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You may have heard of the term “splooting” floating around the internet in reference to our animal pals. But what does it mean? And do cats sploot?
Our pets are so adorable that the online pet community has birthed its own ridiculous but hilarious slang to describe our furry friends and their behavior. You are probably familiar with some of the classic kitty memes, such as Keyboard Cat or LOLCats.
But pet-memeing has even given rise to its own vocabulary. That’s where terms like splooting come in. Here’s what it means so you can tell if your cat does it!
What Is Splooting?
Splooting describes one of the silliest things a four-legged friend can do while relaxing. Splooting is when a pet lays out on their belly while having both hind legs splay out behind them instead of being neatly tucked under their torso. It looks like the picture above.
This is a term you might hear applied to dogs more often than cats — more specifically, Corgis. These short-legged pups are the most famed for their sploot-ery, but our feline friends can certainly do it, too!
Why do they do it? Who knows? Maybe they’re trying to get in a good stretch. Maybe they’re trying to put their belly to the ground to keep it warm or cool. Our cats are keeping pretty quiet about it, so we may never know. Still, it looks pretty darn adorable!
What Other Cat Internet Terms Should I Know?
Cats have long been the reigning champions as far as animals of the internet go, so it’s easy to see why splooting is only one of many meme terms that cat lovers use to describe their cats’ kooky quirks.
For example, “airplane ears” is used to describe when a cat folds their ears back as if they’re about to take flight. In reality, it may mean that your cat is annoyed and wants to claw at you. Beware the airplane ears seen above!
“Baffing” is another cat-centric term for something non-cat folk may refer to as “grooming.” Yes, baffing is the same thing as saying a cat is grooming themselves, but baffing is so much more entertaining and in line with all that is cat.
It probably comes from the word “bath” as in a cat bath. But give baffing a try the next time you refer to your cat giving themselves a good tongue cleaning!
One of the silliest terms the internet has come up for a kitty behavior is “loafing.” No, loafing does not simply refer to the cat favorite activity of lazing around. Loafing is when a cat — or doggo — puts all four of their paws underneath their torso, making them look like a furry loaf of bread with an adorable little face.
The lexicon of internet cat-lingo is still in its infancy, but it has grown exponentially since the incarnation of the “I Can Has Cheezburger” kitty.
Does your cat sploot? What other meme terms do you enjoy using to describe your cat? Let us know in the comments as Keyboard Cat plays us off!