5/13/09

Cat Behavior



Cat behavior and its' relevance to cat communication

Cat communication is better than human communication though it is done with cat behavior. We humans are much used to rely on words alone (it is our weakness). It is said that more than ninety percent of human communication is nonverbal though we don't utilize it right. Even though our cats are always trying to communicate with us with their cat communication tactics, we human completely ignore them, as we cannot read their nonverbal language patterns. It is not an exaggeration to say that your cat is talking to you every single second. He is always trying to get closer to you. You just have to do a little observation and you have to raise your awareness. Everyday, spend some time to Pay more attention to your cat, soon you will able to learn most of the ways he uses in cat communication.

Cat behavior is an interesting phenomenon. The way your cat communicates with you is different from the way he communicates with other animals. Noises, other sounds and gestures are in cat communication arsenal. Let's take a cats' most common sound "meow" for example. Happiness, hunger and curiosity lead to different tones of "meow"(I am pretty sure that you have noticed this). Do you remember the way he/she welcomes you home? A long lasting meow of high pitch is used to express anger. A soft voiced "meow" of low pitch is used to express happiness. When one of my kittens asks for food, meowing and rubbing his body against me, the other kitten will come running to me( I have two kittens), asking for the same treat that I am preparing for his partner. Now we are going to consider some more cat behavior patterns used in cat communication.

A cats' personality is the determinant of his own voice and pitch. Some cats don't make noises at all. Purring is an interesting phenomenon we find in cat communication. It is the way cats use to convey a message that they are contented and happy at the moment. But going through a horrible incident can cause a cat purring too. It is used as a self calming mechanism. Also a cat in a serious illness may purr.

The tail of a cat is a good indicator of its state of mind. When a cat keeps his tale high he is happy. The cat is happier, higher the tale. Pointing the tail straightly up is the indication of complete happiness. A cat twitches his tale to say he is angry or annoyed and the ears may also flatten when he is much annoyed.

Puffed up hair says that the cat is scared and that is an interesting cat communication pattern. Larger eyes, hissing and groaning convey the same messages. When your cat wants to play it lies on its sides with it paws and feet outstretched.

There are many other nonverbal patterns cats use in communication; Not only cat behavior, but bad cat behavior is also a form of cat communication. Bad cat behavior is a sign saying, that the cat is stressed(more than 90% of the time) you can learn thousand more with careful observation and attention. Always look at him properly and try to figure out what he is saying you. Maybe it could be that he is saying "HE LOVES YOU"

3 comments:

  1. heh, I always think that cats understands me better than I understand them. And they certainly pick on my "moods" faster and better than the average human ;)

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  2. Cats learn that certain activities result in positive rewards, so they continue to do them over and over again.Other actions cause negative outcomes, so they avoid them.rid cat urine odor

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  3. I have three cats and although most signals are true to this chapter, one is not. One of my cats wags his tail all over the place but not when he is angry, when he is excited to see me or wants some attention. He's an extremely expressive moggy and very fond of human attention. I wonder if this is due to when he was a kitten and our other kitten at this time used to chase his tail constantly

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