Is the cat going up or down the stairs?

I thought up.

Of course, it could be down but I'll stick with up!

Down - edges of steps protrude, which would trip you if it was the other way. The light at the top is confusing, it makes it look as though the cat has left the street and is climbing up a flight of internal steps.

I would go with one of the comments below the article - it is Schrodingers cat, it is going up and down at the same time.

You're right about the edges of the stairs Elegran!

Changed my mind again...

Down.

Down

Definitely down (probably). He looks hungry, and who feeds their cat upstairs.

Its up for me just by looking at the cat's stride pattern. Also I've seen cats trying to reverse downstairs and they don't look like that!! Its possibly a photoshopped picture?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5sy1MDHZ27M&feature=youtu.be

Have a look at this for a clever cat

As soon as my eyes saw the picture, I thought up. But my brain switched to down after the split second. Much like a switch in an optical illusion. Then looking at it some more, I think
The cat looks like he is going down.
The stairs look like up after the first glance.
I say up.

Is there a definite answer though?

He could be walking backwards upstairs !.

Up! Look at the bottom of the stairs. If it was going down the landing would barely be visible.

Down. I too noticed the overhang on the edge of the steps which would never be on a tread.

Down

Up, definitely maybe. Up to sharpen his claws on a pristine carpet now he's ruined the one downstairs, and then to cough furballs all over that bedroom he's not allowed to enter.

Down

Up

Jo1book, I have tears of laughter running down my face! I began to worry that the cat in the video was ill, until I reached the end.

I can count at least five reasons why it's down:

* Cats stand on legs that are vertical, not horizontal.
* Cats lift their weight on a bent leg not a straight one.
* If the cats was taking a step up it's left front leg wouldn't be reaching all the way across to the riser at the back of the tread.
* The tread of a step overhangs the riser, not the other way around.
* The kick guards on the wall are at the ends of the treads where feet are placed, not at the ends of the risers.

Shysal Such a clever animal. He must have been trained, don't you think. My husband sent it to me (across 2 rooms) because I hate walking.

Could the cat be going down, but the stairs are up crun? Ie a photoshopped picture?

Jo1book.

Photo of a cat walking down steps without tail raised (just out of interest!)

marketplace.veer.com/stock-photo/black-cat-walking-down-stairs-1087848

The stairs rise from the viewer up to the lighter area above. You can't see anything else up there because the camera is held so low that you only see sky. If the camera were at the top of the stairs and the cat coming up to it, you would see the ground behind the cat.

As Crun says, the stair edges overlap the risers, and the kick guards at the edges of each stair are on the treads, not sideways on the risers.

Yes, I agree abut the steps. But the position of the cat's foreleg in the photo in question looks more as though it's going up, to me.

It it's been photoshopped it could be either...