Look at the ears...

Maltese cat outside an archeological site - ear tip on left ear just visible.

With the help of my human I have been researching unowned cats in Malta. There are not many.

During a 6 day investigation, my human observed only 8 cats. Of these 7 appeared to be unowned - no sign of collar etc. And all 7 had tiny notches in their ears.

This was a sign that they had been trapped, neutered and spayed then returned to the site they belonged to. In 5 cases there were signs of feeding bowls and shelter suggesting a managed colony.

 It is called TNR - Trap, Neuter and Return. Malta are doing it wonderfully. 

Human blah-blah-blah

Celia and Mr Spangles watching a zoom meeting

Have you noticed how often humans talk to us? They seem to assume we understand human talk.

Which we don't.

But human talk does interest us. Their blah-blah-blah comes in different tones of voice. We certainly recognise an angry tone of voice from a loving tone of voice.

We also recognise various words. Like our names. When I hear the word, "George" I know it means something special is coming up ... like food, or strokes, or just attention. 

I love being the centre of my human's attention. Mostly attention means eye gaze in my direction: a laugh: a slow blink: and perhaps more blah-blah-blah in a baby sounding voice.

What about the "vet" word. Well, I recognise it but not all cats do. I make myself scarce. Under the bed is the best place because she can't get me out! 

 

 

 

The tail quiver .. what am I saying?

 

 

When do I quiver my tail and what does it mean?

Well, my tail quivers when I mark my territory by spraying urine. It's part of the sequence - back up against something vertical and let go a jet of urine. This is a scent message to other cats and to myself.

Now some people have noticed the tail quiver in this context. That's because humans agonise about my spraying and don't understand that it is just natural messaging for me. They particularly don't like it when I do this in the house, if I am experiencing social stress.

But my other tail quiver isn't part of spraying. It has nothing to do with urine. It is when I am happy and excited. I may quiver my tail when face to face with a human (like this video). Sometimes I actually put my butt towards the human and do it.

But most humans never notice this at all.... 

 

• For more cat behaviours go to my Youtube channel - https://lnkd.in/erz6fFpP Go to playlist and select Cat Signals - what is my cat saying. 

 

Relaxed sleep or terrified pretend sleep - educating humans.

 

Humans cannot read our body language, so they often fail to recognise when we are fully relaxed. True relaxation shows in the way our bodies look when we are truly sleeping (without even one eye open). 

If we are warm, we sleep stretched out - limb relaxed (not ready for action), belly visible, head on the carpet. The body is lying to one side. 

Or, if it is cold, we are likely to find a place where we can sleep curled up.

This looks different but is much the same. The legs are still relaxed (not ready for action) only this time they are closer together and the tail is wrapped round them to keep body warmth in.

The head is still limp - in the second video it is resting on the paw and the side of the cat tree.

The video below shows a stressed out cat pretending to sleep. Her legs are tucked under the body ready for her to spring into action and run away. Her eyes occasionally squint open a little bit. Her back is arched and her head is not limp. 

This is a very frightened cat. Would your human recognise this pretend sleep?

 

Eyeballing the slow blink - what does it mean?

 

We cats don't much like being stared at by strangers. Worse still is being stared at by an enemy. The direct gaze can make us feel uneasy.

But sometimes the direct gaze between humans and cats is different. This is when we feel completely safe with a human, who is our pet.

We gaze and we do a slow blink. Just to show that our gaze isn't aggressive. It is loving...

And after the blink, we don't turn away or stop gazing. We continue to gaze with confidence and affection. 

So, humans, if you get a slow blink from your cat, you know that she loves you and she feels completely safe with you.

Congratulations. You have become the perfect pet for a loving cat.

 

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