24 Cats Who Have Stopped Working & Need To Be Restarted

By  Travis Greenwood Updated

The internet is constantly putting creative spins on pethood with cats as incorrectly assembled IKEA furniture, and dogs as video game bosses. A funny meme to trend of late is cats as computer operating systems who have paused, need to be turned off, and powered back up again. However ridiculous, that very concept spurred a massively popular thread on Twitter. The thread was started by Elle Em, who operates a sanctuary for street cats in Spain. They tweeted out the following request for funny cat pictures:

"One of my favorite type of Cat Photo is Cat Has Stopped Working Properly And Must Be Restarted do you have any of these photos I would very much like to see them please."

Twitter user @ellle_em imagines cats as computer systems that need to be restarted @ellle_em via Twitter

Em followed up the request with some examples of the form — think funny shots of cats caught mid-yawn, pre-wiggle, or in a state of awkward indecision — before they tear off in a zoomed-out state. Photogenic and graceful these cats were not.

1. "Zubat has stopped working properly and must be restarted."

A black cat is raising their paws and making a tongue blep while lounging in the sun by a swimming pool. @ellle_em via Twitter

2. "Embrujo has stopped working properly and must be restarted."

A cat rubs their head across a staircase railing and enjoys the sunshine, with another cat not far behind them. @ellle_em via Twitter

3. "Loudred has stopped working properly and must be restarted."

A black and white cat is sitting on a shelf and looking at another black cat who is climbing up a natural fiber wall. @ellle_em via Twitter

4. "Snorlax has stopped working properly (again) and must be restarted (again)."

A cat is sitting by a swimming pool and is about do a wiggle and shake. @ellle_em via Twitter

5. "Exeggcute has stopped working properly and must be restarted."

A sleepy gray cat is sitting on a cat tree and has their tongue sticking out. @ellle_em via Twitter

6. "Luxray has stopped working properly and must be restarted."

A cat about to wiggle and shake by an armchair. @ellle_em via Twitter

7. "Psyduck has stopped working properly and must be restarted."

A black cat does a big yawn while scratching an outdoor cat tree. @ellle_em via Twitter

8. "Butterfree never worked properly, to begin with."

A cat is doing a big stretch on an outdoor cat tree. @ellle_em via Twitter

9. "Despite appearances, Empoleon is working properly."

A hairless Sphynx cat is sleeping on a blanket. @ellle_em via Twitter

Em's 60,000+ followers quickly volleyed back with a sprawling assortment of pics (and captions) that fit her concept frame. The best of which have been curated below.

10. "Somehow caught this magic moment on video of my boy Nicky taking a spill. 😂"

A black cat with white paws is rolling around dramatically with their legs up in all directions. @JamieShep via Twitter

11. "He chose to sit like this, then looked angry about it. 😂"

An annoyed cat is sitting awkwardly upright like a human. @ExhaustedIsaac via Twitter

12. "(CompileError.)"

Two cats are cuddling and making it seem as though they have one head. @CatChangelog via Twitter

13. "I think I need to turn this cat off and on again."

A cat is twisted in a funny position on cat tower. @teganlaing via Twitter

14. "Poppy.exe has crashed"

A surprised cat has their legs splayed while lounging on a colorful rug. @AllyScottAuthor via Twitter

15. "She went into shut down mode unexpectedly."

A black cat is staring at wall in a room corner. @rileyisokay via Twitter

16. "My kitty Shaindl, in the midst of midnight crazies."

A cat is wedged upside down between a wall and a radiator. @MarisaElana via Twitter

17. "Miss Priss is often in need of a reboot."

A cat is upside down and twisted in a towel on a chair. @nekopog via Twitter

18. "She just...gets stuck like this sometimes? Have to pet her to reboot!"

An orange cat is sticking their tongue out and looking at the camera. @Twofishie via Twitter

19. "Little Bug is not catting at the moment."

A cat in a chair is leaning forward on the cushion and pushing towards the back of the chair. @LelaBradshaw14 via Twitter

20. "I don't know why, but sometimes Pippin just does these off things. This is the smallest thing he has done it on before."

A black and white cat is on their belly on top of a cat tower, with all four of their legs dangling over. @NarcolepticNine via Twitter

21. "Saoirse has stopped working properly and most be restarted (where is that foot coming from???)"

A cat is sleeping in a funny position where three of her legs are positioned together, and her fourth paw is tucked under her body. @fun_g4l via Twitter

22. "No one tells her that such an unflattering photo has so many likes."

A cat is sleeping in the sun with their paws under the opening of a doorway. @Bored_Crow via Twitter

23. "Kitten.exe has crashed and will need to reboot."

A kitten is peaking out from hiding under a blanket. @billkaz via Twitter

24. "Here’s Auri, complete brain crash when the feather she licked got unexpectedly stuck to her velcro tongue."

An orange cat has a surprised reaction to a small feather sticking to their tongue. @kristinaEBP via Twitter

With responses continuing to pour in more than two days after the thread went viral, it seems clear that the idea of cats as glitchy software — is not without some merit!

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