Cats communicate in many ways including through body language, and when cats arch their backs it instantly attracts attention. While an arched back is commonly associated with fear and aggression, we’ll explore other reasons that cats arch their backs from stretching, excitement, playfulness, establishing territorial boundaries or in response to pain or injury. 1. Cats …
Why Do Cats Wag Their Tails?
What does it mean when your cat wags or swishes its tail? One of the more subtle cat communications are the ones cats give through their tail movements. You will need to connect a swishing tail with other physical signs of communication to make sure you understand what your cat is trying to say. Cat tail wagging can mean anything from “get away from me” to “I’m scared” or “I’m …
Why Do Cats Bring You Dead Animals as Gifts?
Have you ever come home to find that your cat has left you a half-eaten mouse, bird or other dead animal which is now lying on your kitchen floor? Or worse, they’ve dragged this critter into your bedroom, and left their ‘gift’ at the end of your bed. Our cat Polly (a stunning grey calico cat) was an outdoor cat and a prolific hunter who would go on adventures and not …
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Why Does My Cat Stare at Me?
Have you ever glanced up from reading a book and found your cat staring at you from across the room? There may be other times when you've observed your cat staring at a wall or with their head angled upwards, gazing intently at the ceiling. There are many reasons why cats stare, so let's explore this feline behaviour. What does it mean when your cat stares at you? So …
Reasons Why Cats Lick You
Does your cat lick you? Being licked by your cat is a bitter-sweet experience. On the one paw, it’s nice to think the cat loves you, but on the other it’s uncomfortable. . . to say the least! Indeed, there’s a deal of difference between the sandpaper roughness of a cat’s tongue and the velvet smoothness of her coat. Ironic then that it’s her tongue that keeps the coat silky, …
How To Read Your Cat’s Body Language
You see a cat in the corner of the yard. She is hunched up, head lowered, whiskers flat against her muzzle, looking directly at you with dilated pupils. You want to pet her, but then you notice the tip of her tail is swishing from side to side. What should your next move be? Should you go ahead and pet her, or is it best to back off? If you read her body language right, …
Tail Talk – Your Cat's Tail and Why it's Important
Whether your cat’s tail is long, skinny and jet black or short, fluffy and ginger, it’s an amazing and fascinating thing. Not just for tickling your nose as part of her morning wake up call, it’s made up of lots of small bones (about 10% of the total amount of bones in her entire body), along with muscles, nerves and ligaments that all help to make it so fantastically mobile …
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Excessive Meowing and What it Means
As we know, all cats are different, and how much they meow varies from cat to cat – some don’t make much noise at all, while some just love to chat. Similarly, some pet parents love ‘chatty’ cats, while some prefer a quieter kitty. Excessive meowing can mean different things to different pet parents, so it’s important to know whether your cat is just naturally talkative or if …
Cat Speak 101 – Understanding What Your Cat is Saying
Cats have a complex and varied range of sounds which they communicate with, although most of this chatting is reserved for their owners and they rarely ‘talk’ to other cats. Oriental breeds such as Siamese are usually more talkative than other cats, although any cat can become a chatter-box. Here’s a quick guide to some of the most common sounds a cat makes: Meow – The …
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