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My family got its first cat when I myself was barely a year old. She and I more or less grew up together, her dying (at which point I was heartbroken, naturally) when I was 23. We’ve also had a couple of other cats along the way, and whenever I see a cat in my neighbourhood here in Tokyo or visit my friends who have them, I always stop to say hello.

It turns out, however, that for all my years living with and around our domesticated feline friends, I clearly know nothing about them. I mean, can you explain what on earth this cat here is doing!?

Uploaded earlier this month by Japanese YouTuber ko tama, this video shows an adult cat standing on a table in front of a couple of kittens that can’t be more than a couple of days old.

At first, the cat taps at the kittens as one struggles to clamber over the other.

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Suddenly, though, the white cat stands on its hind legs and starts doing what we can only describe as a belly dance fused with a wave, waving its paws back and forth with tremendous enthusiasm.

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These shots don’t do the cat’s ‘dance’ justice, so here’s the video in full. It’s really quite bizarre.

Is this some form of cat sign language that we have simply never encountered before? Is the cat celebrating the arrival of the kittens through the medium of dance? Perhaps the three of them, the kittens lacking the coordination for more active games, are simply playing a round of charades? Let us know what you think is going on here in the comments section below.

▼ “What? Why are you laughing?”

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Source: YouTube via LabQ (Japanese)
Screenshots: YouTube