Cat Body Language

Cat Body Language

Cat Body Language:

Cats and cat body language, like many other animals, communicate a variety of messages using body language.

Examples of a cats body language include arching their backs as a signal of fear or aggression and slowly blinking to signal relaxation.

As is the case with dogs, the tail is often used as a signalling mechanism. A twitch can indicate minor irritation, and a tail held high suggests confidence.

A cat who chooses to lie with its stomach and chest exposed conveys happiness, trust and comfort.

A cat with tail held high and twitching shows excitement, but this is often mistaken for anger.

Flattened ears mean that the cat feels threatened, and may attack. Mouth open and no teeth exposed suggests a feeling of playfulness.

Many people fail to understand the silent language cat body language.

In particular, 'dog people' who are accustomed to the fawning outwards signs of dog 'language' seem slow in detecting what a cat is telling them in its body language, which creates the false impression among "dog people" that cats are cold-hearted, unemotional, or dumb.

To understand cats, one must observe a feline closely and learn what a cats body language signals tell you.

The flattened ears, teeth showing, baring belly for submission are easily 'read' by humans. Some characteristic signals, however, are often misunderstood.

For instance, a cat rubbing its body along an arm or leg of its human is not only a way in which to attract attention and, perhaps, a morsel of food.

It is also a way of 'marking' its human as its very own. Using scent glands located around its mouth and elsewhere, it subtly 'marks' its human as part of its cat territory.

Most cats prefer gentle rubs behind the ears. To inform their humans they need petting or attention, a cat may push its entire body weight up against the human as the cat snuggles next to his/her favourite person.

Happy Cat Body Language

Some Subtle Anthropomorphisms

Cat Body Language

Disgust - Lifting and subsequent shaking of a paw or paws is sign of disgust. The more paws the more disgusting. This can sometimes be a four paw affair with each paw being lifted and shaken before the other.

Agitation - The swishing or sweeping of the tail in one full 180 degree swoop mid-air or against the human. And if the message isn't getting through, the cat may simply leave the room.

Contentness - Prodding by paws on a person or for example a cats favourite blanket or sleeping spot, cats may prod for a short or extended period of time, the extended period is often mistaken by humans as a cat that is uncomfortable and restless.

When however it is more likely the cat is very happy and will for example prod a pile of clothes usually worn clothes with the scent of the owner on them for up to 10 minutes before it will come to rest upon them and usually sleep.

Relaxation - Sprawling/stretching of cats bodies, this can been seen for example when the cat owner may enter the same room as the cat or stir from their seat when watching the television.

The cat will display its calmness at the same time as the owners movement usually to show the cats owner that he/she is awake and may follow the owner to their feeding area or feeding bowl when the owner approaches it.

Greeting - A common sound heard from a cat for example when a person may approach the cat when they are asleep or resting or when a cat suddenly jumps up next to the owner or owners lap, the sound heard is usually a cross between a purr and a meow.

Many owners may make a reply and mimic the sound back to the cat when the cat has greeted them and characterized as sounding in words as: bbddrrrrp!!

love/affection - a raise of the head to the owners mouth, many owners will kiss the cat on the top of their head as a sign of affection and love and cats can learn this and quickly respond in kind by raising their heads to the owner to be kissed and more importantly to mark their scent on them.

Also many owners when making a small kiss on the top of a cats head will instinctively smell the cat as well as a small kiss, this can also be picked up by a cat and in many if not all cases is enjoyed for a brief time as a display of affection and closeness.

CatFight

A catfight is, by literal definition, a physical clash between two cats. Like most animals, cats will fight each other over territory, mating rights and to defend their young.

Kittens will also frequently play fight with one another as practice for later life. Catfights consist mainly of grappling combined with powerful slaps to the face and body.

Humans may find it difficult to distinguish between cats playing and a genuine fight the most obvious indicators in cat body language when real fights are, that one or more of the cats is screaming and/or continuously hissing.

One cat is overly dominant (in a play fight the cats will usually switch roles), and either cat receiving actual physical damage; though even in real catfights, cats rarely do more damage to each other than a few scratches.

The best way for a human to stop a catfight is by distraction, such as making a loud noise or dropping something; attempting to physically separate the cats will usually cause them to turn their aggression towards the interfering human.

More often, the term 'catfight' is used as a slang term for an altercation, usually physical, between two women. It is stereotyped as involving slapping, scratching, hair-pulling, and sometimes biting as opposed to punching or kicking.

It is therefore an unskilled form of fighting and rarely results in serious physical injury. It can also be used metaphorically to describe two human females insulting one another verbally, or being unpleasant to one another.

A cat body language "play" cat fight between two house cats