Cat Feeling

If a dog’s tail wags and thumps were music it might be a jazz band while the movement of cat tails would be a symphony orchestra. Cats communicate with their tails in dozens of ways to express an A to Z of emotions. The basics of tail talk 101 are outlined in our infographic but every cat has their own unique variation or signature. They may twitch their tail in annoyance that a person or other cat interrupted their snooze or in excitement because they spotted a squirrel outside. When twitching turns to thumping, it’s gone beyond annoyance to a warning: stay away. Other obvious and dramatic expressions are the classic piloerection or bottlebrush tail. The poofy bottlebrush tail pointing up is an aggressive stance to appear larger while the bottle brush low to the ground or between the legs is a defensive or submissive stance. In either case, stay away. Never try to touch or pick up a cat this angry or stimulated, they may bite or scratch. There is no reason to ever be scratched if we observe and listen to the subtle cues of communication.

Cat tails speak volumes but so do ear positions, body position, muscle tension, dilation of pupils, vocalization and hissing or spitting. Even if we think a cat attacks without warning, they don’t. It’s just that we didn’t notice and act on the subtle cues. Feeding feral cats through the years taught me to develop lightening fast reflexes and appreciate the subtleties of tail talk. Even with former feral Domino I remain hyper-alert when I brush him. When he’s had too much he’ll swipe at me. The trick is to stop before he does. It’s a very Zen thing. Of being tuned in and focused. The only time he’s drawn blood is when I was distracted or came from fear.

Cat Comunication

BODY LANGUAGE

Cats which communicate mostly with other cats use mainly on body language and scent - this is their "native language". Their body language is subtle, but many owners and cat workers learn to read the more obvious cues.

The Head

A cat's head position tells us several things. If its head is stretched forward, the cat is encouraging touch or trying see its owners or another cat’s facial expressions. This is a greeting message. In conflict, an assertive or confident cat may raise its head, but an aggressive cat will lower its head. An inferior or submissive cat will also lower its head submissively. An inferior cat which is fearful and defensively aggressive will raise its head though. To understand the message, you have to look at the other end of the cat - its tail!
If the cat keeps its head down, pulls in its chin and turns sideways to prevent eye contact it is conveying a lack of interest and the fact that it is not threatening. It will also pull in its chin when relaxed. To understand the whole message you have to look at the way it holds its body.

Friendly cats will head-but or head rub and will extend this into a full body rub. Cats will also head-butt and body-rub their humans. The nose-bump is another friendly greeting. When cats meet, they sniff each other's faces - sniffing the scent glands around the lips to determine the identity of the other cat and whether it is a family member or not.

The Tail

The tail is an organ of balance, a rudder/counterbalance for maneuvering at high speed and a means of communication. While hunting or stalking, the tail is kept almost horizontally behind the cat. This prevents it from fouling in low-hanging shrubs and prevent the prey from seeing a telltale tail. It may spring upright during the final rush. The tail also conveys a cat’s interest and concentration with a twitching movement as it corners its prey. You can also see this twitching movement, usually just the tip of the tail, when a cat sees something interesting through a window. When a cat is crouched low to the ground, edging forward towards prey, the slight twitch of its tail indicates how hard it is concentrating.

The tail is an important tool for communicating with other cats and with humans. It is highly mobile: side to side, up and down, graceful and slow, thrashing and whip-like. It can be a sleep coil folded around a sitting or sleeping cat, a fluffy scarf across a curled cat's nose or an erect bristling bottle brush when the cat is frightened. A mother cat may also use it - deliberately or accidentally - as a toy for her kittens.

Cat Play

Fun Things for Cats to Play With

Things That Move

Cats love to run, jump and pounce on anything that moves or catches their attention. You can make a toy from a flashlight beam or laser pointer by waving the light across the floor and onto furniture -- just be careful not to point the beam in your kitty’s eyes. You can also buy windup or electronic toys that will skitter about the floor and send your cat scurrying into attack mode. Things that bounce are also popular toys, like ping-pong balls, which are inexpensive and can be batted across the floor and off the walls over and over again.

Things With Feathers

Your cat’s natural instincts will draw him toward prey-like playthings, especially ones with feathers. You can buy or make a feather wand, a long stick with feathers that can be waved in the air to entice Kitty to jump, or tie feathers to a string and drag it back and forth across the floor. Look into buying spring-loaded toys mounted on a scratching pole. Kitty can simultaneously scratch in the right place while batting about the bird that moves with every touch.

Things To Hide In

Cats love to hide and pounce, and creating any combination of these two favorite activities will help you give your kitty the ultimate play experience. A commercially-produced crinkle sack or a brown paper grocery bag both serve as fun hiding places. Just as kids like playing in empty appliance boxes, cats like box play too. Just be sure there are no sharp edges or small openings they can potentially get stuck in.

Things with Catnip

It doesn't matter what you put catnip on, it will soon become your cat’s favorite toy. You can stuff a fabric pouch with catnip, rub some on a piece of yarn or string or put a catnip pouch inside a plastic bell ball that your kitty can scoot across the floor. Catnip has different effects on different cats, ranging from euphoria to excessive energy to calm relaxed “zone” time.

"Cat & Human"

Cats are common pets in Europe and North America, and their worldwide population exceeds 500 million. Although cat guardianship has commonly been associated with women,a 2007 Gallup poll reported that men and women were equally likely to own a cat.

According to the Humane Society of the United States, as well as being kept as pets, cats are also used in the international fur trade, for making coats, gloves, hats, shoes, blankets, and stuffed toys. About 24 cats are needed to make a cat fur coat. This use has now been outlawed in the United States, Australia, and the European Union. However, some cat furs are still made into blankets in Switzerland as folk remedies believed to help rheumatism.

A few attempts to build a cat census have been made over the years, both through associations or national and international organizations (such as the Canadian Federation of Humane Societies's one) and over the net, but such a task does not seem simple to achieve. General estimates for the global population of domestic cats range widely from anywhere between 200 million to 600 million.