Creature feature

Arkansas Democrat-Gazette pet illustration.
Arkansas Democrat-Gazette pet illustration.

I have a question about cats. I've always had dogs, but recently acquired a friend's cat when she moved and couldn't take the cat with her. The cat is a male named Teddy. He's very sweet, but his behavior is sure different from my dogs. For one thing, he flops down on the ground, rolls over on his back and shows me his tummy like he wants me to tickle him. When my dogs do that, I rub their tummies. If I try to rub Teddy's tummy, he grabs my hands with his front paws and scratches me with his back claws. Why is that?

Cats and dogs have similar behaviors, but those behaviors don't always mean the same thing. As you've discovered with Teddy's "social roll," there are times when a cat's body language means the exact opposite of the same or similar behavior in a dog.

In How to Speak Cat: A Guide to Decoding Cat Language, San Diego veterinarian Gary Weitzman explains that while the feline "stop, flop and roll" move is as friendly and laid-back as it seems, there's a critical difference between what a cat means when he shows you his belly and what a dog conveys with the same action.

"Our pups love to have their bellies rubbed. Cats don't," Weitzman says in the book. "Any cat that dares expose his belly to you is saying he feels safe and trusts you completely. If you violate that trust by touching his tummy, watch out!" If you don't want to be clawed, talk sweetly to your cat and keep your hands to yourself when he goes belly-up.

A detailed guide to understanding how cats communicate, How to Speak Cat could prove useful in unraveling the mysteries of your new housemate. The book, published by National Geographic, is written for children, so it's a quick read for an adult.

How to Speak Cat covers the gamut of body language, including the subtle nuances of tail movements. A tail held totally upright, for example, is a greeting, while a thrashing or rapidly swishing tail is a cat's way of saying he's angry and wants to be left alone. When a cat tucks his tail low and between the legs, he's most likely anxious or feeling insecure. The tail tuck is a move that communicates the same thing in canine and feline body language.

In the book, Weitzman also delves into the meaning of 16 types of meows, with meow being an all-purpose word that covers a cat's yowls, howls, chirps and growls. An interesting fact about meows: Cats rarely meow at cats or other animals, but reserve that type of communication for people. Cats typically meow to ask for food and attention; you've probably already figured out which of Teddy's meow sounds means "feed me, feed me now!"

Here are few more tidbits gleaned from How to Speak Cat:

• The domestic cat (all purebred and mixed-breed pet cats) is the only species of cat that holds its tail upright when it walks. Wild cats such as lions and tigers hold their tails horizontally or tucked between their legs when walking.

• Cats have about 20 muscles in their ears, which makes the ears expressive and extremely useful in pinpointing the source of a sound. Those 20 muscles also allow a cat to rotate both ears in different directions at the same time. If you see Teddy with one ear cocked to the side while the other is pointed forward, chances are he's trying to identify and find the origin of a sound.

• Ears also provide clues to how a cat feels. If both ears point forward, he's alert or curious. When the ears are backward and flattened against his head, the cat may be angry or irritable. When the ears are swiveling, something has captured the cat's interest and he's in listening mode.

• Cats are like elephants in that both animals are "digitigrade walkers," which means they walk on their toes.

Family on 04/22/2015

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