Cat Language

Frequently Asked Questions Why Do Cats Meow? Cats meow to communicate with humans. Cat to cat communication is done mostly through scent and body language with very little vocalisation. Your kitty quickly learns of your inability to communicate like this and develops her meowing specifically for you. Some common cat meows Short Meow - greeting - "hello!" Multiple Meows - Excited story telling - "Hey! while you've been gone, I've been..." Low Pitch Meows - complaint - "It's past dinner time and I've still not been fed" Mid Pitch Meows - request - "Please Feed Me" High Pitch Meows - Pain - "Ouch" Drawn out Meows - demand - "OH!! Feed Me Now!!" How does a cat purr? Basically, nobody's entirely sure. The problem is that scientists have a hard time making a cat purr while it has a camera down its throat, which is understandable really. There are two theories though... Blood passes through the large veins in the cat's chest cavity causing a vibration which is amplified by the diaphragm. It then passes up the windpipe and into the sinus cavities of the skull. Vibration of the larynx that resonates down to the windpipe and into the diaphragm. When a cat purrs is it happy? Most of the time yes, however it's not uncommon for cats to purr when frightened or in pain. Why doesn't my cat purr? Since we don't know exactly how a cat purrs, we can't be entirely sure. It may be due to a birth defect in the organs that cats use to purr? Personally, we thought Dylan, one of our bengal cats, had "lost it's purr" until one day while she was on my lap, being petted, I could feel the vibrations of her purring on my legs. I suppose it's possible that since cats have better hearing than humans, they're simply purring outside our hearing range. Cat Tail Quivering and Twitching When your cats tail twitches or vibrates rapidly it can be an affectionate way of kitty saying hello. Tail wagging or swishing This is a sign that kitties getting angry Tail Fluffed Up Kitties trying to intimidate an opponent. Before cats fight they try and intimidate their opponent by making themselves look as big as possible. Why are cats attracted to people who don't like cats? In the cats world, if they don't appreciate the presence of another cat they'll "stare them out", slowly advance towards them and generally try and intimidate them. Kitty then knows that to come any closer could provoke a fight. People who don't like cats generally do the exact opposite. They'll ignore them, back away and try not to look at them in case it encourages them to come over. Cats interpret this human body language as an invitation to approach and have a sniff of all those new and interesting smells.

 

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