Shortly aft my spouse and I adopted our 2 cats, our fluffy achromatic one, Mambo, decided that I americium his peculiar human. Mambo seldom lets anyone other favored him, but helium follows maine everywhere, trilling to greet me, rubbing his feature connected my hand, sitting connected my worldly oregon watching maine work. He besides loves it erstwhile I bring retired his puzzle toys and treats for games. I did not expect to get this overmuch attraction from a cat, truthful I joked with friends that Mambo was behaving similar a dog. But, erstwhile my feline behaviourist person told me, “No, helium is behaving similar a CAT!” I decided to find retired more.
As a caller feline owner, I started questioning the fashionable content that cats are little sociable and trainable than dogs. It seems that for each meme astir dogs being our champion friends, determination is 1 astir cats being aloof, weird, oregon murderous.
But, portion it’s existent that cats are solitary predators, the latest technological grounds confirms what galore of america already cognize from experience: cats are socially flexible creatures who go attached to their humans (like kittens to their mothers) and person their ain ways of expressing affection, spot oregon their request for “alone time”.
Our feline pets awesome their moods and feelings with each portion of their body: their face, eyes, ears, whiskers and tail; their changing postures; and the absorption and velocity of their movements. But you request to look astatine much than immoderate azygous assemblage portion oregon airs to truly cognize what a feline is saying. If a feline with an arched backmost and bristly process is retreating and hissing, it’s astir apt terrified. On the different hand, if they’re bouncing and skipping sideways, they mightiness beryllium feeling playful.
Learning to recognise feline assemblage connection is astir observing movements successful discourse and knowing the transportation betwixt behaviour and the bigger picture. Writing and illustrating my book, Kitty Language: An Illustrated Guide to Understanding Your Cat, has opened my eyes to the ways my cats speech to each different and to me, and it has fixed maine a caller appreciation for the sensitive, intelligent and expressive animals they – and each cats – are.
1
Relaxed and content
A relaxed cat’s assemblage looks brushed and flexible and moves languidly. (Tip: a feline with its paw pads not touching the crushed is much relaxed than a feline whose paw pads are touching the ground.)

Visual signs
No hostility successful look and body
Fluid movements; not twitchy oregon jerky
Weight is balanced
What your feline whitethorn beryllium feeling
Relaxed, content
“All is well”
“Just hanging out!”
2
Moving confidently

Visual signs
Direct approach
Head presumption astatine enarthrosis tallness oregon higher
Ears forward
Tail is precocious and softly curled
What your feline whitethorn beryllium feeling
Confident and comfortable
Friendly
3
Unsure
Cats tin explicit uncertainty successful some a lasting oregon a seated posture.

Visual signs
Stops moving
Head is beneath enarthrosis height
Slightly crouching, limbs tucked in
What your feline whitethorn beryllium feeling
Unsure
Cautious
“Approach oregon retreat?”
4
Anxious

Visual signs
Crouching adjacent to the ground, keeping a distance
Tail is debased oregon tucked down
What your feline whitethorn beryllium feeling
Scared
Unsafe
Predicting information oregon discomfort
5
Very scared
The much frightened a feline is feeling, the smaller oregon flatter it volition marque itself.

Visual signs
Crouching, tucked-in caput and limbs
All 4 paws are level connected the ground
Pupils are dilated
What your feline whitethorn beryllium feeling
Terrified
“Don’t look astatine me”
“Leave maine alone!”
6
Fixated, stalking

Visual signs
Body is debased to the ground, cervix stretches forward
Focused stare, pupils whitethorn alteration size
Waits and watches, oregon creeps guardant slowly
What your feline whitethorn beryllium feeling
Very focused
Calculating distances
“I’m gonna get you!”
7
Spraying (urine marking)
May look similar peeing, but it expresses antithetic needs.

Visual signs
Tail is precocious and sometimes quivering
Spraying urine connected a vertical aboveground oregon an entity higher than crushed level
What your feline whitethorn beryllium feeling
Stress, uncertainty
The request to reorient and corroborate wherever they are
“There are weird changes successful my home!”
“I request to marque this spot consciousness similar home”
If unneutered, attracting mates done scent messages
8
Whiskers dispersed forward

Visual signs
Whiskers are dispersed retired and distant from the look (while focusing connected something)
Mouth whitethorn look puffed out
What your feline whitethorn beryllium feeling
Excited
Curious
Measuring the region to adjacent prey oregon object
9
Whiskers dispersed backward
A feline whitethorn besides propulsion backmost their whiskers for protection, erstwhile thing is excessively close, and to debar them being touched.

Visual signs
Whiskers are pressed backmost level against the face, whitethorn look bunched together
What your feline whitethorn beryllium feeling
Anxious
Overwhelmed
“Don’t interaction my whiskers”
10
Flattened ears
Also described arsenic folded-down ears, lowered ears, invisible ears, or, if the tips are pointed to the broadside oregon backmost similar wings, aeroplane ears.

Visual signs
Ears look flat, openings aren’t visible
Ear tips constituent down oregon back
What your feline whitethorn beryllium feeling
Scared
Anxious
11
Rubbing and clawing
Behaviour that cats usage to transportation chemic signals from their facial glands and toed glands.

Visual signs
Rubbing their look and assemblage against walls, furniture, and truthful on
Using claws to knead oregon scratch
What your feline whitethorn beryllium feeling
Happy that objects and places odor acquainted and reassuring
“I’ve been here” oregon “I unrecorded here”
Refreshing clip stamps and signposts of places they person visited (the spot of a scent fades implicit time)
Sharing scent messages with different cats
12
Lashing tail
Big process movements could awesome excitement, irritation, oregon overstimulation, depending connected the context.

Visual signs
Tail is swinging oregon lashing – a large wagging, slapping, oregon thumping motion
What your feline whitethorn beryllium feeling
Overwhelmed
Frustrated
“This is excessively much!”
“I can’t relax”
13
Quivering tail
Seen erstwhile your feline is greeting idiosyncratic (not to beryllium confused with the quivering process that happens earlier spraying).

Visual signs
Tail is vertical and vibrating from the basal (not flicking)
What your feline whitethorn beryllium feeling
Happy
Giddy
Super excited oregon truly wants something
This is an extract from Kitty Language: An Illustrated Guide to Understanding Your Cat by Lili Chin (Penguin, £12.99), published connected 13 June