Oh
hi everybody welcome to the Winnipeg
Humane Society's webinar on cat body
language learning to communicate with
felines. I'm Nancy and I work in the
behavior department here and today we're
going to talk about the different ways
that cats use their body to communicate
and to help us read them better and help
us improve our relationships with our
cats okay so why can cats be so
confusing to read for a lot of people
how do they communicate with us and
we're gonna break it down by body parts
and then we'll put it all back together
and talk about the different behaviors
that cats will use in attempts to tell
us things and like I said the more that
we learn how to read their body language
the better our relationship with them
can become so cats can be hard for
humans to read because of a number of
factors the very nature of a house cat
is they are still really close to their
wild roots unlike dogs that domesticated
and have evolved alongside humans that
are they're very social animals and they
developed ways of communication that are
kind of more familiar to people cancer
more wild animals so a lot of times
their body language is a lot more subtle
and so we have to maybe look a little
bit closer at at what they're trying to
tell us one of the things that probably
the basis for a lot of confusion is that
cats are predatory animals and they're
also prey animals and so depending on
the situation that they're in they can
switch back and forth between those two
two modes of being in an instance so a
cat could be all confident and having a
good time and if something happens that
scare something they can switch into
prey mode in a and then that leads
people to feel confused about why their
cat suddenly did this or suddenly do
that so so that that is a really big
thing that we need to keep in mind when
we're interacting with our cats and also
a lot of aggressive behavior in cats is
actually
being defensive because they are being
fearful because we'll hear that a lot
when people call the helpline the main
society that a cat is displaying
aggressive behaviors but when we talk to
them turns out maybe the cat is feeling
really scared and needs to defend itself
and so being able to recognize that can
really help us say communicate with our
cats better and help our relationships
so I talked a little bit about this word
arousal is a really useful word when
we're talking about behavior it's a word
that describes kind of what's going on
inside the cat without putting any
judgment on it so the definition here as
I have on the screen is the experience
of increased physiological activity
basically just means how fired up the
cat is how ready to go they are this can
have a huge influence on their behavior
a relaxed cat is a maybe going to move
so quickly between with their behaviors
their behaviors won't be so big so what
I can't some really aroused you can see
a lot of more exaggerated body language
and that sort of thing and we actually
cast me into a state of what we call
over arousal where suddenly they're just
reacting to the environment they're
thinking they're listening they're just
reacting and the behaviors can change
really quickly so it's important to be
able to acknowledge and recognize what
Steve arousal or cat might be in because
that has an effect on their behavior but
it can be hard to read that level so um
so this is when we really have to pay
attention and get to know our individual
cats so we'll be using that word a fair
bit so how do cats communicate with
people they don't speak language like
humans do and so how they do speak is
they use their body language and like
say animal the animal body language
communications can be very very subtle
and so the more that we can recognize
this stuff the better cats also have a
wide range of vocalizations that they
use and those can tell us some things
about what's going on and then there's
also very specific behaviors cats will
do that are telling us how they're
feeling in and what they want
so we'll start with going through the
body parts we'll go through them one at
a time and talk a little bit about each
of course we have to take even though
we're gonna look at each one
individually you need to take them all
as as a grouping in context and and it's
the combination of thing that all kind
of like the words that form the
sentences of how they're how they're
feeling so cat's ears tails eyes mouths
paws whiskers and even how they position
their body when we're interacting with
them can nod those all tell us a little
bit too something about how the cat's
feeling so we'll start with ears and
cats have incredibly mobile years they
have 32 muscles in each ear that can
move independently so
it's probably one of the easiest ways
that we can see give it an idea of how
our cats feeling we have the sort of the
little tabby and the bottom-left those
are what we call kind of neutral ears
cats just kind of looking at this here's
a kind of point forward you know pretty
relaxed cat we also have the relax dude
above them the gray cap the green eyes
we got the one little relaxed ear ones
turned sideways there's that
independence thing that how they can
move them maybe he's like even he looks
like a pretty relaxed guy but is he
maybe you heard something in that way so
he's turning his ear so he could hear
better and maybe he can decide whether
he wants to he needs to react to that
thing or something so so yeah so cats
Lynx a cat's ears are very moment they
move very quickly but they can
definitely give you an idea how they're
feeling we have the orange cat in the
top right he is displaying what we would
call airplane ears they're off to the
side and flattened that's when a cat is
there's that arousal levels coming up
they're a little unsettled they're not
sure it can be a precursor to a fearful
cat displaying more fearful behaviors or
it can be kind of an annoyed cat who's
who's done with you he's he's finished
so either way airplane ears the more the
lower cat's ears are often the more
aroused they are and maybe about to do
another behavior so we have the cat in
the bottom right his ears are pinned new
his head and combine that with the other
things going on in there you know that's
not a happy cat they pin their ears back
when they're ready to defend themselves
or they're ready to attack they're
getting the ears out of the way so if
you can't see your cat's ears that's
probably not a good time to try to
interact with them because they are
really not happy with what's going on
and we might want to try and help out
with that so tail we can't tell from
these pictures because there's still
pictures but how a cat moves their tail
is very important so generally the
faster it's moving the higher the
arousal level of the animal but we have
even the position it's in matters for
what the hell they're feeling we have
the calico cat on the Left we have she's
displaying what we call it high hook
tail
which is generally a pretty confident
cat you're very friendly cat that's
you'll see that in your cats when you
come home and their tails come up and
you talk to them and they'll come come
over and start rubbing on your legs and
that sort of thing so yeah it's
generally confident so it's a bit of a
flag say hey Here I am so on the other
hand a cat in the middle
yes his tail straight up but it's also
puffed out it's poufy tail looks like a
little Christmas tree that's a cat
trying to look big and he's in what we
call Halloween cat washer was standing
up his back is arched he's trying to
look as big as he possibly can I guess a
threat
cats will do that when they're feeling
very fearful cats tails will also puff
out if they're startled because they're
just they're reacting to what's going on
say if somebody drops something makes a
lot of noise your cat may startle and
their tails goes and until they relax if
if there's no threat in the area so so
yeah so that's that's the cat Lisa turns
like as big as possible we have the cat
on the right whose general body posture
should be like his ears are very neutral
and he's sitting up and his tail is
wrapped around his feet that can be a
sign if he's just in a very relaxed pose
his tail maybe isn't uh isn't hanging
out in danger Kenny stepped on and he's
just where he realized if a cat's tail
is wrapped hard against their body like
if you try to move their tail they pull
it it stamps back that's a very unsure
scared cat you know the tail tucked
between their legs that sort of thing
that's um yeah it's a cat who was a it
was quite fearful so basically the
faster a cat's tail moves the higher
their arousal level so a relaxed can't
like say like the friendly relaxed cat
the Calico their your tails just kind of
just up in the air that usually sway a
little bit when they walk if your cat is
thrashing their tail back very hard back
and forth Kassel do that when they're
confront each other that sort of thing
very high level over Rosen um this will
depend a lot on your individual cat some
cats will do it in when just in play
because they get really aroused when
they're playing and then other more
relaxed cats may never really latch
their tail around so say it just depends
on your individual cat and the context
that they're doing it
so we have their whiskers there's a
little more subtle subtle sign but it'll
give an indication about how they're
feeling we have the little cute little
brown tabby in the upper left who just
has a very neutral ears neutral face and
four round eyes it's just a pretty
relaxed cat eye contrast to the
black-and-white picture of the tabby
next which the cat's whiskers are very
prominent very push forward he has
airplane ears that is a cat who's
probably not unsure about things he's
very aroused he's ready to do what he
needs to do whether to fight or run the
fight-or-flight response then we have
the the nice big round face tabby guy in
the bottom whose whiskers are kind of
pinned back against his face that might
be that can be a sign of fear or
aggression I wouldn't say gathered with
the other facial expression he has going
on he might be a little unsure what's
going on a little fearful so they just
keep their whiskers got out of the way
in safe
they're always generally the bigger
their eyes the more arouse their the guy
on the left we have the orange tabby who
is the epitome of a squinty eyed relaxed
friendly cats I actually took this
picture when he was a cat up for
adoption at the Maine society and he's
got it between me in the computer screen
because he wants some attention and he
was a lobbyist nicest cat and he shows
it in his face that he's he's a very
relaxed relaxed guy so very nice a very
nice cat he's made it hard to get work
done so the kitten on the right we have
the opposite kind of nice he's super
round super wide open he's staring his
ears are straightforward right whiskers
pushed out a bit he's that's a very
probably aroused kitten he's trying to
figure out he's seen something that's
got his attention so so basically the
bigger and the rounder there the more
rounds they are and the squinty ear that
were relaxed if your cat is seemingly
the rest of the cat scan relaxed and
they blink at you that's actually a cat
greeting it's a sign of trust
they won't close her eyes around
something that they're scared of I'm
sure that highly aroused them get in
there he's not gonna be blinking time
soon so yeah it's kind of a nice way
your cat is actually saying hi to you so
if you slow down and when you see your
cat relaxing and you just make eye
contact with them slowly give them a
blank if you wait for a second usually
they'll blink back and yeah it's kind of
a nice little conversation you're having
with Barney language like we can take
things that cats do and do them back to
them some of their body languages to
communicate which is kind of a good
bonding experiences so cats models I
can't smiles aren't as expressive and
local say as a dogs but if generally if
we see their teeth and they're not
yawning or panting that's it what we
call a distance increasing behavior that
means the cat is not happy and would be
very appreciative if you moved away the
cat on the talk picture here you can see
we've got the ear starting to go
sideways whiskers pushed out and it
looks probably is hissing and that's
definitely a distance increasing
behavior contrast that with the account
below
we may be seeing a whole bunch of teeth
flash in there but cat's eyes are closed
and we've just caught him mid yawn so
say and generally speaking if you see a
cat's teeth showing they're probably not
terribly happy so pause cat's paws are
another good way we can figure out what
they might be thinking and the first
first time they use their their feet
would be in the like in the top picture
there with the brown tabby mom with the
little orange kittens kittens will need
on their mother's belly
well they think it's helps to stimulate
the mother's milk while they while
they're nursing and that is a behavior
that lots of cats take into adulthood
where when they're feeling very relaxed
and and they want to just calm
themselves they'll need it's a little
need on you on your on your you know on
your arm or that sort of thing when
they're snuggling with you or the only
blankets or some cats will actually need
and suckle on things like blankets it's
kind of it's just so soothing behavior
kind of comparable to a small child
sucking their thumb and it just helps
them helps them to feel better and it's
a sign of a cat's not gonna do that if
they're not only relaxed with you so
even though it kind of hurts sometimes
when they're needing maybe if they need
a nail trim it's still it's a compliment
so that means the cat feels they're very
calm with you and very relaxed oh so
that's a that's a very nice kind of cat
behavior usually the purring while they
do that to the mom mom can and the
kittens Wolper well they're nursing so
yeah that's kind of a kind of a nice
thing so and then the other end we have
the cat on the bottom left there we have
his paws are all visible or his front
paws are visible you know it's the front
one's kind of reaching towards us that
is what we would call a ready paw if you
combine that with the rest of the cat's
paw any language he's got that part
there so he can smack whatever comes
close to him really really quickly his
tails all puffy and he's leaning away so
there's all kinds of body language
things going on there but that's his
rainy paws on the boat
and we have the cat the brown tabby in
the middle he is got his paws hunched
underneath him
and is in the crouch posture and that is
a cat that is ready to move in any
direction so that can be a cat that is
not sure about the situation and it's
just checking things out and it's ready
to do whatever it needs to do you could
just relax if he isn't feeling
threatened or he is ready to run away so
so that would be kind of a ready
position for cats and you compare that
to the two cats and the picture on the
bottom right we have the tuxedo cat on
the front and the white cat with the
black spots in the back and they are in
what we call cat loaf position everybody
who has cats is familiar with this it's
a very relaxed position there is some
thought that it actually helps cats keep
themselves warm too and regulate their
temperature and it's the the cat isn't
feeling threatened and isn't feeling
worried about much of anything when the
whenever they're laying in can't-lose
position okay so body position these are
kind of things sometimes can be
confusing for people we'll start with
one that's the more obvious we have the
cat from the previous slide where you
knows he's leaning away
he is side he's showing his side which
is makes him look bigger his tail is all
puffed up and he's got his ready par
going that was that is a very defensive
cat as a cat that really really really
wants whatever's in front of him to just
go away and a lot of times unlike dogs
cats will roll so that their paws are
all available because they can fight
with all four paws right they can grab
and kick and and use their claws that
way so yeah so sometimes that will be a
cat that's ready rated for a fight if it
thinks it needs to so yeah so that's not
a posture of a cat that's feeling pretty
happy about things
unlike the cat on the left the brown
tabby facing away from us a lot of times
people think oh well my cat was I just
thought we were having a good time my
cat turned and sat facing away from me
that's actually a compliment believe it
or not that is a cat who feels
comfortable enough to not have to watch
you that they are just chilling out with
you and so they can face away and it's
all
like yeah you know they're gonna watch
the world for you so maybe think of them
as as trying to protect you
so yeah so a cat that will shoulder back
to you is a very relaxed cat a very
comfortable cat and just like the other
thing too if they do stand up when they
do that and a lot of times people are
like why does my cat present their
backside to me yet again it's a cat who
is giving you a compliment they're
greeting you believe it or not cat
screech by sniffing each other's
backends and they're giving you the
opportunity to know that you have to
take them up on that but just
acknowledge that at least recognize that
it is a it's in as a compliment so so
even though we can't see your cat's
little faces they're there they're
interacting with us in a very
affiliative manner and the same with the
cat on the upper right this one is
really confusing sometimes for people we
have a very relaxed cat she has world on
her side she is showing her belly and a
lot of people especially if they're come
from the world of dogs think this is an
invitation to pet their bellies it is
absolutely not an invitation to pen a
cat's belly what it is is cat saying I
trust you enough to show you my most
vulnerable part and so when we pet them
on the belly a lot of cats see that as a
violation of that trust and that's when
I can't we'll clamp on with all four
paws and maybe even by your arm and
people say that their cat is being crazy
and they don't understand that is why
you have betrayed their trust and they
were showing you their belly to show how
much they trusted you and then you did
what they didn't want you to do this is
a very good time if your cat ever show
you his posture it's a great time to pet
them around the head and you can even
start kind of along their backs but
don't touch their bellies okay having
said that there is always someone and
when I'm talking to them a little say
but my cat likes being fed on the belly
and you know what I actually have a cat
too that likes being fed on the belly
they just at some point some cats learn
to enjoy it and those cats do exist it's
usually not a good idea with a good idea
to do this with an unfamiliar cat
because they are in the minority but
yeah my cat won't present her belly like
that stretched straight out and then
quite enjoy a rub up and down so um but
that legacy is not majority
and it is a way for cats to say that
they trust you so when they do that take
it as a compliment
give them a nice little pat on the head
okay so vocalizations here's a little
fun fact we'll start with cats don't
usually meet out at each other
meowing is a kitten behavior that when
cats and kittens among cats and kittens
will meow back and forth to communicate
but cats stop meowing at each other as
they grow older
but it works on humans usually cats come
into our house or they were brought up
in a house with humans meowing works
with people against their gets people's
attention against them that do things
like feed them and open doors for them
and that sort of thing so it works so
they continue to do it but as cats that
grow up with each other they stop
responding to each other's meows so they
generally don't do it to each other what
they do will do is when they walk by is
they'll do little chirps and little
trills and that sort of thing if you
watch if you have multiple cats in your
house like I do when our cats walk by
each other you're holding a little burp
at each other yeah but then they turn
around meow at us so yeah that's kind of
kind of a neat little fact they do have
a wide range of vocal sounds that they
can make people describe them
differently trill growl meow yowl hiss
chatter people have seen their if their
cat is looking at Birds outside the
window sometimes they'll sit and make it
nice and and kind of clatter their teeth
you know there's all kinds of different
sounds they make usually generally
speaking shorter higher sounds our
phillium friendly sounds little chirps
and trills of music meows those those
are friendly sounds and longer and lower
sounds a yawl which is a long-drawn-out
meow meow that maybe is a little bit
lower than normal or growls hisses those
sort of things those are more of verbal
warnings and so we want to listen to our
account when they do that some cats
first sign of the safe you're petting
them and they're getting a little over a
so they don't like it anymore sometimes
you'll hear just a really subtle girl
and it is very different from a per if
you've every cat grow not all cats do
but if you've heard a growl it's um it's
different than a purr and if they got
the point of yelling then they're there
they're pretty upset so so we want to
listen when our cats are giving big big
vocalizations like say the longer lower
sounds are usually on not to happy
sounds okay so here we'll talk about
different behaviors that are sending
little messages to us so we can
generally put them in two categories so
we got affiliative or distance
decreasing behavior so those are ones
were say I want to spend time with you I
like what you're doing you please do
more that sort of thing and and then we
have the distance increasing behaviors
the behaviors that say I'm not enjoying
this I would like to stand let's put
some distance between us and so
affiliated behaviors if our cats
enjoying what we enjoy our company
you'll see they'll come up and they'll
rub on us part of that is that they are
actually depositing their scent on us
they've sank lands in front of their
ears and the base of the tail and on
their feet
so when they rub along us that's what
they're doing the humans can't smell it
but cats can and actually if you have
multiple cats or more humans in the
house cats will actually create a family
sent by rubbing on everyone and each
other and sometimes that's why cats can
get upset if a cat goes to the vet or if
save one cat in the house goes event and
comes home and you know sometimes you'll
see upset with your cats and that can be
because there was a disturbance in the
cat smell because your cat now smells
like the vet's office and that you know
can be upsetting for brother cats just
the strangeness of it or or if they have
bad you know feelings about the vet so
yeah so rubbing honest is very
affiliative behavior it's becoming part
of the family so as part of that
sometimes though headbutt us you know
some cats really like to do that they
have a bumpy with their forehead the
technical term for it is bunting see
that's another another affiliative
complimentary behavior sleeping with us
that they feel comfortable enough to be
vulnerable if they'll sleep near us or
sleep on us and different cats will
choose different places to sleep
like to sleep wrapped around their heads
some on our legs and some on our laps
just depends sometimes if we're not
paying attention to our cats and they
would like our attention sometimes
they'll reach over and tap us with their
paws sometimes they've learned and that
works to get attention and they'll also
do the vocalizations the meowing the
chirping and purring purring is
generally a relaxed behavior sometimes
it's not cats on the other extreme won't
will purr if they're very stressed if
they're injured or when they're in labor
and that sort of thing but but generally
speaking it's gonna be a relaxed
affiliative kind of behavior now the
distance increasing behaviors a lot of
these are ones that people can miss and
then think that their cat did something
out of the blue but if we watch their
body parts for the things we talked
about earlier you know the ears going
sideways the airplane ears we look for
the tail twitching and that sort of
thing or a cat well that was previously
laying relaxed is now hunched with their
feet underneath them you know those are
all signs that they're maybe getting a
little bit aroused and then they can
start throwing off some distance
increasing behaviors such as if you're
pinning your cat and they turn very
deliberately away from you or walk away
so that is those are both signs that
they're done and especially with
children we want to make sure that they
respect these kind of behaviors because
a lot of times that's when cats will
escalate their behavior because it
didn't work you know if they tried these
distance increasing behaviors and they
didn't work they can start doing
stronger and bigger ones they'll get
more norm around and then you know so we
want to make sure to recognize them
early before the cat has to get too big
and like say to gets to arousal starts
doing the bigger and bigger behaviors so
just simply walking away is a good sign
if they don't come back then they're
done a cat that maybe is done with you
petting her doesn't want you reaching
towards them
sometimes cats will reach out and slap
at you with without their claws and
that's a warning warning tap so that's a
good sign that they don't like what
you're doing if that doesn't work
sometimes they'll move up to scratching
so put their claws out and they'll give
me a SWAT
and some cats instead of scratching will
actually do a bite where they will put
their teeth sort of on your hand and
just leave them there for a second and
pull them off they don't bite down
that's a warning bite very good sign to
stop doing something that's when people
keep doing what they're doing keep
petting them and that sort of thing they
can't will actually bite them hard and
then they don't understand why that
happened but they gave a warning right
faking sleep is another one if a cat is
laying somewhere and you're thinking wow
there's you know there's lots activity
going on right now in the house or I'm
talking to them and they're still asleep
that's so weird
they're probably faking it well actually
see that in the shelter weather is some
days it can be quite busy in there and
you'll see a cat just curled up with
their their head tucked under and it's
like they're faking sleep they do not
want to interaction and so if you do try
to force interaction on I mean try to
fix about that sort of thing they could
get quite upset so we want to allow that
if they don't wake up cats have
extremely good hearing and for most part
of the day they don't sleep very deeply
you know hence cat nap so if they don't
wake up when you're talking to them
they're there they don't want to
interact on cats will also use
vocalizations like I said before the
growling sometimes cats will grow
sometimes they'll yes kittens can be
more vocal than that I don't care quite
a bit hissing when they get startled you
know the whole world's new to kitten so
they have to figure out what's a threat
what isn't so
they can do quite a bit of hissing
growling and yelling
they say that long lone meow can be a
sign that they're not too thrilled with
what's going on so we want to listen to
the distance increasing behaviors and
give cats their space and ask them to
interact with us and not force them to
interact with us so they don't have to
keep doing the the bigger distance
increasing behaviors to make us stop so
basically any change in your cat's
behavior is the thing that we always say
with people at the main society that
we're talking to them any change in a
cat behavior can be rooted in a medical
issue cats are very good at hiding when
they're sick or injured and so sometimes
it's only a subtle change in their
behavior that can tell us that they
might not be
feeling well so if you do see a change
in your cat's behavior your first step
is always a visit to the vet I'm you can
try to figure out a behavior problem but
if it the underlying cause is that your
cat isn't feeling well because of an
illness or an injury then the behavior
will be very hard to change and we
wanted to help our cats right we want to
help them get healthy so anything like
sudden litter box issues were you an
account that was using the litter box
now and now isn't whether it's going
beside the litter box or going in your
clothing or that sort of thing that can
be a sign of a urinary tract infection
for example so you definitely change the
litter box issues you want to have a
visit here fat if your cat was
previously very outgoing and friendly
but now they're kind of avoiding human
contact more maybe hiding a little bit
more or on the opposite thing if you
cats become more cleaning and more needy
maybe they're louder they're realizing
more that can be assigned to or if
suddenly your cat is aggressive you know
towards human or other other animals you
know if you go to pay your cat and they
turn on SWAT you it could be a sign of
in of pain you know say you have no
other cat and now they have arthritis in
their hip but you kept them in you
didn't know you know and they can cats
can get aggressive because they turn
into that prey animal that's really
defensive all of a sudden so any change
in your cat's behavior you definitely go
to the vet first cats like I say do have
a varied a huge very impersonality so
some cats are more like petting more
than others to begin with but it's just
it's how the change in your cat's
behavior that's the important part so so
in conclusion cats talk to us all the
time using their bodies and we just have
to learn to listen and once we can take
all these body parts that we talked
about and take what they're doing with
them and as one big picture we can look
at the context of them we can figure out
how our what our cat's feeling you know
what they're trying to tell us and and
that can only if we respect what they're
telling us then that can only help
improve our communication with them and
improve our relations with them and that
can only be a good thing so if
if anybody has any more questions about
cat behavior or any other animal
behavior questions you can call us at
the winnipeg humane society and our
helpline and the number is two zero four
nine eight eight eight eight zero eight
or you can email us at behavior that's
behavior within you at winnipeg humane
society dot CA and you can send this
those at any time and we're always happy
to help okay well thanks for your time
and we'll see you in the next video
