Family photos are meant to preserve special moments, whether it's a holiday gathering, a portrait with loved ones, or a simple snapshot at home. But anyone who's ever tried taking a picture with a cat knows things don't always go according to plan. From unexpected photobombs to hilarious expressions and questionable posing decisions, our feline companions tend to turn ordinary family pictures into a preview of a disaster or a hilarious accidental moment.

Of course, awkward family photos aren't exactly a new phenomenon. Long before smartphones and social media let families take dozens of pictures in seconds, they had to make do with whatever the camera captured. That meant closed eyes, unfortunate timing, strange poses, and, occasionally, a cat doing something completely unpredictable. The popular online community Awkward Family Photos has spent years sharing some of the funniest, strangest, and most wonderfully awkward pictures from people's family albums. We've previously featured their hilarious collection of family photos involving mascots and celebrities, but this time, we're turning our attention to the four-legged family members who often steal the show: cats.

So scroll down to enjoy these wonderfully bizarre memories, and let us know in the comments if you ever captured an awkward or funny photo with your cat(s).

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#1 “Frisky”

“We wanted our cat to be in the siblings photo.”

#2 “Objection”

“The cat photobombed their wedding picture.”

#3 “Cone Solidarity”

My wife posed for a ‘mother-daughter’ portrait.”

#4 “Cat Fancy”

“This is my Mom and Dad before they were married and had kids, the bank my dad was a customer at was having some kind of promotion where you could get a family portrait taken. He had no family so he asked if he could bring his girlfriend and his cats. I was told the cats got loose in the bank after they took the picture.”

#5 “Catman”

“Move over, crazy cat lady”

#6 “Cat Fancy”

“He always posed for photos in the past. Maybe he didn’t like the photographer.”

#7 “The Truth About Cats And Dogs”

“Me and our dog and my wife and our cat.”

#8 “Fancy Feast”

“When my wife leaves town, I get bored. Six days into her vacation I joked “I’m going to have a formal dinner with the cats.” Then I thought about it for a while…”

#9 “Holiday Blues”

“Turns out my cat isn’t a big fan of the holidays.”

#10 “Meowy Christmas 4”

“We are really serious cat people and decided this would be a hilarious way to celebrate the holidays. Our ‘Baby Jesus’ was not happy about it and growled as she was being wrapped in swaddling clothes. But that’s the price you pay for great art!”

#11 “Nineteen Lives”

“I was cleaning out my Mom’s house when I found this picture of me with my cats.”

#12 “Cat Casual”

“My mom saved a ton of 9 Lives cat food labels, and sent away for these awesome customized shirts.”

#13 “Drool For The Summer

“My parents’ neighbors have an outdoor kitty that drools when he’s with people and happy.”

#14 “Graduation Day”

“My graduation photo featuring my big hair and Morris, my kitty.”⁠

#15 “Cat Fancy”

“I took a series of old-school portraits of a cat loving family.”

#16 “It Takes A Village

“The cat agreed with me that it’s exhausting raising a baby.”

#17 “Fancy Portrait”

“My boyfriend commissioned a very fancy portrait of my cat for our anniversary.”

#18 “The Stand In”

“Baby due any day now. Getting some last minute practice in.”

#19 “Hissy Fit”

“I introduced my cat to my newborn daughter.”

#20 “Treehugger”

“Yoko (our cat) wasn’t having a great time during our family photo shoot. This pic happened completely on accident and my friend that took it was yelling ‘hurry hurry she climbing up the tree’ and just kept snapping.”

#21 “He’s Got The Look”

“Our first family Christmas card! Wilson, our cat, is the main attraction.”

#22 “Quality Time”

“Caught my husband having some VERY important bonding time.”

#23 “Love Bite”

“Apparently my cat doesn’t like selfies.”

#24 “Exhibit A

“I solved the mystery of why my pants always have a line of cat fur across the leg.”

#25 “Brown Bagging It

“I bought my cat a new bed, but he had other ideas.”

#26 “This Cat’s For You”

“My aunt didn’t have a cat carrier, so she improvised.”

#27 “The Riddler”

“My cat has a question mark on his chest.”

#28 “Get My Good Side”

“The cat photobombed our wedding picture.”

#29 “Bowled Over”

“The face of regret.”

#30 “Memory

“This wasn’t for Halloween. I dressed up like this every day after school and danced to the musical ‘Cats’ for about a year.”

#31 “Cat Cradler

“This is a photo of me with my two cats, Nigel Fluffnel and Stella Stonepaw. I got it done by a professional photographer who traveled to my house to take the picture, as Sears would not allow any photos to be taken with pets due to allergy reasons.”

#32 “The Arrival”

“We forgot to tell our cat that we had a baby.”

#33 “Kitty Style

“My youngest daughter was learning to crawl, so I snapped a picture of one of her early attempts. I didn’t notice the background action until later when I was looking at the photo again.”

#34 “Spa Day”

“My cat when he thinks there’s no one home.”

#35 “The Horror”

“My husband took our cat to the vet.”

#36 “Open Door Policy”

“My dad hid a camera to find out why the cats kept sneaking into my old bedroom after I’d left for college.”

#37 “Cat House”

“Went to visit my grandmother, the true crazy cat lady today. And her dog that probably hates his life.”

#38 “Seat Warmer”

“If you’re wondering if that’s a cat sitting on top of a pig, yes it is.”

#39 “Scaredy Cat”

“Going through some old family photos when I found this.”

39 Times Family Photos With Cats Went Hilariously Wrong, As Shared By This Page