Cats are often seen as sneaky, mysterious pets, but if you know what to look for, you can understand their needs and emotions much better. Even in these memes!
"Body language is as important or more than vocal language for cats," Celia Haddon, author of 'Being Your Cat: What's Really Going on in Your Feline's Mind,' told Bored Panda.
"You really want to look at the whole body of your cat to read its signals — ears, tail, fur, back and face. Don't just read one body part of the cat: read every part and put it all together."
According to Haddon, who you can follow on Twitter, ears are one of the easier ways of interpreting these animals. For example, "If the ears are pointing forward, the cat is interested and alert. If the ears are lowered on either side of the head, then your cat is frightened."
"If the ears are swiveled backwards, it is a sign of frustration or anger. If the ears are lowered AND swiveled back, then your cat is both frightened and frustrated/angry."
"Roughly speaking, if your cat's fur is standing up on its back, its back is arched and its tail is like a bottlebrush, that is a cat which is menacing," the feline behaviorist added. "It is making itself look large."
"If the fur is normal and the cat is crouching with a lowered body, this is usually the opposite – your cat is scared and making itself look small."
Haddon said that protracted (not retracted) claws are also a bad sign because they are ready to scratch.
"The face is more difficult for a human to read, but if teeth are bared that is usually a bad sign in any animal," the cat expert said.
"Hissing and growling are defensive threats and a loud yowl is more of an attacking threat. Purring comes in two forms. The contented purr or the asking-for-something purr, which has a little cry in it. The contented purr, however, can also mean 'please look after me' in some cats — they purr when they are at the vet's and not well."
And while rolling on the ground is generally a sign of affection, be careful because it doesn't mean the cat wants a belly rub. Some might, others don't, Haddon said.
"A tail usually hangs loosely if a cat is happily occupied," Haddon explained. "When it goes upright, it is a distance sign that the cat is friendly."
On the other hand, when the tail is lashing, it means the cat is preparing to attack, while a tail that is fluffed up and goes up at the base and then down is the tail of a cat that is angry.
