Cat Body Language: What is your adorable cat saying? (2020)

You surely know how difficult it gets when you don’t understand cat body language and what your cat wants you to know. Does it want food or wants you to stay away? Feline communication is not meant to be an easy thing and that’s what they say.

It not verbal communication and you just have to get it through their body parts and gestures. Cats do make sounds like howling, chirping, growling, hissing or meowing to get their points clear. Apparently, these are not happening all the time.

In many of the cases, it is very difficult to determine the subtle signs that a cat gives. It is pretty obvious that if you are trained enough to understand what the cat wants then there is not such a problem but it is very common that human eyes do not get those signs.

It is really unfortunate that most of the times the signs are overlooked and even neglected altogether. Nobody gets serious until their cat starts showing panicking attempts where it fights or runs away. These are even more overt signs of distress.

Just as we humans are cats too have a wide range of emotions. They might be feeling happy, they must be frowned, afraid, relieved, and even frustrated. Learning how to find out such emotions and how to respond is the magic that keeps the relationship between you and your pet healthy.

And now you know why cats are misunderstood to be temperamental and moody. Let’s look further to how to understand your cat.

There is a categorization of the most common moods that your pet can have. These are generalized enough so that every cat owner can be benefited from it at the most.

The Relaxed & Neutral Mood

Though the cats are said to be one of the laziest pets you could have ever had but through all the hours they are not asleep, they are calm. If your cat is just sitting, relaxing and watching people go by in front of her then it is neutral. Cats feel comfortable this way in the surroundings they find familiar.

Moreover, if your cat is relaxed then it might stretch itself out or in a totally opposite manner, just like a ball will curl itself up. It may also keep lying with its little paws tucked in.

Coming to eyes, the relaxed eyes of your cat can be blinking softly or just like any other lazy creature will be partially closed. The ears of the cat will also look relaxed and straight, upright. If there is a little happening around its surroundings, then it might move its ears a bit. This will be an indication that it is listening to the activities around.

Coming to another important part of their face, whiskers. These are the mood antennas for you. In such a relaxed position the whiskers also seem to be calm. Can you see the whiskers tend to look as if the cat is smiling? So, overall this is the relaxed body with no tension to be seen.

The Brightly Focused Cat

Hunting is the main skill that any cat has. Hunting requires a lot and lots of focus. Sometimes when your cat is looking really cute, like a furball and you would not even get enough looking at it, it would jump out and would chase something as if it is going to kill. Isn’t that something to appreciate? This activity is what the cat is designed for since birth. They show full concentration at their target while they stalk it, and set for a hunt.

They will have their eyes like that of the acute devil with the pupils narrowed. Unlike the relaxed position, the whiskers will be straight and pointed towards the direction of the pray. And for the ears, they will look like they are pricked forward in the direction where the cat’s body is angled to.

The body of the cat will bend a little towards the ground for the best stability to focus and take a leap on the pray. This will make the hind legs to curl up through the joints under the lowered body.

The most important part of the cat body language which will make you understand that it is about to hunt is the tail. The cat’s tail will always be held out low behind her body while it is about to hunt. The twitching of the end part of the cat’s tail will be a sign that it is ready to pounce. And there goes the furry devil for a hunt!

The Cheerful Little Cat Body Language 

It is so much easy to find out the cheerful and happy mood of not only humans but even the animals. There is an aura that develops around the individual, be it a pet or any human, when there is happiness. The same applies to the cat. And of course, you want your cat to be in this happy mood almost all the time, as this is the time the pet will be the loveliest to you. It will make you react in the most cheerful way to it, making your relationship better.

Just as your cat’s ears are in its relaxed position, they are the same in the happy state too. They will be straight upright and might move according to the soft voices around in the house.

The cats may have several body positions when in their happy state. They will be lying down and their paws will be tucked under their bodies neatly or they may stretch them out at their side. They may be lying on their backs with their legs stretched upwards. Your cat cannot be much happier!

And then they will either partially close their eyes or completely shut them down to sleep, what they love doing. If you see your cat softly blinking its eyes, then you should do the same by looking at it. This gesture of will strengthen your bond even more. Then, when you pet it gently, its eyes will be blinking more softly showing the happiness and contentment by this act. It may gently purr!

The Anxiety Issue

Have you noticed how your cat changes her behavior for every change around it? In fact, it is really very sensitive and therefore, pretty reactive. When there are some sudden changes around it, it may take time to settle down with the changes. This anxious state of your cat will remain there for a couple of days. Try to get through this state of your cat as soon as possible to provide her with the reassuring strokes it might need.

The eyes of the cat in anxiety will tell you a lot. The pupils will be in a circular or ovular shape with the eyes wide open. It will not even blink its eyes. And for the ears, they might be either moving in a repetitive motion from forward to backward to notice and collect every information around them or be flattened at the back of the head.

The cat might lower its head and even make an arch of the backside of the body seems that it might be in a position to run away. The whiskers will be pulled backward.

And again, the tail is a messenger! The tail will look as it is still and the tip of the tail will move left to right. This must be enough for you to understand the anxious cat body language and offer reassurance quickly.

A Scared Cat Body Language

A scared cat body language can be easily judged. It can be scared of anything and that can be as small as the loud voices your family made someday. Anxious cats can be brought back by reassuring strokes or by treating them with their favorite food but once scared, cannot be tricked with any of the things. It can be so serious that you might have to consult a vet. Try making your cat feel safe. If you find out the reason it is scared, try keeping it away.

The eyes of your cat will be wide opened and the pupils might be dilated just like that in an anxious state. The whiskers will be straight and bristled. And in case it is trying to defend itself, it may growl at the danger and even spit and make hissing sounds. It can even hit the fearful thing with its claws out. Ears of your cat will be flattened backward the same as in its anxious state.

Your cat might try to crouch or even run away. There is a possibility that it might straighten its legs or make an arc of the back of its body just to look huge in size. The tail here will be under their body just like any other animal showing that she is really, really scared.

The Enraged Cat Body Language

Cats are a real danger when angry. The hissing and growling cats are difficult to be petted. If your cat is frustrated and shows signs of anger, then you have to handle this very carefully. If you think that stroking your pet will work or making comfortable eye contacts will calm it down, then you need to think again!

This will provoke it even more. It will look as if you are staring at the cat. Try removing anything that you think is provoking it, only if you can do it safely. Leave your pet for some time. When it will receive its space and time it will get better on its own.

If this keeps continuing and you are seeing your pet in a bad mood every now and then, you have to consult a vet for it. The signs that will indicate that your cat is not in a good mood are mentioned.

The eyes of your cat can be focused and narrowed. It might make its eyes round and will not blink. Just like your pet was in its focused state, its ears will be the same, flattened and angled in the backward direction. The whiskers will be straight and stiff away from its face.

Cat body language will be highly threatening where it will try to look huge by straightening its front legs and crouch towards the target in a threatening way.

The tail will be held straight, stiff and upright. If you see the cat in such a state, then it is a danger alert!

Conclusion

I hope this helps understand the cat body language. You love your pet and we know it. But there are times when you get frustrated with your pet because you do not understand what it wants and whatever you are trying to do is only making it angrier. On the other hand, The cat body language keeps giving you signs and still getting what it does not want.

This ruins your bond with your pet. This guideline was for you to get through your pet’s behavior as we cannot ask the animal to compromise. Is it?