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Shoulder cats are a phenomenon much celebrated by self-confessed ‘cat people.’ It turns out that some cattos find the left or right, or both, shoulders of their owners the comfiest place to sit and look at the weird human world from above. Although it’s hard to precisely pinpoint when the term first emerged, the shoulder cat trend has recently taken over Reddit and other social media channels.
And while shoulder cat pics are taking over the internet, a big question has come up and it’s whether other animals on the shoulder count too. Because I mean, guys, is it really fair for cats to steal the entire spotlight for themselves? While this question remains purely philosophical, owners of different pets have now joined the ‘shoulder cat and not exclusively cat’ trend, sharing the cutest snaps of their furry friends on their shoulders.
So let’s see what this whole thing is all about and before someone asks, non-animals don’t count, so there’s no point trying to pull off the shoulder teddy bear for the challenge. Or maybe?...
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Does Shoulder Duck Make The Cut?
#3
Hopefully Shoulder Kittens Count
To find out just why exactly some cats are really into shoulder perching, Bored Panda reached out to Molly DeVoss, a certified feline training & behavior specialist, who runs Cat Behavior Solutions consulting agency. Molly told us that cats like to be in high places and close to the scent of their owners, so “shoulder perching is a natural behavior that accomplishes both.”
Meanwhile, if it seems that for your cat, shoulder sitting is the last thing they wanna do, it may be because “the cat doesn’t feel safe or stable on their owners' shoulders.”
But the good news is that you can train a cat to do just anything it wants to do, says Molly. “If your cat likes to climb up on you, simply encourage and reinforce that behavior with treats, and the cat will do it more often.” You can also lure your cat up onto your shoulder with treats.
#4
Oh Hi There, I Was Told That Shoulder Cats Are Trending Today
#5
Behold The Glorious Whiskers Of Shoulder Cat
#6
What About A Mouse?
Usually it’s young kittens that climb on their owners and sit up there, enjoying the sense of security there. As cats grow older, they get less agile and more cumbersome, thus making the internet’s favorite ‘shoulder catting’ trick harder with age.
But perching on the owner's shoulder isn’t a behavior that’s exclusive to cats. Birds and other small pets do it, and they’re usually easily trainable.
#7
I See Your Shoulder Cats. I Raise You Crown Cat
#8
My Shoulder Cat Isn't Nearly As Cute As Everyone Else's
#9
I See Your Shoulder Cats, Is It Too Late For A Shoulder Baby Opossum?
#10
Do Shoulder Horses Count? She's Always Hanging Her Head Over My Neck Waiting For Scratches
#11
My Shoulder Monster At 10 Months
#12
I Don’t Have A Cat, So I Present My Shoulder Bun!
#13
Hope We Are Not Too Late
#14
Shoulder Animals Seem To Be Pretty Popular Nowadays. So Here's A Shoulder Crow!
#15
I Give You, Azu, The Shoulder Snek
#16
She Was Purrty Proud Of My Accomplishment
#17
Heard You Like Shoulder Cats. This Is A.....pygmy Tree Cat
#18
Within 2 Seconds Of Meeting The Cat I Was Adopting, She Climbed Onto My Shoulders
#19
Does Shoulder Chicken Make The Cut?
#20
Do These Count As Shoulder Animals?
Julia Atkinson 4 years ago (edited)
Right Cow looks slightly disgusted by Left Cow's behaviour - "Don't lick it, you don't know where it's been"
#21
I Have My Shoulder Mounted Barkzooka Locked And Loaded!
Truth Monster 4 years ago
Excuse me sir, there is a vicious pit bull on your shoulder. Please remove it before it harms you with its cuteness :)
#22
He Always Climbs For A Hug After His Naps. Closest I Can Get To A Shoulder Cat
Rachel Krug 4 years ago
That's how my kitty is too. He loves to burrow his head in my hair and rub his face on my ear lol
#23
I See Your Baby Possums, Duck & Cats On Shoulders And Raise You An Albino Ferret
#24
Shoulder Cat Will Be Fun, They Said
#25
Jumbo Shoulder Dog
#26
I See Your Shoulder Cat And Raise You A Beard Kitten
#27
Sleeping Shoulder Magpie Baby
#28
Shoulder Cats? Nah, How About Shoulder Bear?
#29
Silence Human, I’m Looking At Shoulder Cats
#30
How About Shoulder Sugar Gliders?
#31
Do Shoulder Raccoons Count? Courtesy Of My Sister
#32
Shoulder Birb
#33
Shoulder Nugget (And A Lap Full Of Beans)
#34
My Dreams Of Having A Shoulder Cat Have Come True
#35
Hope I’m Not Late For The Cat On Shoulder
#36
Does A Rottweiler Puppy Count
#37
I Give You Shoulder Bun
#38
Hope I'm Not Too Late To Raise You A Second Shoulder Cat
#39
We Raised A Shoulder Cat
#40
Am I Too Late? Fern, The Sweetest Opossum!
#41
He Found My Wife’s Hood. I Think He Likes It
#42
Do Shoulder Squirrels Count?
Becca Gizmo the Squirrel 4 years ago
Yeah! I had tons if pics with gizmo on my shoulders. Don't know where that broke phone is. A squirrel running circles around your body is a weird feeling. I miss that baby.
#43
The Elusive Shoulder Fox!
#44
Shoulder Dane Anyone?
#45
Do Chinchillas Count Too?
#46
Shoulder Cat Or Cyclops?
Final score:
253points
#48
I Thought My Little Shoulder Protector Should Get A Turn Too!!
#49
I See We Are Doing Shoulder Cats Today?
#50
My Partner Would Like To Know If We’re Still Doing Shoulder Cats?
#51
Ashby Got Me Through Back Surgery
#52
A Teeny Weeny Shoulder Kitten (Another Reason To Love My Job)
#53
Does A Shoulder Hedgehog Count?
#54
Big Dogs Can Be Shoulder Dogs Too. Meet Ruka
#55
You've Heard Of Shoulder Cat, Now Get Ready For Shoulder Fennec Fox!
#56
I See Your One Shoulder Cat And Raise
#57
Head And Shoulder Cat
#58
We Hope Is Not To Late
#59
What About A Shoulder Mule ?
#60
Shoulder Pig Anyone? (This Is What He Does When I Won't Let Him In My Lap)
#61
I Take Your Shoulder Cats And Raise You A Shoulder Bunny
#62
My Brother's Shoulder Was The Safest Place At The Vet
#63
My Shoulder Cat Is Broken And Says Woof
#64
Soldier Cats
#65
I See Your Shoulder Cat And Raise You A Shoulder Chick. Sound On To Hear Her Happy Cooing
#66
I See Your Shoulder Baby Opossum And I Raise You To A Shoulder Bearded Dragon!
#67
I Don't Have A Cat But This Might Work. Shoulder... Snek
#68
I Submit A Shoulder Cow For Your Approval
#69
I Hereby Raise You, The Shoulder Rescue Marmoset
#70
Super Shoulder Kitty
#71
Ok But What About A Shoulder Hamster
#72
My Shoulder Cat, Lily, Is Using My Shoulders As If I'm Getting Paid To Be A 24/7 Cat Hanger
#73
Here’s My Toothless One-Eyed Shoulder Cat
#74
Smiling Shoulder Cat?
#75
Shoulder Coatimundi?
#76
It’s Not Too Late To Join In All The Fun Is It? I Present To You All, A Shoulder Corgi Pup!
#77
Heard You Guys Liked Cute Animals On Shoulders, Here's Me Riding My Bike In Serbia With My Cat On My Shoulders
#78
Shoulder Guinea Pig Providing Great Advice
#79
Shoulder Cat With A Twist, Theo Is Also A Part Time Hairdresser
Samantha Mix 4 years ago
Update this! I am in love with the pooferfluffynooter's mad hair skillz!
#80
My Roommates Cat Fell Asleep On Her Shoulder
#81
Too Fat To Shoulder Cat
#82
How About A Shoulder Baby Bunny?
#83
They're Good Scarfs Bront
#84
Does My Weird Fuzzy Snake Make The Cut?
#85
Are We Too Late To Join The Party?
#86
Training My New Kitty To Be A Shoulder Cat! 5 Months Old
#87
Kinda Late To The Party, But Shoulder Cat In Elevator
#88
I See Your Shoulder Cat.....
#89
What About A Maine Coon Hat?
#90
Is This Still A Thing? I Hope Im Not Late. Meet Milo And Peanut, My 2 Little Oinkies
#91
I See Your Shoulder Cat And Raise You A Shoulder Rooster
#92
Seeing All The Shoulder Pets, Thought I'd Add My Shoulder Dog
#93
Shoulder Dog That Acts Like A Cat, So It Counts
#94
The Best Thing About Fostering Is Getting To Experience Cats With Wildly Different Personalities Like Our New Shoulder Cat Cleo!
#95
I Was Told This Community Would Like To See This Pic But Now I See Why!! Everyone's Posting Their Adorable Shoulder Cats!! Hope I'm Not Too Late To The Party
#97
Since We're Shouldering Animals, Say Hi To Dawn!
#98
I Said Shoulder, But She Wouldn't Listen
#99
I, Too, Would Like To Share A Possum-On-My-Shoulder Pic
#100
This Shoulder Cat Is Giving And Receiving Special Boops
#101
After 4 Years Mary Finally Decided It Was Time To Become A Shoulder Kitty
Alison Marchand 4 years ago
This gives me hope for my two 1 year old kitties who haven't quite taken to the shoulder scene yet 😋 good cause I am getting wildly jealous of all these posts
#102
Since We’re Doing Shoulder Cats, I Raise You My Double Shoulder Kittens
#103
I Heard Y'all Like Cats On Shoulders...
#104
I See Your Shoulder Cats, Your Turkeys, Your Gerbils... I Raise You A Dragon
#105
Found This One Lost In A Market, He Likes To Eat, Pee And Sit At My Shoulder, All At The Same Time
#106
I Heard Shoulder Kittens Are Super In Right Now
Enamelcamel 4 years ago
Super hot guys are also super "in" right now ... never mind the kitten.
#107
I’ve Heard We Do Shoulder Cats... Meet Crosseyed Shoulder Cat And My Dad
#108
Shoulder Cat In One Of Cairo's Busses
#109
Meet Thunder, The Cat I Took From The Streets A Few Days Ago. He Wouldn't Even Let Me Touch Him Back Then, But Today His Favourite Place To Chill Is My Shoulder
#110
Is It Okay If One Rides On My Shoulder While The Other Rides On My Head?
#111
Shoulder Tiny Trash Panda
#112
For Your Shoulder Cat Consideration, This Is Old Man Wilson
#113
Scary Shoulder Cat Lmao
#115
They May Not Be Cats, But They’re Still Good Shoulder Boys! Happy International Bird Day!
david eldred 4 years ago
Raise birds for many years (including cockatoos and macaws (had big Greenwing as pet). At first was a little apprehensive with a Macaw that close to my eyes. As we bonded more strongly she decided she liked to preen eyebrows. The incredible delicacy and care a bird can show is amazing.!
#116
I See Your Shoulder Cats And Raise You A Shoulder Gerbil
#117
Double Trouble- A Shoulder Cat & A Lap Cat!
#118
How About A Shoulder Dog Scared Of A Little Thunder?
#119
When He Was Small Enough To Be My Shoulder Buddy
#120
This Lady In My Neighborhood That Walks Around With Her Cat On Her Shoulder
#121
Double Trouble
#122
Hear Me Out ... Shoulder Cat And Matching Shirts ?
#123
I Have An Aggressively Affectionate Cat
#124
I Don't Have A Shoulder Cat, However, Here Is A Shoulder Horse
#125
I See Your Shoulder Cat Photos. Do A Couple Of Shoulder Ferrets Count?
#126
Shoulder Caaaat
#127
My Shoulder Cat
#128
Parents New Cat Likes To Climb On My Shoulders And Play With My Ears
#129
My New Kitty Max! The Cat Carrier Is Still A Little Scary For Him. So He Climbed Up My Shoulder And Spent The Ride Home Sleeping There
#130
A Dark-Haired Man Wearing A Plaid Shirt Stares Directly Into The Camera With A Kitty Cat On His Left Shoulder
#131
I Work On A Farm. Meet My Work Shoulder Cat, James
#132
I Too Have A Shoulder Kitten. We're Not Very Good At Selfies Yet
#133
I Call Your Shoulder Cat And Raise You Two Shoulder Tiggers
Mushroom Garden 4 years ago
The most wonderful thing about tiggers, is that tiggers are wonderful things! *loud off-key singing*
#135
How About A Shoulder Doodle?
#136
Does Shoulder Guinea-Fowl Count?
#137
My Blind 16 Yr Old Cat Has A Very Special Relationship With My Boyfriend And Managed To Climb On His Shoulders Where She Needed A Helping Hand To Get Down
#138
Everyone Should Have A Shoulder Cat.
#139
Here’s My Shoulder Cat. I Hope I’m Not Too Late
#140
Scarf Cat Is Having A Great Time, I Swear
#141
My Parents New Puppy Enjoys Sleeping Like This, Especially While Driving
#142
Shoulder Cat! (Sorry About The Human)
#143
My Shoulder Cat Gringo, He Lives At The Vet Clinic Where I Work (Vet) And Helps Keep Our Spirits Up!
#144
I Offer You A Shoulder Guinea Pig In This Trying Time
#145
My Cat's Kitten Climbed Up My Shoulder, Buried Her Head Into My Hair And Fell Asleep. My Shoulders Are Stiff But It's A Small Price To Pay
#146
We Still Doing Shoulder Animals? When He Was Small He Would Sit Like This In The Car
#147
I See Your Shoulder Cats, And Raise You Two
#148
Does A Leopard Gecko On My Shoulder Count?
#149
The Citty I Found In Street And Me
#150
My Shoulder Cat Puts His Butt On My Head
#151
Alaska Here Loves To Hang Out On Your Shoulder
#152
I See Your Shoulder Animals, And I Raise You With This Sweet Baby Opossum
#153
I Heard We Were Posting Our Animals That Love Shoulders
#154
My Half-Blind Shoulder Son
#155
Are We Still Doing Shoulder Animals?
#156
I See Your Shoulder Cat Pic And Double It
#157
This Is My Rescue, Charlie, And She Loves Trips On My Shoulder... Mr. Mom To A Cat That Thinks It’s A Parrot
#158
Are We Too Late For A 60lb Shoulder Dog?
#159
Too Lazy To Be A Shoulder Cat
#160
One Heavy Pit Unsure Of Why She's On My Shoulder, Checking In
#161
Whenever She Rides With Me. She Will Break Out Of Her Cat Cage And Sit On My Shoulders
#162
My First Time Today Experiencing A Shoulder Cat. I’ve Peaked In Life
#164
What Do Y’all Think About Dogs Who Think They’re Cats?
#165
Me With My Perfectly Normal Shoulder Cat
#166
I Heard We Were Posting Shoulder Cats (My Fiancé And Our Baby Tormund)
#168
This Is "Nermal" The Foster Cat That Adopted Me And Rides On My Shoulder
#169
Meet Blue, The Shoulder Cat. He Had To Have All His Teeth Removed Except For His Canines. He's Pretty Swell
#170
I Heard Something About “Shoulder Cats”?
#171
My Vet Has A Shoulder Cat And I Love It. Meet Tonks
#173
How About A Shoulder Chicken? She Just Flew Right Up There And Scared The Heck Out Of Me!
#174
I See Your Shoulder Cats And Raise You A Shoulder Bunny. Crash Landed There And Knocked My Glasses Off After Scrambling With His Gremlin Claws Up My Back
#175
Peggy Sue Said She’s Sorry She’s Late To The Party
#176
Not My Shoulder Cat, But The Friendly Neighborhood Shoulder Cat That Visits Us Randomly
Add New Image
What do you think ?
Helen Haley 4 years ago
Either pets make all guys cuter, or covid distancing has gone on way too long.
Flare 4 years ago
It's the former. Research shows that a good pet owner is attractive because to another person, a good pet owner = a great parent.
Load More Replies...
Katie Lutesinger 4 years ago
What! All those kitties and not one rat? Rats LOVE shoulder sitting - I can fit three of mine on at once! :D Rat-Shot-5...0e5e54.jpg 
Katinka Min 4 years ago
What I really enjoy - apart from the great animals - are the many different, often goofy faces. There are way too many smooth instragmm-faces on the web.
Alexis draskinis 4 years ago
Funnily enough, started reading this & 4 pics in my cat is on my shoulders
A.M. Pierre 4 years ago
I have one shoulder cat and one "I will sit on your lap every chance I can get, but pick me up and we're through" cat.
Byron Black 4 years ago
JamUl Gorilla took one look and that was it. Hit the road on our Giant Anthem 29er. Jamul-appa...795c67.jpg 
s. vitkovitsky 4 years ago
My father's shoulder cat would take the ouchy route to get there, via climbing up my standing dad's back, claws into clothing (and deeper). He did not mind.
Flare 4 years ago
I know an early example of this before the trend started: the cat that climbed on that reporter's shoulder when she was live.
glowworm2 4 years ago
That was always one of my favorite news clips. That cat was adorable.
Load More Replies... Helen Haley 4 years ago
Either pets make all guys cuter, or covid distancing has gone on way too long.
Flare 4 years ago
It's the former. Research shows that a good pet owner is attractive because to another person, a good pet owner = a great parent.
Load More Replies... Katie Lutesinger 4 years ago
What! All those kitties and not one rat? Rats LOVE shoulder sitting - I can fit three of mine on at once! :D Rat-Shot-5...0e5e54.jpg
Katinka Min 4 years ago
What I really enjoy - apart from the great animals - are the many different, often goofy faces. There are way too many smooth instragmm-faces on the web.
Alexis draskinis 4 years ago
Funnily enough, started reading this & 4 pics in my cat is on my shoulders
A.M. Pierre 4 years ago
I have one shoulder cat and one "I will sit on your lap every chance I can get, but pick me up and we're through" cat.
Byron Black 4 years ago
JamUl Gorilla took one look and that was it. Hit the road on our Giant Anthem 29er. Jamul-appa...795c67.jpg
s. vitkovitsky 4 years ago
My father's shoulder cat would take the ouchy route to get there, via climbing up my standing dad's back, claws into clothing (and deeper). He did not mind.
Flare 4 years ago
I know an early example of this before the trend started: the cat that climbed on that reporter's shoulder when she was live.
glowworm2 4 years ago
That was always one of my favorite news clips. That cat was adorable.
Load More Replies... You May Like Meet Sphynx Cats - The Most Adorable Hairless Felines Funny Cats Sleeping In Weirdest Positions Ever 50 “No Context Cats” Photos That Are Pure Chaos And Perfection
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