#feline communication

[elisaenglish]

-Wendy MacNaughton, from The Lost Cat-

[ogannessoncatto]

mrrrrrp mrp maooowww meow meow

mrrp meoaw mroap maow mreaow :3

[mycats7]

How Cats Apologize: A Comprehensive Guide To Feline Communication

As cat owners, we all know that our furry friends have a unique way of communicating with us. From their meows and purrs to their body language, they are always expressing themselves in some way. However, when it comes to apologizing, cats have their own set of signals that they use to convey their remorse. In this article, we will explore how cats apologize and what you can do to make amends…

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[odetwojoy]

Understanding Cat Body Language

Understanding Cat Body Language

My article was first posted on Candid Slice about Norie’s advice on teaching me how to understand feline body language. (http://www.candidslice.com/cat-confessions-body-language-training-for-humans/)

I have decided I need to do some “body language training” with Human. It isn’t easy communicating my desires to Human, bless her heart. She just doesn’t always seem to understand me.

I realize when…

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[withasmoothroundstone]

how do you convey gratitude to a cat?

I don't mean, how do you do something nice that a cat will appreciate.

I mean, how do you convey "Thank you" to a cat in terms that they will understand and connect back to something they're doing, and without using words (because I have next to no conversational speech)?

I know she understands gratitude and "thank you" because she says it to people all the time in very specific contexts, she can be incredibly polite.

But I can't weave between her legs head-butting them before I go do whatever I'm doing.  And I can't apply a thank-you that has to do with food, to a thank-you that has to do with "I understand that you're watching the door to protect me and I really appreciate that."

And don't tell me cats don't have gratitude.  I've seen too much of what could be nothing else.  (Including delaying personal gratification to do a long elaborate "thanks for the food" before running over and eating her favorite cat treats.)

[feliscorvus]

Hissing at the turkey thief

Sometimes I wish I had a 24-7 cat camera system because these really interesting things always seem to happen when I'm nowhere near a camera (and often they happen so fast I wouldn't be able to grab a camera in time anyway).

That aside, the funniest thing happened this weekend. I'll do my best to describe it. Not an epoch in my or the cats' lives or anything, but little things definitely say a lot sometimes.

Anyway…I tossed a piece of turkey jerky on the floor and Shadow (who is very quick to notice such things) ran to get it. Cora (also a jerky fan but not as food-motivated as her brothers) followed after, to see if she could score a piece, but Shadow had already chomped it down. So Cora looks at Shadow, leans over, smells his breath briefly, and then backs up a bit and goes "sss!" Like this little short emphatic hiss. I am pretty sure she was saying something like "You greedy oaf, *I* wanted that!"

Of course she got her own treat afterward, but still. It's such a neat experience watching this little cat-family grow up together. And Cora has definitely been asserting herself a lot more lately, probably due to that whole social-maturity thing cats reach between 2 and 4 years old usually. As a baby she was extremely bold, but then when her brothers both grew to nearly twice her size she backed off a little and started deferring to them when it came to who got the best pillow, etc. Recently, though, she seems to have gained several levels in both agility and strategy -- she will do things like shove herself under the kitchen island where she knows Shadow can't fit when they're playing chase games and just lay under there staring out at him in a way that makes me thing she'd be sticking her tongue out if she were human.