Understanding a cat’s behavior is relatively easy – you simply need to spend some quality time with your pet to get a “baseline” of his current behavior.
- A cat that is constantly walking with its head down & tail down is in a submissive posture & should be approached carefully (unless it is a Bengal breed, in which case that particular posture is normal).
- Most cats will not look you directly in the eye – they consider this a challenge. You must choose to be the aggressor in most cases & “stare down” the animal to assert your own dominance.
- Vocalization of cats can mean many different things – from watching and listening to your animal you can usually tell if the cat is in pain, in distress, seeking attention, or merely “communicating” with you.
- Cats who are happy with their surroundings will walk with an upright tail, almost in a question mark angle with head up and eyes alert. An unhappy cat will “slink” around and seek very little contact with you.
- Kneading is a good thing! Kneading is a leftover response to kittens nursing and it usually means that the cat has transferred the “mom” value to you. Kneading and sucking on a blanket or a piece of your clothes should be considered a compliment!
- Your cat should be interactive with you – greeting you at the door, needing to sit beside you (or on you!), sleeping in the same area as you – you are essentially the alpha of the pack and the cat needs reassurance of that and his position in the pack.
- An overly aggressive animal is trying to assert dominance over you, the pack leader, and may nip, scratch, spray or just plain ignore you. Through careful actions, you will need to reassert your own standing in the pack.