This year I won't pee on the tree

 

Yes, one year I did. I sprayed on the Christmas tree. I felt obliged to do so, to keep myself feeling safe over the Christmas holiday.

The tree smelled of dog. DOG! 

Apparently some passing canine had lifted its leg on the tree, while the tree was placed outdoors on the pavement. My human couldn't smell it: but to me it was a very strong odour.

Dog-smelling trees frighten me. So I  cover up the enemy scent with my own scent. That's only fair.

So I did the only thing I could do, to stop myself feeling anxiety. And what was really painful was that my human did not understand.

Indeed, she became very upset. I couldn't explain to her. She shut me out of the room with the tree.

Life with humans has horribly unfair moments. This was one of them. 

Luckily this year, the tree smelled OK.  

 

 

The spy in the litter box.

 

So this is the future. No more decent privacy in the litter box. They call it "pet monitoring."

Some evil human has invented a robotic litter box which tells our pet humans what we deposit and when.

It spies on us and sends messages to their phones. 

And look at that monstrosity of a litter box - more like a spacecraft than a decent box. Elderly cats wouldn't be able to get up there anyway.

Would humans like it, if we monitored their lavatories. Would they enjoy the idea that we know exactly when they urinated and how much they urinated, the size of their stools, and the texture of the faeces.

Do we need to remind humans that going to the bathroom (as they call it) is a private act. Yes, PRIVATE.

Do not spy on us, humans. 

 

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.