Is my cat broken?

Hello cat lovers 💜

You may be pleased to know that none of our cats are actually broken, but they certainly do a good job of pretending to be sometimes!

Here’s an example of our Spikey cat - how can he even sleep like that? 😹

We found an excellent explanation online by Bruce Dyer as to why cats are so flexible:

“Felines owe their superior hunting prowess to a unique spine that gives them flexibility, explosive power, speed, grace and stealth. The cat’s vertebrae allows them to rotate and twist their spine more than most other animals. Between each individual bone in the vertebrae is an amazing elastic cushioning disc which allows cats to rotate their body 180 degrees to the right or left. In contrast, we can only rotate our hips around 90 degrees to the right or left. The human spine has 32 to 34 vertebrae, but cats have 52 or 53 vertebrae. Their limber spine also gives them the ability to turn their head and front legs in one direction while their hips and back legs are going in the opposite direction.

A flexible spine is what gives cats their acrobatic abilities, but it also contributes to their speed. The limber spine acts sort of like a suspension bridge as cats run – flexing and extending in length with each stride. Cats can hit a top speed of around 30 miles an hour, but they are sprinters and not marathoners like dogs. Unlike canines who chase down their prey, felines wait patiently and mount an ambush attack so a sprint is all that’s needed to catch a meal. Their spine alternately flexes and extends the back when running, stretching the body to maximum length, which is around three times the cat’s body length. As a cat pushes off in a new stride, her claws act like spikes to give her traction.”

But of course cats still need to keep in shape, and here’s little Annie doing her morning stretches 😻 I’m not sure that Spotty, who was in the hammock above her, appreciated it all that much though! 🤣