Inspired by this thread, I thought it would be a good idea to accumulate what we, SDMB cat-lovers, know about “cat-speak”. How cats speak to us, and how we can speak to them in a way they’ll understand.
Slowly squinting both eyes is a cat’s way of a friendly smile. If you squint at cats, and they like you, they’ll squint right back at you.
There’s a theory that says that a cat will lie on the floor in your ususal walking path as a way to communicate. Not to be obnoxious, in a “I’ll lie here as I please and y’all can walk around my Royal Self” but to communicate that they trust you.
Of course, allowing you to touch it’s belly, and purring, are also signs of affection and trust.
A cat that’s interested in something will have big black pupils. A cat that looks at you with pupil-slits is jsut staring, but a cat that looks at you with big black pupils wants something. If a cat is interested at something, it’s whiskers will curl outward and forward. A relaxed cat has whiskers in a tight bundle.
A moving tail is a sign of internal conflict; if a cat sits on your lap, and its tail starts moving to and fro, it will probably jump away in the next minute.
I didn’t know that. For one of my cats, lying in my walking path equates to “Pet me, Human. Pet me now, or I will continue to throw myself in front of your feet until you trip and fall to your death.” Followed by rolling onto his back so I can accomodate his demands and give him belly-scratchin’s.
I don’t know if all cats do it, but two of my cats will stand in front of me with their heads tilted to the left while staring at me to let me know they’re hungry–without going near the food bowl or making a sound.
Usually I combine the blinking with tilting my head back slightly . I can normally get a verbal reply in short order.Unless the cat is hungry , tired , irritated etc. etc. then I jut get ignored.
Our cats recognize their names (at least they know that we are talking to them in particular when we use their names). Midnight also recognizes when I say it’s time to go in from our walk, because she’ll get up (if she’s lying down or sitting) and start reluctantly for the door, hissing if she protests the decision.
Lotta, our youngest, will walk across the dining room table (or do something she knows to be equally verboten ) if she urgently needs our attention and wants something.
Actually, two of our cats will verbalize “Out!” when they want to go outside. The cry is unlike any of their others, and sounds remarkably like the word “Out”. They sit by the door when they say it, so there’s no possibility of misunderstanding. Midnight will also say “Ham!” when she wants lunch meat from the fridge, but the other cats haven’t picked this one up yet.
My fluffy Sara will “meep!” when she wants to be held, or to be petted because she is hungry and prefers to be petted while she eats.
Slowly closing and opening the eyes is a sign of trust, literally saying “I don’t need to keep an eye on you.” They pick up on it right away if you do it first.
I thought my Russian Blue mix, Katya, was the only cat in the world who liked to be petted while she eats! She makes a little squeaking noise to get my or Mr. Neville’s attention, then leads us over to her food dish so we can pet her while she eats. She purrs really loudly and occasionally takes a break to rub against us when we pet her while she eats.
Our cat most definitely means “it’s breakfast time” when he hurls himself from the top of the TV in our bedroom to the middle of our full-wave waterbed then stomps all over us after I’ve hit snooze too many times.
The other cat likes to drag socks upstairs from the sock basket in the laundry room–usually in the middle of the night. She then stand in the hallway outside the bedrooms and wails to let us know of her accomplishment.
Our late cat definitely understood the words “food” (run to the kitchen), “outside” (run to the back door), and “vet” (run under the waterbed).
Our cats understand a lot of words. They know “Get up!” They know “Get out!” They knwo “Not there!” They don’t do anyhting when you yell, but they understand.
Actually, the weirdest thing we’ve seen lately is the habit Havoc has picked up of “hugging” us. She’ll stand on her hind legs and gently wrap her paws around your leg and give it a bit of a squeeze. No claws, no teeth…just a hug. We figure she learned that by watching us, and is just trying to say “I love you.”
Last week, my cats brought me a dead birdie they had found. They put it on the floor next to my computerchair- obviously that’s “my” place in their little minds. Then they sat next to it, beaming with pride and looking at me. I thanked them, hid my “eew, poor birdie” feelings and took birdie to the bin, as I didn’t want to seem ungrateful. I’ve read that bringing prey is a sign they see me as a little kitten, but that doesn’t really fit in with the rest of their behavior. Maybe they were really just giving me a cat-gift.
Two of my cats used to thank me for filling up the foodbowl. No mistake. I would fill it and then wander off, and they would postpone their eating to come after me and rub my legs to get petted, and only then they return to the foodbowl.
Does anyone know what the “silent mew” means?
Draelin, I have one cat that will lie in my way, even though he’s still a bit afraid and sometimes still makes halfassed attempts to get up when I approach. He doesn’t want to be petted, so I think he’s doing it for communication.
Tripping their feeder is purposeful behavior of little kittens: if they trip mommacat, and she falls down on her side, they can attack her nipples. That is why cats can walk right in front of you so annoyingly during feeding time.
Maastricht, I have heard that it is not actually silent, it is just in a higher pitch than what you can hear.
On a side note, I picked up the book “Dancing with Cats” last night and we cracked up about it. At first we thought it was a joke, but as it turns out, these people are serious about it. They even have a website that offers Feline Dance Classes: http://www.monpa.com/dwc/index.html
Lucy, the white kitty, will bark to get DeHusband’s attention. It’s like a purry, sneezy, exasperated puff of air. If she was a teenager, it would be followed be rolling eyes and a stomped foot. At which DeHusband picks her up and rides her around on his shoulders, like her own personal transportation monkey.
I always try to say hi to the outdoor cats that run around the neighbourhood whenever I see one… and I’ve found that if I’m alone and I squat down so that one knee is on the ground and one knee is up against my body, all but the shyest ones will immediately run over to me for attention, even if they were wary before. I think the position must seem especially nonthreatening, since I’m much closer to the ground and can’t move quickly.
Both of my cats pet me back. When they’re especially lovey-dovey they reach out with velvet paws and run them down my arm or on my cheek–aaawww!
They also respond to “prrrts” and “merps” in kind.
I can bring either of them across a room by making phantom scritching movements in the air–this makes them run over and put their heads under my scritch hand.
Pratchett is very trusting and will tuck his face into your hand if he likes you, and it’s not just for a second–he completely covers his face and eyes with your hand, leans into it and will sometimes fall asleep like that.
Stiggs lets me know he loves me and is happy by throwing himself to the ground and rolling back and forth like an idiot, pawing the air with his front feet.
My Sophie will jump on my lap and walk up my chest, so her face is level is mine and rub her nose with mine, in the Maori way. I always think that they’re kitty-kisses.
If my cat thinks he is going to be fed, he stands as tall as he can, tail straight up, then vibrates his tail. Halfway through eating he’ll usually stop, come and find me, meow, then go back to eating. Not quite sure whether he is inviting me to dine with him or thanking me for dinner. Any ideas?
Here’s a third! Sufi, my b/w crossbreed with a bit of siamese, adores being petted while he’s eating. He has choked on his purrs before, so I’m trying to not do that as much! He’s a real snuggler too - his ideal place to sleep is in my arms with his paws over his eyes (see pic) He’ll stay like that for hours and hours all floppy (and he snores like a 40-a day smoker). His all time favourite is what I call ‘love-ins’ - when he’s being petted and likes it so much, he just can’t sit still on my lap. He gets overwhelmed with love/affection and climbs up on my chest, rubs my head in my face, flips on his back so I catch him and he can wriggle, plays with my nose with his paws, climbs to sit on my head… He’s just so sweet he makes a hard-nosed old tart like me quite melty!
Both my cats will have a ‘in-depth’ conversations with me - they always respond when I meow/chirrup/meep/purr at them, and will announce their arrival when they enter a room. They make an incredible amount of noise when they want to go out - Sufi has a really high squeek that literally sounds like ‘ma- ma’ when he wants out or fed. Kink, on the other hand, is a teeny tiny little black cat with a voice like James Earl Jones… ‘BWAHHHWMEOWWWWWRN’ - he starts from the paws and his whole body vibrates.
I don’t know about the vibrating, but I do know many cats push their lower bodies up against your hand if you stroke her down her back. I had one kitty that would lay down, and when my hand reached her tail, *only * her back legs, would stand up. It was a very funny sight, a half-raised cat. I’ve read that this is a submissive gesture, distantly sexual in origin: the cat presents her behind to be sniffed or mounted. But even if there used to be a sexual origin to this gesture, it is now lost even to the cats, because both male and female cats would do it. maybe it has the same fast symbolic meaning as the “mock-mounting” monkeys do all the time to establish dominance.
I’ve also noticed that my cat will lie down next to me and check with her paw along my arm, past my sleeve until she has found a place where the skin of her toes can touch my bare skin. Only then will her paw stop moving, as if that was what she was looking for.
elfbabe, I’m going go try that kneeposture for kitties I meet outdoor.
Many strange out-door cats I meet and try to greet will look at me and squint her eyes at me, while they still keep trotting away from me. I’ve always interpreted that as: “Sorry, can’t talk right now, no offense, see you later!” Very different from the cat that throws you one look and just shoots away with only her flat ears pointing in your direction, to hear if you won’t come after her.
My fonzie cat grunts and snorts when sometihng isn’t going his way. He grunts very loudly if someone he doesn’t like picks him up.
He also knocks on doors that he doesn’t want shut and will knock on YOU if he wants to be pet. He will reach as high as he can and tap you wherever he can get too for some lovin’.
He loves his belly rubbed by me and mr.mrald but anyone else and he pulls out the ninja rabbit kicks then shoots under the couch.
I’ve read that bringing prey is a sign they see me as a little kitten, but that doesn’t really fit in with the rest of their behavior. Maybe they were really just giving me a cat-gift.