I am biting my nails... so what!

 OK, so we cats bite our nails. Not because we are neurotic like humans who bite their nails. We have a good reason for doing this. We pull off the dead claw sheaths when a new claw is growing below.

Every two or three months, we shed the outer most sheath on our claws because each claw grows in layers. Underneath the old sheath, when it is shed or bitten off lies a new sharp claw.

 It's natural therefore that some cats pull off the dead sheath using their teeth. The video of the ginger cat shows it doing this. Most of us get rid of the old sheath by scratching on a tree trunk, or a scratching post, or the furniture. 

I prefer scratching to pulling off by my teeth. I scratch at the arm of the sofa, which is covered with a nice stout material. It pulls off the sheath effectively. I also scratch on the carpet in the spare room. It's a carpet which is tufted - all the better for a good scratch. And, of course, sometimes I use my scratch post.

Should humans worry if they see us  biting our nails? Probably not. But there is one exception. Burmese cats occasionally suffer from FOPS Feline Orofacial Pain Syndrome, where the pain in the trigeminal nerve, the one that runs up the side of the face, is almost unbearable. 

This may be set off, in a few cases, by nail biting.  There was an association in one survey between nail biting and his horrible syndrome. So if you are a Burmese cat, make sure your human keeps your claws trimmed.

Helping humans understand us - Meow for attention

Humans need help in understanding our meows. They don't realise that there is no easy answer to why or when we meow. Every cat is individual in the way we use this noise. 

Some of us are silent (go back to my earlier post.) We just open our mouths without any sound. Others meow for food (see the post before this one.) Some meow loudly. Some meow with a croak. 

And some of us use a meow to wake up our humans in the morning so that we can get our breakfast. We don't like to let them sleep too long.

This is Freya waking up her human, by putting her face close to the human face, and making a somewhat croaky meow (which is how she meows usually).  

Not only do our humans need to listen to our meows.. they need to understand what we are saying. So where and when we meow is as important as how we do it.

So listen up, humans. Understand. Obey. 

 

• The playlist of what cats are saying is on my Youtube channel under Celia's name is https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mMH0Q-3hEcw&list=PLnwXtI1uuo884ABEOTorPYZNnIeTh04pV 

 

 

 

Helping humans understand us.... the meow request for food.

Most of us cats are NOT silent meowers. We do a proper loud meow that even stupid humans can hear.  

Dumb they may be, but even the dumbest of humans can understand a meow when it is a demand for food. We are loudest usually at breakfast, when we have had nothing to eat during the night. "Meow" mens "I am starving."

Here my Spanish friend, Josephine, is making sure that her human, serves her breakfast as soon as possible. You will notice that he is talking back to her - even if it is a bit of a grumble. And he seems awfully slow.

But that is the usual human response. They can't help it. they just aren't very clever. 

 

• The playlist of what cats are saying is on my Youtube channel under Celia's name is https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mMH0Q-3hEcw&list=PLnwXtI1uuo884ABEOTorPYZNnIeTh04pV 

 

 

 

 

Helping humans recognise a silent meow

 

Some of us are louder than others. My Siamese friend, Miss Foo, used to meow non stop very loudly. I found it irritating.

Then there are the strong and silent types like Mr Spangles (in the video). Mr Spangles didn't chat. He purred but he didn't meow like I do. He used to do a silent meow.

Dumb humans often miss that silent meow. It means the same as an ordinary meow (forget the non stop Siamese wail, for a moment). It is a silent way of getting attention.

Obviously in the video, Mr Spangles was pointing out that his food bowl was empty. Any dumb human would understand that.

But would a dumb human notice In the first place? That is the problem with being a silent type.

How are we going to teach humans to pay attention to us? 

 

• The playlist of what cats are saying is on my Youtube channel under Celia's name is https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mMH0Q-3hEcw&list=PLnwXtI1uuo884ABEOTorPYZNnIeTh04pV 

Helping humans recognise subtle cat bullying. 2.

 In my efforts to educate dumb humans, I am adding another video here showing subtle ways one cat can bully another. The ginger cat is stopping the resident tortoiseshell entering through a cat flap on the right. 

How is this done? Not by direct aggression. But by the power of the eye. Staring is a way that one can intimidates the other. 

But does the resident human recognise what is going on? Most humans do not. In this case the human was an exception.

She installed two cat flaps. The ginger cat could not be in two places at once. 

• The playlist of what cats are saying is on my Youtube channel under Celia's name is https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mMH0Q-3hEcw&list=PLnwXtI1uuo884ABEOTorPYZNnIeTh04pV