In This Chapter
- Understanding your cat’s five senses
- Figuring out what your cat’s body language means
- Speaking your cat’s language
Communication is at the heart of any good relationship, and
that’s just as true when the bond is between a person and a cat as it is when
it’s between two people. Finding out more about the way your cat communicates
can only strengthen the connection between you, making your life together more pleasurable
for you both.
Understanding a cat is as remarkable as understanding a
person from another planet, in a way, because the worlds you and your cat
inhabit are vastly different. Ours is a world of words, of machines, of complex
lives; our cat’s is a world of nature, of body talk and sound, of simple
pleasures. By understanding our cats, we can spend a little time in their
world, so simple and relaxing. Perhaps that’s one of the reasons spending time
with a cat can lower your blood pressure — that easygoing attitude is
contagious.
Remember
Learning to “speak cat” isn’t just for our benefit. If we work to understand the way our cats communicate, we can care for them better, understand what they want, avoid unnecessary conflict, and catch the first signs that they’re sick.
Cat Tracks
Picking up on your cat’s body language is one way to spot illness, but an at-home exam is just as important. Check out our preventive-care tips in Chapter Preventive Health Care for Your Cat.
Making Sense of Cat Senses
Like most predators, cats have keen senses; they wouldn’t
have survived long enough to be domesticated if they didn’t. Even today, when
many cats have their food served to them in their own bowls, many felines don’t
have things so lucky. For them, a wonderful collection of natural talents is
all that stands between them and starvation. That any of the wild ones survive
at all, for any length of time, is a tribute to the senses of the cat.
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| Figure 7-1: The body language of cats speaks volumes, as with this cat who’s telegraphing a message of contentment and relaxation. |
Smell
People and cats are living in completely different worlds in
terms of the sense of smell. The cat’s sense of smell is many times more
powerful than a human’s (and a dog’s is more powerful still). Are you surprised
now that the litter box you think is “tolerable” is offensive to your cat?
Of course, the litter box is a modern problem, and the cat’s
sense of smell is good for much more than deciding when it’s not clean enough.
Smell plays a role in the establishment of territory (see the sidebar
“Scent-marking” later in this chapter), in the finding of prey, and in the
determination of whether “found” food is safe enough to eat. Dogs are
scavengers who eat just about anything; cats are true predators: Fresh food,
please, and freshly killed is even better. Ever wonder why your cat turns up
her nose at canned food that’s been out a while? Simple: It doesn’t smell right.
Tip
If your cat is so finicky that no delicacy you serve suits her — or you’re nursing a sick cat — warm the food up to just above room temperature before serving: about 85 degrees (or what we humans would call “lukewarm”). Doing so makes food smell better to a cat, and therefore that food becomes more enticing. For more on feeding and nutrition, see Chapter Feeding Your Cat.
Technical Stuff
In addition to their noses, cats use a body part called the vomeronasal organ, at the front of the roof of the mouth, to help them process smells, especially those of a sexual variety, such as the smell of a female cat in season. When-ever cats use this organ, they open their mouths a crack and “taste” the smell, a facial expression called Flehmen.
Scent-marking |
|
The correct “smell environment” is so important to your
cat that he engages in various marking behaviors to make everything in his
world smell like him — even you! Here are a few of your pet’s scent-marking behaviors:
For a couple final thoughts on how important “smelling
right” is to a cat, consider this: Cats often groom themselves right after
being petted — to cover your scent with theirs! Your cat may also pay extra
attention to your scent after you’ve stepped out of the shower, remarking you
with sweet rubbing to make sure everyone knows you’re “his.” |
Hearing
Unlike our unmovable ears, cats can use their external ears
like satellite dishes, “tuning” them independently toward any sound that
catches their attention. The ears of cats can catch sounds two octaves higher
than humans can hear, a range of hearing higher than the dog’s. The ability to
hear high-pitched sounds is necessary, of course, when you’re listening for the
squeaking of your rodent dinner!
Your cat can learn to understand many of the words you use
in speaking to her, such as, “Would you like to eat now?” The fact that a cat
ignores most of them doesn’t mean she isn’t listening — she’s just being a cat!
Vision
The common belief is that cats are color-blind. Not so.
Researchers believe that cats can distinguish between colors but don’t see much
of a reason to try.
The marvels of feline vision pertain more to the cat’s
ability to see in exceptionally dim light conditions — important for animals
who hunt at night — and their keen edge in detecting motion and distance,
important traits for a predator who needs not only to find dinner but also to
pounce on prey with great accuracy.
Technical Stuff
The “night vision” of cats is made possible by a special layer of cells behind the light-gathering retina that enables the cat to “double” the ability to discern objects in darkened conditions. Whereas humans reflect back red (from blood vessels) in the dark if a light (such as a headlight) hits the back of their eyes, cats reflect back a golden or green flash because of these layers, called the tapetum lucidum.
Taste
Because cats prefer to consume fresh animal tissues for
their nutritional needs, you shouldn’t be all that surprised to find out that
they haven’t much of the appreciation for sweets that humans do. As can humans,
cats can discern whether dishes are bitter, salty, sweet, or sour, although
their interpretation of the desirability of these tastes no doubt varies from
ours. Because cats have fewer taste buds than humans do, the feline sense of smell
probably plays a large role in determining the desirability of food.
Cool Cat Facts
The rough feline tongue is an extraordinary tool, perfectly adapted for grooming (including removing fleas) and cleaning the meat off the bones of their prey.
Touch
The hairs of a cat’s coat and the whiskers of his face are
extremely sensitive, and complement the night vision that cats enjoy when
moving about after dark. Cats love to touch and be touched (the latter within
certain personal cat limits), in part because touching — especially with the
tongue or the head — is a way of spreading around a cat’s all-important
personal scent.
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| Figure 7-2: Cats love to touch and be touched — although they’re sometimes too “cool” to show their appreciation. |
Speaking “Cat”
No kitten ever needed a book to understand feline body
language — or human body language, for that matter. Although cats are not as
adept at understanding us as are dogs — whose wolf ancestors developed an intricate
body language to keep the peace in the family structure, or pack — felines can communicate
reasonably well with cats and other animals, too. (If you doubt the power of
trans-species communication, consider how perfectly most dogs understand the
“back off” sign of a cat with an arched back.)
Dogs can read cats, and cats can read dogs, and both do a
better job at interpreting nonverbal cues than do the overwhelming majority of
humans, who must seem stupid to animals. Throw in the verbal language of cats —
meows and caterwauls, hisses and purrs — and you may need to reconsider your
view that cats “can’t talk.” On the contrary, your cat could well argue that you don’t listen.
Eyes
Your cat’s eyes react automatically to light conditions, the
pupils narrowing to vertical slits in bright sunlight and growing to large,
black pools in darkness. Beyond those reactions, however, your cat telegraphs
his emotional state in his eyes. Eyes that are opened wide but not so wide as
to look “startled” suggest the polite interest of a relaxed cat. Wide eyes and large
pupils suggest fear. A stalking cat (whether on the hunt for a mouse or a toy)
has eyes that are open, “hard,” and intensely focused. A cat who’s ready to
lash out narrows his eyes and focuses his pupils — beware!
Cool Cat Facts
Although cats don’t appreciate being stared at — didn’t your parents ever tell you that’s rude? — they do appreciate “sharing a blink.” Kiss the way cats do: Catch your cat’s eyes with yours and then slowly blink. Your cat may even blink back!
Ears
A stalking cat turns both his satellite-dish ears straight
forward, the better to catch the slightest peep from a hidden mouse. The ears
of a relaxed cat are up and usually to the side, moving around to focus more
keenly on sounds that may mean the temporary end of his comfortable period. If
frightened, the cat’s ears take a more sideways cast. The position you should
never ignore, however, is the completely backward and flattened ears of a cat who’s
ready to lash out with a bite or a slash, whether in defense or aggression.
Tail
Tail up and flipped forward over the back is the cat’s way
of saying, “Hi, how are you; nice to see you; isn’t it time to get my dinner?”
— a relaxed and friendly greeting of affection and trust. A cat who’s uncertain
puffs out his tail, holds it low — perhaps even tucked under — and moves it
from side to side. If stalking, the cat’s tail is held low and stiff, except
for twitching at the end as if the force required to hold one’s body still is
too much for a cat, who must release nervous energy from the end of his tail. (This
“hunting twitch” may also be seen in play.)
The tail is one of the best physical indications of a cat’s
impending aggression. (See the sidebar “Prelude to a hiss,” later in this
chapter.) A cat who’s becoming agitated whips his tail from side to side; often
the tail is puffed out as well. A tail wag is not the friendly gesture in cats that it is in dogs, for sure!
Voice
Each cat, like each person, develops a voice uniquely her
own, similar to others of her kind but never quite a match. Cats have a wide
range of sounds available to them to express their emotional state; here’s the
collection:
- Meows: From the short chirping sound a mother cat makes to her kittens to the longer “I want it now” noises of a hungry pet, cats manage to get a lot of variety from a couple basic sounds. They vary them in endless ways, holding their vowel sounds sometimes and other times clipping them short. Cats even have a meow we humans can’t hear, because the noise is outside our range of hearing. Live with a cat for a while, and you come to understand the specific meanings of your pet’s various meows, which in broader terms usually mean, “Hi ya. I want something.”
- Caterwauling: Even people who don’t have cats know this sound, a multi-octave yowl usually performed as a duet between two cats who’re getting ready to rumble. The message: “Get out of here or you’ll be sorry.” These concerts can happen anytime two cats contest territory but are especially frequent during the mating season, starting in spring.
- Chattering: If a cat is excited by the prospect of a kill or the possibility (for a male) of mating, you sometimes observe a rapid clacking of teeth.
- Growling: Really more of a softer, sustained low yowl, without the up-and-down variation of the caterwaul. Growling is the sign of a frightened or angry cat and is often punctuated by hissing and spitting — the latter two sounds being particularly useful for convincing dogs to back off!
- Purring: The feline equivalent of a smile. Like a smile, a purr turns up in some situations that aren’t so happy, sort of an “I’m nice, so don’t hurt me” message. Content cats purr, but so do injured or frightened ones, as well as cats giving birth or nursing kittens.
- Screaming: A cry of intense pain. We hope you never hear it, especially from your cat.
Cool Cat Facts
Do cats have more than five senses? |
|
Two phenomena that have been well docu-mented over the
years suggest that cats have a few more things going for them than we mere
humans can understand. One of these is the ability to “predict” seismic events,
such as earthquakes. Cats (and other animals) appear to be sensitive to signs
of increasing tension below, a theory promoted by those who claim that before
an earthquake, the number of lost cats and dogs increases — presumably
because the animals are attempting to escape from danger. Another interesting skill is the cat’s ability to return
to what he recognizes as “home” from hundreds of miles away — after his
family moves, for example. Although some of these cases are surely mistaken identity
on the parts of the people and cats involved, others are well documented, and
experiments have shown that cats have a particular sensitivity to the earth’s
magnetic field and so are masters of direction — no road maps needed. We may never understand exactly what’s be-hind these
“extra senses,” but that’s probably fine with our cats: They’d prefer we
admire their special air of mystery! |
The Cat’s Meow
“Biscuits” of love |
|
Cat lovers all know the special paw motions of a happy cat
in the lap, although no one seems to agree on what to call this pleasurable
bit of body language. Call it “making biscuits” or “kneading,” the message is
the same: affection and trust. Making biscuits is a holdover from kittenhood. When cats are
babies, they move their paws against their mother’s side when nursing. When your
cat does this to you, she’s telling you that she considers you her mother,
purring and kneading in a demonstration of feline love. |
Hair and whiskers
Scared or angry cats hold their hair erect in an effort to
look bigger; in the early stages of fear or aggression, some cats just puff out
their tail. Whiskers have a broader repertoire in expressing emotion. If a cat
is curious or angry, he holds his whiskers forward (cats also do this in the dark
to help them “feel” their way around). Cats pull their whiskers backward when
frightened.
Cool Cat Facts
Most cats have 24 whiskers, divided on either side of the nose and arranged in four horizontal rows. The top rows and bottom rows can move independently of each other, and each whisker — they’re technically called vibrissae — is imbedded deeper than normal hairs to enhance its sensory input. Another odd whisker fact: The kinky-coated Cornish Rex and Devon Rex have curly whiskers as well!
Even though whiskers are important to cats — your pet may
become disoriented if they’re removed, which is why you never should cut them —
there is no correlation between the length of whiskers and the width of a cat.
If your cat gets fat, his whiskers don’t grow to match. A portly cat who comes
to count on his whiskers to gauge the width of a hole may well find himself
stuck.
Posture
The way a cat holds her body must be placed in context to be
understood, observed along with signs from the tail, ears, eyes, voice, and fur
(including whiskers) to correctly interpret your cat’s emotional state. A cat
who’s enjoying being petted from head to toe, for example, often arches her
back to maximize contact with the stroking hand. In another situation, an
arched cat is one you shouldn’t be touching under any circumstances, or you may
get injured. The difference is the context!
Study the overall cat to make sure, but the following list
gives you a first impression of what different positions mean:
- Inquisitive: The friendly, curious, or inquisitive cat is relaxed, moving forward comfortably with tail up. Ears are up, too, and pointed slightly to the sides.
- Defensive: A cat who’s just defensive, angry, or scared arches and puffs out her fur in the classic “Halloween cat” pose. From this pose, a defensive cat makes a run for it if he can; a truly furious cat attacks. A cat who’s really in trouble rolls over onto his back to bring into play his formidable defensive weapons — claws and teeth.
- Aggressive: A cat who’s going to attack crouches low, his back a little higher than his front, ready to put his powerful hind legs to use in a leap forward. Fur on the hackles (over his shoulders) is up, as is the fur on his tail. This cat is one who means business; back away and let him be!
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| Figure 7-3: In trying to figure out your cat’s emotional state, pay attention to all his body language. |
Caution
A cat in any defensive or aggressive posture is best left alone, even if he’s your cat. Give him time to chill out completely before you even attempt to approach.
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| Figure 7-4: Judging from his very recognizable body language, this cat clearly has had more than enough of the photographer who’d been trying to take his picture. |
Prelude to a hiss |
|
Human stupidity (from the cat’s point of view, that is) in
misreading or ignoring body language earns more than a few cat lovers a
scratch or bite from time to time — the result of misinterpreting a cat’s
“I’ve had enough” signs. The classic example of this phenomenon is the cat who,
while being petted, “suddenly” grabs the hand that pets him with teeth and
claws — to the shock and sometimes anger of the human doing the petting. In fact, these “out of the blue” attacks rarely are.
Before the biting or clawing, a cat gives out subtle (to us, anyway) signs of
diminished tolerance. Primary among them: an increase in the stiffness and
twitching of the tail. Often, the problem starts with petting your cat’s tummy, a
very vulnerable area for any animal. Your cat may even offer his belly out of
love, but after you start to pet, he may become increasingly uncomfortable
with the attention. Most cats just don’t like tummy rubs, although exceptions
to this rule certainly do exist. Watch your cat’s body signs: If he’s tensing or that tail
starts twitching, stop petting immediately.
Not only does doing so save you claw and teeth marks, but stopping before
your cat strikes also slowly builds up his trust in you and his tolerance for
physical attention. (For more information on feline aggression, see Chapter Solving
Behavior Problems.) |
by Gina Spadafori and Paul D. Pion
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