Cat's Body Language - What Does It Mean?

I am a cat lover and owner and in getting to know my cat Benjamin...I decided to study his body language to better understand him and his moods. I thought I would share what I have found out...just for the fun of it!

Arched back means - don't bother me

Kneading with paws - remembering being a kitten

Leg rubbing - thankful

The tail swishing - alert and curious

The tail lashing - agitated and annoyed, leave me alone

The tail twitching - I am interested!

The tail quivering - great affection

The tail bolt & upright - happy

The tail half tucked between legs - scared

The ears are upright - listening

The ears are turned back - feels threatened

A raised head - I am happy!

Lowered head - sleepiness; contentment

Wide starring eyes - ready to attack

Narrow slow blinking eyes - happy

The cat exposes tummy - really trusts you

Bent or straight legs - happy and curious

Arched back - getting read for a fight

What is your cat saying to you? How much to do you understand them...what are some of their cute little ways.


Link: www.cat-behavior-explained.com...

Ive got a cat too I can read her like a book now. She even pulls faces



Ive had her for 5 years now so theres not much i dont know about her

reply to post by caladonea


That's nice. My cat does all of the above, but they mean something different, mainly this: "I'm being cute... but if you touch me, I WILL scratch you."

Except when she's cold, then she doesn't mind my making her take a nap with me. I mean, she's usually the one who dictates when it's nap time, so it feels nice regaining control every once in a while.

Here she is, my perfect little angel :

[atsimg]http://files.abovetopsecret.com/images/member/5563273acef2.jpg[/atsimg]

Next time your cat is looking at you, look back into his eyes and slowly blink yours. Do this a couple of times and see what happens.

My cat does all your above mentioned things. She also likes to lay on the floor and roll around. My theory is she knows that makes her too darn cute, you just have to pet her.

I believe all animals communicate with us, if we bother to pay attention.

reply to post by smyleegrl


You have to be careful with that because cats can take someone staring them in the eyes as a sign of aggression, but if you know your cat and your cat knows you,well then yeah, it's pretty amazing.

Edit to say, I love when my cat tells me exactly how she wants to be petted.

reply to post by calstorm


Yeah, I wouldn't try that with a cat I didn't know But if a bond is there, then it's incredible

reply to post by caladonea


My boy kitty likes to roll around the floor tempting you
to scratch his tummy.When you scratch his tummy,
his claws clamp down around your foot or hand.He is
a little trickster and I have learned not to fall for his little
tricks.

reply to post by caladonea


Here's one you missed, the "meatloaf" position and you should watch for it, just in case.

I didn't know anything about this until it was too late and that was today. Our male Orange Tabby Simba (just over two years old and had kind of a cougar chin and nice facial marking symmetry) died at 10:45am today from renal failure due to complications. The complications may have been caused by a tumour (or his bladder was so full it felt like a tumour) or it may have been pesticide poisoning caused by Hartz Onestop flea treatment which we used about a week ago on both cats (but the female Calico is fine). I've recently ready up on this Hartz garbage and found out too late just how bad it is. Anyway, the jury is out on the cause of the renal failure.

We have had Simba since he was ten days old and abandoned by his mother in a field for what appears to be a genetic anomaly, he's farsighted. The first mammals that he saw was my wife and myself when he opened his eyes for the first time, and my wife used eyedroppers to feed him. He was so tiny. So he has been very attached to us, is very talkative and tends to lie on my lap when I am on the computer. I sometimes think he believes he's human by the way he behaves, like laying his head only on a pillow or sitting in a chair waiting to get a treat at the table or sitting on the desk between my keyboard and monitor to get some attention.

As far as diet, he usually ate dry food plus one wet food per week, reverse osmosis water, silver dollar sized bits of milk a couple of times a week, 1 sardine a week and a few temptations every few days, so his diet was good with a combination of moist and dry foods as wells as naturals oils in fish.

We had no idea what was going on because it came on so fast. Wednesday he was jumping around like usual, on my lap, eating treats like tempations and sardines. Late Thursday night, I think he stopped eating and drinking (we have two cats) and we thought he was bound up but he also vomited, like he did the last time about six months ago and he was sitting in the "meatloaf" position. So we gave him some cat laxatives, which worked last time when he was not eating and drinking, vomited and the vet said it was hairballs. He was tired, maybe a little lethargic Friday morning and sitting in the "meatloaf" position. When we got back home Friday evening he was unable to walk and couldn't get into the litter box, but he did have some water on his own then went back to the "meatloaf" position. I tried to find an emergency vet, but there are none in the area, so I figured I'd take him in the morning to one I knew would be open (we live way out in a rural area).

Since I sat up with him until about 4am talking to him, rubbing him and trying to make him comfortable, when I went to bed I overslept and got up late at 10:30am. When I went to check on him, his breathing was shallow, he could barely open his eyes and was unable to speak to me like he usually does (he was a very vocal cat). Fifteen minutes later he died while I was holding him. At least he went peacefully, he just seemed to turn off. No whimpers or twitches, he just opened his eyes, gave me kind of a sad look and stopped breathing.

Very important! In the meatloaf position, the rear quarters are very low, flattened almost, with the belly on the floor, The front legs are tucked underneath with the paws touching and the shoulder blades are extended upwards. The head sometimes looks like it is stretched forward in an awkward position. This means pain, serious pain. If you see this combined with low mobility, lethargy, failure to evacuate waste and/or loss of appetite, you probably have less than 24 hours to get the cat into a vet and on an intravenous drip.

I hate seeing animals die, especially when they are so young. It's kind of humbling, it tells you that you really don't have control over the most important thing in life, death.

Now I have to bury my cat on a friends farm tomorrow ;-(

ETA: A few pics of my good friend at around 3 weeks old and as an adult on Wednesday (15th) before he died.





Cheers - Dave

reply to post by loves a conspiricy


Your cat is adorable and full of personality! What is she saying with that face?

reply to post by Casandra


Your perfect "little angel" is a beauty! My Benjamin loves to cuddle...where ever I am...he has to be.

reply to post by bobs_uruncle


Dave...I am so sorry about Simba...our pets are a part of the family...and a great loss.

Thank you for telling me about the (meatloaf position) I didn't know about it.

I am thinking you will probably adopt another cat and raise it. I can tell that any pet would be fortunate to be adopted by you and yours.

reply to post by mamabeth


Ah...a tummy lover! That is a good sign! Your cat really trusts you.

reply to post by smyleegrl


I have done that! My cat starts purring loudly and nuzzles me with his head.

We have adopted a 5 month cat about 4 months ago, our second cat ever. She came with some bad habits as she had been neglected and she was anorexic. She was given food but she didn't eat it as she didn't feel loved. Even now she has to have a cuddle or a stroke before she can eat. She bit and scratched for weeks but then she saw we loved her and now she is much better.

And we got most of the body language signs right.

Our first cat wasn't really ours as first she was my Mum's (RIP) and then my sister's until she had to move to a flatshare and couldn't keep her. She was a black cat called Emily and although she loved my Shih Tzu, who died when he was 11 about 10 yrs ago, she never got on with my Elkhound.

Well that's not quite true. Once at night I caught them both sleeping in the same room. When my dog saw me he looked really guilty as if he wasn't doing his job and stated barking at Emily. She just looked at my dog and sorta sighed and went out to the conservatory. I tried explaining that wasn't his job, but I never got through to him.

She then went back to my sister and my dad, and died in late 2010 age 18yrs.

We now have 18 rabbits and they have their own language. LOL