Crossed Legs Lap Work
Crossed Legs Lap Work
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We don’t spend a lot of time on this step, but it is a useful transition from legs extended to crossed legs.
Some cats spend 1 day and other spend 1 week on this step, it all depends on the cat.
You sit crossed legged and lure the cat over the lowest point—your crossed ankles. You lure the cat into your crossed legs by bringing the treat to your hip. Very small cats and kittens may be able to get all paws into your crossed legs, but medium and large cats are too long to do that so you end up with the front paws in your crossed legs on on your leg and the back legs are outside of your crossed legs right up against your ankles.
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For very small cats and kittens who can get all four paws into your lap, you could just stay with luring them in over your ankles. But you might have a hard time getting the cat to sit down, in which case it would be better to move on to hip-to-hip even for very small cats and kittens.
The reason why we bring the cat in from our hip is that it is the second lowest point of our crossed legs. Also, bringing the cat in from the side means we have the length for a medium or large cat to get all paws into your crossed legs.
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We then move on to getting the cat used to hanging out on our crossed legs without treats in order to encourage the cat to become a lapcat. There are some cats who just won’t become lapcats and so after 2-3 weeks of this you can move on and just do a little bit of it during sessions while you do the subsequent steps and electives.
The benefit of doing all this even for those cats who will not become lapcats, is that this will turn them into “beside you” cats who like to come over and just lay beside you or drape half their body on your leg. I find that many adopters are ok with a “beside you” cat—and the whole goal of SSL is to get the cat adopted!
Keep in mind that the longer you do this the more likely the cat will become a lapcat (or beside you cat) so while the cat is waiting to get adopted or if you have a little more time to foster the cat, make sure to continue crossed legs lap work daily even for 15 minutes a day.
Why do we do this? Crossed Legs Lap Work
We do a lot of cross-legs lap work because we want to encourage the cat to become a lapcat (and we know that lapcats get adopted really quicky!) or at least become a “beside you” cat who likes to sit right next to your thigh. There are few cats who graduate SSL and end up being vicinity cats and just like to be near you but not beside you. I explain to adopters that vicinity cats are the ones who will sit on the other sofa cushion to hang out with you! Although, given all the cats I’ve socialized, I can count on one hand the number that didn’t at least become “beside you” cats when they graduated.
Crossed Legs Front Ankles Tutorial
Bring the cat into your crossed legs by leading the cat in over your ankles. Your ankles are the lowest point so this is a helpful transition for the cat from legs extended to crossed legs. Keep in mind, the cat may be hesitant at first because you changed body positions, which is why we ease the cat into the crossed legs lap work.
Crossed Legs Play
For each step the primary session work is to use treats (squeezable treat or baby food) to lure and distract the cat to do that step. We always complement the treat work with play. So when you finish the treats for that session, switch over to the Cat Teaser wand toy and do the play step. If you consistently complement the treat work with the related play, the cat will progress much more quickly.
This play should be done with both kittens and adults (I just happened to have created the video below for someone who was socializing kittens, which is why I mention “kittens” in the video). For kittens 4 months and younger, you can switch the order and do the play portion of the session first then finish off with the treat work.
Make sure to use the Cat Teaser brand wand toy as the wire string moves very differently than a typical wand toy. Do not leave this and any wand toys unattended because the mouse is a choking hazard and the string is a strangulation hazard.
Crossed Legs Hip-to-Hip (Side-to-Side) Tutorial
The tutorial explains each step of Crossed Legs Hip-to-Hip, then the following videos show demonstrations and tips with actual cats. Make sure that you don’t use a blanket over your lap because the cat won’t realize he is on you and it defeats the purpose of this step. Refer to the Setup section about thick sweatpants for more details on why blankets end up wasting your socialization time.
You first get the cat used to crossing legs hip-to-hip without touching/petting the cat. Then as the cat becomes comfortable and quickly comes into your lap, you should incorporate petting (assuming the cat already completed the Petting Sequence in the prior step).
Crossed Legs Hip-to-Hip (Side-to-Side) Demo
This demonstrates how to keep the churu close to your stomach.
Crossed Legs Hip-to-Hip Mid-Stage Examples
Initially the cat is going to be a bit hesitant to walk across. In this example, the cat is in the mid-stage of this step. When the cat walks off, make a big arc with the treat to bring the cat back around to start at the hip again.
Crossed Legs Hip-to-Hip with Advanced Petting
As the cat becomes comfortable and quickly comes into your lap, you should incorporate petting (assuming the cat already completed the Petting Sequence in the prior step). Repetition and continuation of the Crossed Legs Lap Work creates a strong foundation for the cat.
Crossed Legs without Treats Tutorial
When the cat quickly gets into position and sits or lays comfortably in your lap with a treat, you start to get the cat used to being in your lap without treats. This step works on getting the cat used to and start to enjoy the time in your lap, encouraging him to become a lapcat or at least a “beside you” cat.
Cat in Advanced Stage of Crossed Legs Lapwork
This is what the cat will be like as she progresses to the advanced stages of Crossed Legs Lapwork. When you aren't doing sessions of Crossed Legs Lapwork with treats (then without treats) the cat will start to come up to your lap on her own.
Results of the Crossed Legs Lapwork
When you consistently work on Crossed Legs Lapwork daily, you'll start to see the cat coming up to you and hanging out next to or on your lap without any prompting from you. I love this because it means the cat likes and enjoys being on you. We didn't force anything.
Continuing Crossed Legs Lapwork
Continue doing Crossed-Legs Lapwork with the cat each day until the cat is adopted to reinforce the positive association. This repetition often leads to the cat becoming a lapcat or a “beside you” cat. Angel was petrified frozen and was slower than most cats to get socialized, but I find that the cats that take longer to socialize/are initially more scared become the most loving SSL graduates! Angel would never leave my lap, I always had to be the one to end it because I had to get up.
Beside You Cat
Even if the cat ends up as a “beside you cat” instead of a lapcat, they are still very loving kitties who people will be interested in adopting!
Variations
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Give the regular hip-to-hip approach at least 2 weeks from the time the cat is willing to put his front paws on you because it could just be a matter of time. But if the cat is still stuck after that, you can try a variation that has the cat “stop over” in the hole between your crossed legs. See below for the video.
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If the cat was struggling with the petting sequence after giving that enough time, you can pause on the petting sequence and move on to crossed legs lap work then return to petting sequence on your crossed legs. See video below for details.
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If you aren’t flexible enough to sit crossed legs, you can try one leg bent and one leg extended or do the lap work on the sofa (see the crossed legs lap work tutorial which shows the crossed legs knee height that is too high).
The sofa isn’t ideal as it isn’t as comfortable for the cat to sit in your lap and so less likely that the cat will stay a long time, but it is still worth doing (vs not doing any lapwork at all) because it will encourage the cat to become a “beside you cat” or a “half body on you cat.” See videos below for more information.
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Many times I adjust someone’s hand by only 3 inches and that makes all the difference in getting a step to work. You could reach out to us and record a video or join a Q&A event to get feedback. You can also try the variations below for people who are not flexible (even if you are flexible).
Cat is struggling to cross hip-to-hip
Give the regular hip-to-hip approach at least 2 weeks from the time the cat is willing to put his front paws on you because it could just be a matter of time. But if the cat is still stuck after that, you can try this variation.
Crossed legs petting sequence
If you had to pause on the petting sequence and move on to Crossed Legs Lapwork, this is how you reintroduce the petting sequence after the cat completed the Crossed Legs Lapwork. This means that the cat must already easily come into your lap and will hang out/sit/lay comfortably with treats. Once the cat has reached that stage, you can re-introduce the petting sequence while the cat is sitting in your crossed legs.
Not flexible - Can’t cross legs or knees are too high: One Leg Variation
You can relieve pressure from your back and can have the bent knee lower when you have one knee bent and one leg extended. You can also try this if the cat still isn’t willing to put his front paws on your leg for over 2 weeks with the regular Crossed Legs Lapwork approach.
Not flexible - Can’t cross legs or knees are too high: Sofa Variation
The One Leg Variation is preferred. But if that still doesn’t work for you, use this sofa variation. You can also try this if the cat still isn’t willing to put his front paws on your leg for over 2 weeks with the regular Crossed Legs Lapwork approach.