Tabby Tuesday: Monorailing 101

Today's post is intended to educate kitties (and their humans) in proper monorailing technique.

Never heard of monorailing? Read on! Perhaps your kitty is already a Monorail Cat and you don't even realize it.

The term monorailing is commonly used in lolcat circles to describe a cat resting on a railing with paws tucked. Such a kitty is called a Monorail Cat. See Exhibit A below, one of the earliest documented sightings of Monorail Cat:

Exhibit A: Monorail Cat

Of course, not every home has a railing, so monorailing has expanded to include more accessible surfaces like the backs of overstuffed chairs and couches.

Yet even with the availability of monorailing surfaces, it's clear that not every kitty has perfected his or her monorailing skills. Let's take a look at some examples of IMPROPER monorailing technique:

Exhibit B: Improper Monorailing

As you can see in Exhibit B, back in 2007 Lily had not mastered monorailing, as evidenced by her SLOPPY BACK-END technique. While this is quite cute, proper monorailing requires the back paws to be tucked.

Exhibit C: Impressive, but not monorailing!

Don't be swayed by Tinsel's amazing balance beam technique in Exhibit C. This is NOT monorailing. Monorailing kitties need to be in the reclined position.

Exhibit D: Improper Monorailing

Can you spot the issue in Exhibit D? Correct! Extending the back leg gives Lily an air of casual elegance, but this is not monorailing.

Those of you really on your paws no doubt caught the other issue in Exhibit D: A fireplace mantel is not an appropriate surface for monorailing. Monorailing MUST occur on a railing or back of a chair or couch.

Exhibit E: Monorail Cat, home version

While not absolutely perfect, Exhibit E is a reasonable representation of monorailing in the home setting. Of course, Lily could improve her technique by fully tucking her left paw, but she more than makes up for this slight imperfection with the cute factor.

I hope all kitties and their humans are now better equipped to identify proper monorailing technique when it occurs. Accept no substitutes, except for extreme cuteness!