Why I arch my back... educating humans in our body language

 I arch my back, either when I am just stretching, or when I am trying to show how big I am -  hoping to intimidate an enemy. Turning sideways and arching the back makes me look more formidable. 

Here is a video to educate dumb humans in our body language. 

Tommy, a juvenile cat reacted to by fighting rather than fleeing. So he arched his back to show he was bigger and turned sideways to show that there was even more of him. He also growled which you can hear. All this was to intimate an enemy.

He was frightened of course. Which is why when he was trying to move away, he went slowly, cautiously, with the rest of his body lowered. His tail was lowered too! 

So his body language shows both fear and aggression.

 

• The playlist of what cats are saying is on my Youtube channel under Celia's name is https://www.youtube.com/@CeliaHaddoncats/playlists 

The yawn - what does it mean?

We cats yawn, just like humans, when we are sleepy either before a nap or on waking up. But there is also a different meaning to a yawn.

We also yawn sometimes when we are slightly, just a little, worried or stressed. This cat in the video is listening to an unfamiliar human making noises (cleaning) the other side of a half open door.

Unexpected noises are slightly worrying for us cats, because sound is VERY important to us. We have the widest range of hearing of all the animals tested, including humans. 

We can hear the tiny squeak of a small mouse. As predators we need to hear these sounds so we can hunt and eat.

We can also hear the lower sounds of a dog or a wolf barking or growling. We need to hear these sounds because we are prey for bigger animals who might eat us.

Notice our ears that swivel to pick up very quiet sounds. In this video the cat starts with ears slightly back then moves them forward to catch the sound coming from another room.

Get your human to watch this video. Humans are dumb animals who can't speak cat language. But if they concentrate on watching us they can learn some of it!

This cat is saying "I am slightly anxious about this unusual sound?"

 

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

Helping humans recognise subtle cat bullying. 1.

Dumb humans often don't notice when one of us is bullying another cat. They don't recognise what is going on. 

So to help them, I am posting this this video showing a ginger cat bullying a tortoiseshell. What he is doing is pushing the tortoiseshell away from the owner who has the video.

There's no feline violence involved. Just a movement between the tortoiseshell and her human.

This is subtle bullying. The tortoiseshell needs her human to recognise this and see if she can help the cats avoid each other.

Seperate feeding bowls, three litter trays in three different locations, two cat flaps, lots of cat beds - so that the tortoiseshell can always get to what she wants.

And the owner should think of time spent with the tortoiseshell, when the ginger is not in the room and cannot interrupt. 

 

• 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

Head lowers and moves forward... "maybe a mouse?'

When I see something that really really interests me, my head goes forward and lower. Something small and moving makes me do this, because it might just be a mouse. 

This isn't just an idle gaze, it is an intensely involved look. Sometimes if the object is high up, then the head looks high up too but it often moves lower than my shoulder first. Like the photo above. 

It is a quick instinctive movement which most dumb humans don't notice. Or if they do notice it, they don't really take it in.

But watch me! If I am sitting looking idly out of the window, and something important catches my eye, this is what I do. That something usually arouses my hunting instinct, but it occasionally happens if the something is an unexpected kitten. See that on my Youtube channel below. 

(Yes, I know it says it is Celia's channel but it is obviously mine because there are so many cats in it.)

• 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

 

Flank rubbing ... I'm friendly, notice me.

When we are friendly, and when we want your attention, we sometimes rub round human legs. It's the bit of human that we can reach if the human is standing.

We are likely to do this, just before our human puts down our food and when we are hungry. It's a way of making sure dumb humans remember we are here and we need feeding.

Even really stupid humans usually get this particular message.

I also like rubbing the side of my body round my human's legs when she is on the lavatory, the human litter tray. She is stuck there, so she can't really do something silly like picking me up.

Tabby starts a flank rub

We also do a flank rub between feline friends. Just a gentle pressure starting at the shoulder then moving the rest of the body against the other feline.

Sometimes this ends in a tail wrap. 

• 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

 

The dry mouth swallow.... I am very frightened.

 Read my body language... that is my message to human beings. So I am posting pictures and videos to help them learn what cats like me are saying.

I have a good human who loves me, but her attention isn't good enough for her to read me what I am saying. 

I can get her attention by making a vocal signal, but not a body language signal. And she can't read my face properly either.

So I have posted this video here showing the dry mouth swallow... it says "I am terrified." It is a small movement of the throat. 

If we cats could get humans to learn our body language and pay proper careful attention to it, we could stop them being so dumb. Dumb humans are the major problem in most cats' lives

Pay attention....

• 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

I scent mark my home - for reassurance and home-making.

The video shows Shirty Bertie making his rescue pen into a home by rubbing against it. 

A home has to smell right. My core territory has to smell of me (and my scent glands), my human and any other friendly beings that I live with. So I spend time rubbing my chin against the furniture to spread my scent.

My chin also smells of my human, since I have rubbed it against her when I am feeling friendly. Then I pick up the scent of the furniture, itself, and rub her again. It's a careful mix.

This is feline home-making. I need my home, my core territory, to smell safe and happy. So if I feel just a little insecure, or if I have come back from the cattery, I will remake the scent profile.

What I hate is when the home scent is destroyed by painting, or builders, or some kind of alien scent brought home by my human. When Celia came back from hospital, I had to re-rub her and the home, because she brought back medical smells, like the smells of a vet.

• He was called Shirty Bertie because he occasionally nipped his rescuer.

The shoulder lick - I am self-calming after stress

The shoulder lick. Does your human understand this? Or even notice it? this is me saying to myself: "Calm down." My friend Toby illustrates this in a video.The photo on the right below shows the lick, demonstrated by Boomer.

It is a quick short lick. It is short very short. The fur is only lightly licked and it is not followed by any further grooming. Toby was being groomed too roughly and felt a little upset by it.

Poor dumb humans cannot understand feline body language, so this is another attempt by me to help them wise up a bit. My secretary, Celia, is posting them on Youtube, if she has a video.

One or two bits of body language she still doesn't have a video for, so they will be in photo form. Stay tuned.

• For more cat body language videos, go to my Youtube channel (under Celia's name, alas) and press on Playlists. Choose Cat signals - what is my cat saying, - https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCQMXNyTVlCTxbGCe1QLO9tw

The head shake...I am resetting myself after stress

Watch the head shake. What does it mean? Educating humans about cat body language is not easy but I am still trying to do so.

When we repeatedly shake our heads, there may be a veterinary reason - like ear mites or perhaps a grass seed has got into the ear. We will probably scratch at the ear too.

But a single small headshake is a way of expressing ourselves. It means we are trying to reset our emotions after something has stressed us. 

It is usually only a small head shake - and humans often don't even notice it. If they do, they probably don't understand its meaning. 

• For more cat body language videos, go to my Youtube channel (under Celia's name, alas) and press on Playlists. Choose Cat signals - what is my cat saying, - https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCQMXNyTVlCTxbGCe1QLO9tw
  

Watch my head turn - what am I feeling?

Just a shelf and no way to escape staring humans - head turn

 Staring between us cats can be challenging or even threatening. So one way to lessen the tension is for one of us to turn his head away, breaking the mutual eye gaze.

Staring by humans can also make us uneasy or fearful. So we turn our head away, and break off the gaze. It shows we are uneasy, worried or even frightened.

Alas, in cat shelters we cats may be left with no way to hide or retreat from the staring humans. All we can do is turn our head away. There is video on Celia's Youtube channel here.

So, if we look frightened, stop staring at us. Turn your own eyes away or even turn you head and look sideways at us.

We will feel less worried.