat bean, turkey cat, and bread cat.

I can’t help but laugh when I see my cats loafing. The position would be utterly ridiculous for humans to attempt. The “Cat Loaf” could possibly be coined as a new Yoga position but at a much higher difficulty level than the Downward Facing Dog. It just looks like it’d be so uncomfortable! But that’s clearly not the case for your cat. Loafing is a sign that your cat is comfortable and very relaxed. It’s also a very good position for staying warm.

At Kitty Loaf, we are experts when it comes to the subject of loafing. We regularly comb through thousands of Instagram cat photos to hand select the best loafs to be featured as our Loaf of the Day. Not all cats loaf, but the vast majority will at least attempt one of the loaf variations below.

Partial Loaf

The Partial Loaf, or the Sloppy Loaf is a not-so-compact loaf formation. In this position, a cat will generally have exposed elbows or a loose tail. This formation is very common amongst kittens.

Face Loaf

The Face Loaf is a pretty rare loaf formation that gets its name because it involves a Face Plant. Either from exhaustion or frustration, a cat in loaf formation will drop their head to the floor or smash it against a vertical surface.

Full Loaf

The Full Loaf, or Purrfect Loaf as we refer to them, is the textbook loaf formation with fully tucked paws and a tucked or closely pressed tail. Witnessing a Full Loaf in person is a real treat. If you’re lucky enough to have a camera handy, you simply must capture the moment (and share it using #mykittyloaf).

Double Loaf

The Double Loaf is a very rare occurrence of two cat loaves in the same vicinity. They’re typically spotted side-by-side, but sometimes they form a loaf train with one in front of the other.

Triple Loaf

The Triple Loaf is even rarer than the Double Loaf. We’ve only spotted 5 of them in our lifetime of loaf searching. We are certain the Triple Loaf has some greater significance, but at the moment scientists are still hypothesizing about their meaning.

However your cat chooses to loaf, make sure you let them know how much you appreciate it! If you want to see all of our fantastic loafs, head on over to our Loaf Page. And if you ever have a worthy loaf to share with us, remember to follow us @mykittyloaf and use #mykittyloaf on Instagram!