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The domesticated cat is an amazingly expressive animal. If you are observant, you can easily determine what your cat is trying to communicate to you. Cats have numerous ways of expressing themselves, just as humans do: tail movements, facial expressions, ears, eyes, body language, and of course the famous meow in all its inflections and volumes.
A cat is a lion in a jungle of small bushes.
—Indian Proverb
The tail
Cats’ tails are amazingly animated and expressive appendages. They can make the tail say just about anything they want, from greeting to insult. When greeting a person or other animal who it likes, the cat will raise its tail straight up; the tail may quiver with delight just before the cat rubs against the person or other animal and winds the tail about the object being greeted. This rubbing has another objective: to leave the cat’s scent. Cats don’t rub against anyone they don’t like.
Rubbing against people or objects is a signal to other cats, “This person or object is mine or in my territory.” If you have more than one cat in your household, you have probably seen one cat after another mark the same object, a sort of declaration of “You aren’t the only cat this belongs to.”
If the cat is interested in getting acquainted with a person or other cat, but a little hesitant, the tip of the tail may tilt to one side.
If the cat faces possible conflict with another cat (and sometimes with a human), the tail will be vertical and slightly bushed out. This is a signal that says, “You are in my territory, and I plan to run you out.” Next, there is usually a staring match, accompanied by growls and hisses, with the tail whipping from side to side as the tension gets stronger.113 It often ends with one cat attacking, tail streaming out behind.
The cat uses a certain flick of the tail while facing away from the human or animal whom it wishes to insult. The tail flick is the same as a human thumbing their nose or using a more rude gesture.
When my neighbors had to be out of town for a few days, I fed their cats, a Siamese named Maggie and an Abyssinian called Elliot. Maggie was very shy, seldom coming near the food until I was a safe distance away. Elliot, however, became my friend, always greeting me at the door and being under foot until I left. When the owners returned, it became a different relationship. Each time I visited, Elliot would walk away and twitch his tail. Never having experienced this before, I innocently asked if he had fleas. Suzanne laughed and informed me I had received the ultimate cat insult, meaning “I want nothing more to do with you.” So I was introduced to the insulting tail-twitch.
If one is observant and aware, every movement or position of the tail can tell us about the emotional state of the cat. When the tail swishes violently from side to side, the cat is very angry. If it is lowered and fuzzed, it shows fear. A stiff, upright tail that looks like a bottle brush is a warning of aggression. When the tail is relaxed with just the tip twitching back and forth, the cat is irritated and will probably slap you if you persist in annoying it. A stiff tail that is held upright and quivers is a special greeting for loved people, usually the owner.
Tail-less cats, such as the Manx, Japanese Bobtail, American Bobtail, and Cymric, do not appear to be hampered in their balance or expression of moods by lack of a tail or a shortened tail. Instead, they rely on facial expressions, body language, vocal tones, and ear positions.
The Ears
The cat can convey a number of messages with the position of its ears. Few humans will mistake the message when a cat has flattened its ears back. The cat is clearly stating its nervousness and anger at being threatened in some way. The ears will be sharply pointed forward when interested in something, especially if that something is possible prey to be hunted. When peering through windows or over grass, the hunting cat’s ears will bend forward, presenting the least possible silhouette to the victim.
Body Language
Body language was used by cats long before humans became interested in the subject. A cat that lies on its back with belly exposed is expressing total trust in the humans within its domain. By the same token, a cat will lick excessively if it feels anxious, just as a human might bite their fingernails.
Rubbing around a human’s legs is the equivalent of saying, “Hello, I’m glad to see you.” This rubbing motion also leaves the cat’s subtle scent, thus marking you as his or her personal property. This same rubbing motion, especially with the chin, is used by cats to mark every box, bed, piece of furniture, and the corners of woodwork within its territory.
Body language extends to the kneading on your legs when sitting in your lap. Usually this method of communication says that the cat is contented and feels free to express its affection for the person involved. It may also be reminiscent of the action of kittens against their mother while they nurse. The honored person is often biting a lip to keep from yelling as the claws are delicately placed on nerve endings in the leg.
However, a few cats have taken the kneading process into the realms of sarcasm. Flash used this method to get rid of unwelcome guests. If he felt they were staying too long, he got onto their laps and began his “surgery of the leg nerves” with great concentration and determination.
Some cats who have been scolded or laughed at will sulk by turning their backs on the offenders, while others will turn their backs and groom themselves as if nothing happened. Some cats, however, are known for waiting hours to get revenge for what they consider to be an insult.
Flash hated being laughed at and seemed to know just what method of revenge would get to an offending human the best. He would wait for hours, giving the appearance of having completely forgotten about the insult. Then, when you least expected it, he would sneak into a dark room and wait. In the second just before you flipped the light switch, he would leap out and grab you around the leg, then run by you as fast as he could go. When our oldest grandson was very small, he refused to go into any dark room unless an adult went in first.
The normal licking and grooming between cats is a sign of affection. Cats don’t lick other cats or people whom they are not fond of. The lick is an expression of trust and complete acceptance.
There has been much discussion among cat lovers about the cat’s ability to smile. One usually thinks of the overzealous Cheshire Cat from Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland when discussing cat smiles. Unlike dogs, who can be taught to draw back their lips in a pseudo-smile, cats actually can turn up the corners of their mouth in a smug grin. Perhaps observation of the cat’s smile was the origin of the expression of someone looking “like the cat who ate the canary.” This smile can be observed when a cat is relaxed and pleased with the situation or when it is engaged in some pleasant dream.
The Eyes
Cats also communicate their feelings through the eyes. A staring match between two cats on opposite sides of a room or across a yard is like a laser beam. Volumes are said in this unblinking gaze. Cats can out-stare almost any creature, including a human. However, if you are trying to make friends with a cat, you should never stare back at it. The best results come from turning your eyes elsewhere and blinking. To the cat, this is a sign that you are not threatening their position in their own territory.
When a cat is contented and relaxed, its eyes will be partly or fully closed, and it may be purring. If its attention has been aroused, but the cat isn’t certain about what it sees, the eyes will be wide open and the gaze riveted on the object or animal; the ears will be perked up to take in all possible sound for information.
Ancient Chinese picture-writing used drawings of cats’ eyes to illustrate the passage of time. A thin line meant noon (the brightest part of the day) and a circle stood for midnight (the darkest part).
Vocal Sounds
The most common aspect of cat speech is the meow, mew, or mmmmrrr sound. Kittens will meow from a very young age, relying on this form of communication with their mother. Some cats talk in this manner more than others, and some are quite eloquent in the speech-range of the meow.114
Dr. Mildren Moelk, an American researcher working in Rochester, New York, has spent years on cat language. She has determined that, although cats use their larynx as humans do, they don’t use the tip of the tongue in shaping sounds. The cat produces thirteen distinct vowel sounds and seven to eight consonant sounds in speaking. She also has detected three main groups of sounds, modulated by mouth position. Murmurs are made with a closed mouth; calls are formed by an open mouth that slowly closes while the sound continues; cries are issued with a tense mouth constantly open.115
The full meow to a human is primarily a statement of “listen to me when I’m telling you about my day” or “I want you to do something for me right now,” while the more delicate mew is a punctuation of communication. The murmuring mmmmrrr sound (at least with Callisto) means “Stop playing ignorant and come do what I want, pretty please.” The only time Valkyrie uses her tiny, nearly inaudible mew is to say, “I feel like playing.”
Beowulf talks in a loud, insistent variety of meows for a number of reasons; he may be telling you about the day’s events, complaining that the girls have gone off and he can’t find them, he’s hungry, he’s glad to see you, or, as my husband says, just general griping. When he uses his drawn-out, louder call, he is trying to find out where everybody is.
The griping, complaining, or protesting sound is usually a single, high note broken into short syllables. This is used when a cat feels it has a legitimate complaint that is not being taken care of. Since cats love the dramatic, they seldom miss an opportunity to let the whole house know when they feel their rights and needs are being ignored.
Cats save a special tiny chattering meow for small creatures they consider exciting to hunt. This meow is usually expressed with nose pressed to the window while butterflies and birds are flitting by. They will also utter this tiny teeth-clacking noise when they are pursuing such little creatures as flies, gnats, bees, and crickets.
Growling is generally one of the very last warnings you get when a cat is telling you to leave it alone. The animal will ordinarily warn you with a loud hiss first. Instantly after the growl, the offender will be given a swat with claws out, usually directly on the nose; this same procedure is used by the mother to correct offending offspring. Growling is a sign of deep irritation, often accompanied by ears flattened back to the skull and a swishing tail. Most feline mothers (called queens in domestic cats) will growl in order to get the undivided attention of their rambunctious kittens.
Hissing is another warning signal from a cat. The hiss reminds one of a snake; some researchers think the cat purposely uses the hiss to imitate snakes. I’ve heard tiny kittens hiss, followed by a loud, explosive sound like a pistol shot; this combination warning startles approaching humans and allows the kitten to escape.
When it comes to hair-raising vocal sounds, the feline family wins hands-down. The sight, let alone the sounds, of two opposing domesticated male cats is drama at its highest, right down to the smallest movement. The hair on their backs stands up in a ridge, with tail fuzzed out to its fullest and whipping from side to side. The ears are slicked back, the head thrust forward, while the legs perform a stiff dance in slow motion. They will hiss, yowl, slobber, and growl, each vocal challenge trailing off into a high-pitched scream. They grind their teeth, drool, and scream their challenges until they both have worked up their courage. When finally head to head, the males will freeze for a moment before they spring into a no-holds-barred free-for-all. This action is repeated until one male decides to call it quits.
Female cats will protect their territory, but in a less dramatic way than the males. They usually come to an unspoken agreement with other females that keeps fights to a minimum. If they have kittens nearby, females will take on any trespasser or aggressor without warning.
An example of this occurred when a friend’s two female cats had litters the same week. The dog next door had been a constant irritation, for he always came into Ann’s yard to do his smelly business. But one day his visits ended abruptly, and he never returned. Both mother cats were feeding and grooming their kittens in a corner of the laundry room when they suddenly froze, looked at each other for an instant, and in perfect harmony tore through the house and out the cat door. The dog, who was preparing to do his business on the flowers again, never knew what hit him. Without a sound of warning, both females hit the dog’s back at the same instant. Only when aboard and with all eight feet sending up a cloud of dog hair did they begin screaming at the top of their lungs. The dog shot out of the yard and down the alley at top speed with the two cats still on his back. The cats came strolling back in a few moments to rejoin their kittens as if nothing had happened, but with a look of “Well, that’s taken care of.” The dog never returned.
It is important to establish communication with your cat. This is best accomplished through gentle touches and by speaking to it. Cats don’t respond well to loud, angry tones and physical punishment. If your cat is misbehaving, it is not being contrary for no reason. Cats need, and thrive on, positive communication with their owners. Contented, happy cats are less likely to develop destructive habits, such as ripping up your new sofa.
Like humans, cats do have crises points in their lives and need the reassurance and understanding of their owners. The birth process can make a new mother cat nervous and tense, particularly if you allow visitors near her nest for the first week or so. Give her lots of privacy, but spend time reassuring her as well.
Another stressful situation is the loss of a companion, whether another cat or a human in the household. Cats do grieve, much as we do, and need to be consoled. Often the surviving cat will follow its owner around, meowing pitifully and begging for extra attention and love for a period of time. If the loss is a human one, both you and the cat can comfort each other. Cats who have formed a close bond with their human are very sensitive to the emotions of that human. Illness or sadness will bring your purring bundle of fur running to spend as much time by your side as you need.