255 days ago by gbenic | 81 views | 0 meows

Understanding Kitty Body Language

We cats are pretty smart. We found ways to communicate with each other and our people without having to say much. Sometimes we find someone who understands our meows, but it is usually much easier to teach them our body language. This page was created for all of the people out there who would like to understand what we are saying. This list is by no means definitive. Also, just like humans, we have different dialects. Our hope is that our (and your) people are smart enough to pick up on the small differences in our body language. Enough of this chit-chat. Let's get on with the lesson.

If our tail is sticking straight up and in the shape of a question mark, we are happy. If the "hook" part switches from side to side, we are extremely happy. A lot of the time we will also arch our back and rub on anything that is near.

When we are playing or doing something bad and are oblivious to the rest of the world when you sneak up on us, our tail puffs up about half way. This means that we are embarrassed. We pride ourselves on being aware of our surroundings. We do not get embarrassed because we get caught, only because we didn't know you were there.

I think all of our people have seen our tails puffed up all the way. When this happens, we are scared. (Here is a hint for our furry brethren: only puff up half way. Then your people will think you are embarrassed instead. Nobody wants to be a scaredy-cat.)

We will, on occasion, arch our backs and run sideways through the room. Unfortunately, this means that we lost control and are begging our people (or other animals) to play with us. We are hopeful that this doesn't happen often.

Sometimes we will roll over onto our backs and lie there spread-eagle. This can mean a few things depending on what kind of mood we are in. Usually it means that we want you to touch our belly so we can retaliate and bite your hand. Other times we are training our people to scratch our belly. We will also do this just because it is a comfortable way to relax or sleep. Our people need to have some understanding of each individual cat to know what is going on.

When our tail swishes back and forth quickly and our ears are pinned back against our head, we are definitely angry. Our advice to you humans is to leave us alone at this point. Sometimes our people will remove the anger-inducing item. For us, it is usually another one of our kind trying to claim our yard as their own.

If our tail is swishing gently from side to side, something has piqued our curiosity. Don't believe the old human wive's tail that curiosity killed the cat. We are a very curious pair and are still very much alive!