When crawling the cat lowers its body to the ground by flexing both fore and hind limbs so that the ventral abdomen (belly) is in contact with or held just above the ground. The cat will then walk (see later definition) with the body held in this position. Both the head and tail will be held in line with or below the line of the back. This movement will frequently be seen when a cat is moving away from a threat such as another cat or if it is travelling under an object.

This cat illustrates the typical lowered posture of a cat that is crawling