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Today I’m concluding my look at the meaning of feline body language and noises, as set out by animal behavior specialist Amy Shojai.
The rest of Shojai’s list covers actual body language as opposed to noises. First I’ll describe an upset, aggressive cat using her parameters, then a relaxed, happy cat.
Scared cats arch their backs to look larger, whereas defensive cats try to shrink into themselves. Ears flicking back and forth mean agitation, ears directed sideways indicate unease, and ears curled tightly towards the head denote that the cat’s preparing itself to attack. The fur bunches and stands up straighter on an upset cat.
A staring cat is challenging the object of its gaze, and squinting indicates that it feels something strongly and might be readying for an attack. In tail language cats resemble dogs; tucked tight inside or around the body means the cat is afraid, a flicked back and forth tail thumped upon the ground means a cat wants to attack (Cole’s tail does this as he chirps, itching to chase after birds beyond his reach), a ramrod tail means aggression, and a tail shaped into an inverted “U” means the opposite: defense.
Now I’ll go back and look at how a relaxed or happy cat will hold itself. Confident cats holds themselves forward towards what’s in the room, and when a cat rolls onto its back to expose its vulnerable belly it’s showing trust. A happy cat also has smooth fur.
Calm cats hold their ears in the same way they hold their bodies: straight and forward. If a cat’s ears are pointing in different directions that might mean that a cat can’t decide how it feels. If you’ve ever seen your cat blink slowly at you then you know your cat likes you; the blink indicates affection both to humans and other animals.
Cats hold their tails high as a form of greeting. The higher the tail, the more interest the cat’s showing. That tail means the cat wants to interact with the subject of its attention. Cats feeling more relaxed wrap their tails gently around themselves or nearby objects.
The last bits of body language covered by Shojai don’t tell much about a cat’s mood, but do illuminate feline behavior. This is another cat attitude that many feline lovers understand: rubbing and scratching against objects.
Cats scratch to sharpen their claws and also just because it feels good, but the scratching also marks the cat’s territory. Cats rub against objects the most to show ownership; cats have scent glands in their cheeks, forehead, paws, and tail. So when your cat does a full body rub against you, or rubs your cheek with its own, you know it’s claiming you.
Stay tuned next time as I’ll go over similar body language in dogs, and what various markers indicate.
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