hortly after my partner and I adopted our two cats, our fluffy black one, Mambo, decided that I am his special human. Mambo rarely lets anyone else pet him, but he follows me everywhere, trilling to greet me, rubbing his cheek on my hand, sitting on my stuff or watching me work. He also loves it when I bring out his puzzle toys and treats for games. I did not expect to get this much attention from a cat, so I joked with friends that Mambo was behaving like a dog.
But, while it’s true that cats are solitary predators, the latest scientific evidence confirms what many of us already know from experience: cats are socially flexible creatures who become attached to their humans and have their own ways of expressing affection, trust or their need for “alone time”.
Our feline pets signal their moods and feelings with every part of their body: their face, eyes, ears, whiskers and tail; their changing postures; and the direction and speed of their movements. But you need to look at more than any single body part or pose to really know what a cat is saying. If a cat with an arched back and bristly tail is retreating and hissing, it’s probably terrified. On the other hand, if they’re bouncing and skipping sideways, they might be feeling playful.
Learning to recognise cat body language is about observing movements in context and understanding the connection between 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 talk to each other and to me, and it has given me a new appreciation for the sensitive, intelligent and expressive animals they – and all cats – are.