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You cats they are reserved animals, they are not as impulsive or expressive as dogs, they hide their emotions very well and, as they are also so contained in their elegant movements and the acts they have with us, we have to be attentive to see the meaning of each action or movement performed by them. Also, when they are sick, it is difficult for us to find out, because they hide it very well.
That's why, in this PeritoAnimal article, we'll give you some tips so that you know how to translate to cats body language.
Basic rules of body language
Although we are talking about cats, the tail is also an expression symbol in them and not just in the dogs when they move it because they are excited when they see us or when they hide it when they feel uncomfortable. A cat also uses its tail to express itself:
- Tail raised: symbol of happiness
- Tail bristly: Symbol of fear or attack
- Tail low: Symbol of concern
As you see in the drawing above, the tail indicates many emotional states. In addition, cats also show their emotions with other movements, for example, as we all know they greet and show affection. rubbing against us. On the other hand, if they want our attention they will be very visible on our desk or computer, because if a cat wants to be seen and wants attention it won't stop because there is a keyboard in the middle.
We can also identify your little ones. pinches as demonstrations of absolute affection and when they lie on their backs on the ground they are giving us their confidence. And we cannot leave aside the movements of the cat's face which also give us some hints.
Face number 1 is the natural one, the second one with the erect ears is an expression of anger, the third one with the ears to the side is aggressiveness and the fourth one with half-closed eyes is happiness.
Legends in feline language
Recently, animal behavior expert Nicky Trevorrow published through the British organization "Cats Protection" a video teaching what cat movements mean, giving special emphasis to what we took for granted and what isn't.
Among other things as mentioned above, the tail raised in vertical form, it is a greeting and a symbol of well-being that our feline shows us and that around 3/4 of the 1100 respondents were unaware of. On the other hand, the cat lie on your back it doesn't mean that the cat wants you to pat its belly, something it doesn't like, and it's just saying that it gives you your confidence and will enjoy a pat on the head. Other discoveries are those that referred to the purr which does not always express happiness, as it may sometimes mean pain. The same happens when the cat licks the mouth, this does not always mean the cat is hungry, it may mean it is stressed. These discoveries are very interesting for us to better understand our feline.
cat status matrix
As you can see in the image, we can catalog the level of aggressiveness or alertness of the cat depending on your body position. In the following matrix you can see how the image in the upper right corner is the most alert position the cat has and the one in the upper left corner is the most relaxed and natural position. On the other axis of the matrix we have the cat positions related to fear.
If your cat behaves strangely and has abnormal body language, don't hesitate to let us know its behavior below in the comments.
