Total Cat Mojo Page 5

  How Do Cats Eat?

  Cats are opportunistic and will adjust their activity based on food availability.

  Cats will eat more at one sitting when food is generally less available.

  One mouse provides about thirty calories, and a typical cat might hunt ten to thirty times a day in order to obtain around eight mice.

  Cats often carry their prey away from where they kill.

  Cats crouch when they eat, and if their kill is big enough, they may even lie down to eat.

  You may notice your cat eating with her head tilted. This is an ancestral behavior related to eating their prey from the ground, not from a bowl. Harder-to-chew items usually increase the degree of head tilting.

  Cats pick up a small amount of food and give a quick “shake” of the head. This is another ancestral behavior that helps loosen meat from bones, and removes feathers from a bird’s body.

  Cats don’t do much chewing; their teeth are designed to tear meat into small strips that can be swallowed.

  GROOMING AND SLEEPING

  Cats are naturally fastidious and typically clean from tip to tail, spending 30 to 50 percent of their waking hours grooming. They let their tongue—which is naturally abrasive—do most of the work, and use their paws to get at hard to reach areas.

  What purpose does grooming serve in the wild? Grooming keeps the coat clean, prevents parasite infestation, and helps cats strengthen their own personal scent while ridding themselves of the smell from their kill, which would attract other predators.

  As for sleeping, a cat’s natural circadian rhythm shifts with day length and sunlight, much like ours. Cats usually sleep in several short bursts rather than in longer chunks, and like us they have cycles of deep and light sleep. During deep sleep, you may notice their limbs or whiskers twitching as some of their muscles contract during dreams.

  But superdeep sleep is not something that is achieved every time they lie down. More typically, it’s all about catnaps—sleeping lighter, for a shorter duration of time. That’s life in the middle of the food chain, folks—sleeping with one eye open—both for finding sustenance and for preserving your own life. In the world of kill or be killed, the long and short of it is that a nice deep sleep isn’t always the wisest option.

  Do Cats Sleep All Day?

  If I asked you what you think your cat is doing while you’re at work, I bet you would say one thing: sleeping. People assume cats sleep all day, but a 2009 study that placed cameras on cats’ collars showed that when cats were home alone, they slept only around 6 percent of the time. In contrast, they spent over 20 percent of their time looking out the window. (If this doesn’t impress upon you the importance of “Cat TV,” I don’t know what will! More on Cat TV in section 3.)

  Are Cats Nocturnal?

  It has been widely stated and assumed (most likely by those who are kept up by their hyperactive cats in the middle of the night), that cats are nocturnal animals. Cats are more active at night than we are, but they are not truly nocturnal. Rather, they are crepuscular. Their natural rhythm, devoid of other influences, is to be active at dawn and dusk, just like rodents, their primary prey animal.

  AS YOU CAN tell by now, the ancestral cat is absolutely alive and well in every cat, informing each and every aspect of the HCKEGS daily rhythm. That’s not where it ends, though—not by a long shot. If you’ve ever said to yourself, “I wish my cat could tell me what she’s thinking,” well, she can, and does. You just have to have your ears to the Raw Cat in order to hear what your cat has to say.

  4

  Communication

  Cat Code Cracking

  THE CONSISTENT FEEDBACK (or rather, the absolute teeth-clenching, neck-vein-popping, eye-rolling frustration) that I’ve encountered over the years from adopters, clients, My Cat from Hell viewers, and, hell, just strangers on the street—is that cats are inscrutable. There is a pretty volatile combination at play when it comes to the cat/guardian relationship. When we don’t understand what cats are trying to communicate through their behaviors, we try to figure it out and are met with a blank stare. That look becomes a blank canvas for all kinds of projections from humans. Let’s say you are sitting in the living room, watching TV. Your cat comes into the room and, without hesitation, walks up to your gym bag—and pees in it. I mean, talk about a potentially explosive moment! What immediately makes a bad situation worse is you, executing a slow boil and assuming that you know what he is trying to tell you (“I hate my dinner,” “I hate the fact that you left me for twelve boring hours today, and you do it every single day,” “I hate your new girlfriend,” or, if you are circling this particular drain, that last big blast of projection, “I hate you.”).

  Depending on how crappy your day has been up to that point, and perhaps how many times your cat has executed such blood pressure–spiking actions in the past, the speed at which your relationship deteriorates can be dizzying—and dangerous. I’ve seen a bond that was already a bit shaky crumble in that moment like a house of cards. And once that house comes down, well, your cat already has a paw out the door. It has been a fundamental part of my job since the beginning to interrupt this downward spiral before it gets to that irreversible point. Don’t forget, I began counseling guardians while working at an animal shelter, on the phone as they were asking me how much we charged to take back their cat. I know all too well where that downward spiral leads: to a homeless cat in a cage.

  Through Dog-Colored Glasses

  Part of the issue is that we, perhaps subconsciously, look at cats through dog-colored glasses; that is to say, we expect them to communicate with us in a way that we can instantly recognize. As you can guess by now, that expectation goes against the entire history of our relationship to cats. We’ve molded dogs over thousands of years to be recognizable, to reflect humanness back at us. We’ve bred in attributes that benefit us because, to boil it down, one of our main desires is companionship. That was never the priority in our relationship to and with cats. Remember that it was all about what was mutually beneficial when cats acted as hunters who protected our food supply. So to suddenly expect your cat to change his fundamental communication style after all this time is foolhardy at best.

  Between the two worlds of humans and cats, the two languages, there is a fence. We must meet at that fence. Dogs will gladly jump the fence and run to our side in order to communicate; cats simply won’t, because that has never, until this point in our relationship, been part of our arrangement.

  That said, the language of cats is just as eloquent as that of any other species on Earth. You just have to commit to meeting at the communicative fence. From cat-specific vocalizations to body language to behaviors like, yes, peeing—it all adds up to form a linguistic whole that, once learned, will make for a much more fulfilling relationship—and one not fraught with resentment.

  So let’s dig in and start with how cats “talk.”

  MORE THAN MEOWS: THE TALKATIVE CAT

  Chirrups. Trills. Purrs. Yowls. Snarls. And of course, meows. Your cat can make up to a hundred different sounds, which is more than most carnivores (including dogs). Of course, if you have a “Chatty Catty,” that might seem like a lowball estimate. Why do cats have so much to say? Vocalizations can be ferocious or friendly; they might say “stay away” or “come closer.” Calls can provide information from a greater distance than just body language can, and may even tell the listener how big and strong the sender is.

  Let’s consider three facts: feral cats are typically quieter than their domestic counterparts; many vocalizations are directed toward humans; and there is a wide range of individuality when it comes to how talkative a cat is. Genetics may play a part, as some breeds—namely, Siamese, Oriental, and Abyssinian—tend to be more vocal than your average cat. But we can assume that we humans have played a large role in how verbose our cats are. After all, meows get attention, which often lea
ds to food, petting, or getting a door opened. It’s interesting to note that cats rarely meow at each other, with the key exception being the cry of kittens in distress for their mom.

  Cats use other sounds to communicate with each other. Some of these sounds, like the meow, start with an open mouth that closes during the sound, such as howls and sexual calls. The less friendly calls are made with the mouth held open—those yowls, growls, snarls, hisses, and shrieks that are heard during fighting or are a response to pain.

  Perhaps the cutest and friendliest sounds that cats make don’t require them to open their mouths at all. Purrs, chirrups, and trills are reserved for greetings and personal contact.

  WHAT’S UP WITH THE PURR?

  Purring is one of those Mojo Mysteries that we still don’t totally understand. It is usually a positive response, but sometimes cats purr when they are stressed, in pain, or even dying. Either way, we’re pretty sure that the purr is not under the cat’s conscious control, but is more like a reflex. The brain sends a signal to the muscles in the larynx, or what we call the voice box. These muscles move the vocal cords at a rate of approximately twenty-five times per second while cats inhale and exhale, which produces that distinctive rumble we call a purr.

  Purrs help the Raw Mom Cat keep kittens nearby—the kittens’ purrs tell Mom they are nearby, and the purr helps with bonding by releasing self-soothing endorphins and lulling the kittens to sleep.

  Purrs might have healing powers; they are in a similar range (20 to 140 Hz) to sound frequencies that help with both healing injuries and improving bone density (at least for cats, anyway; to date, the evidence on healing human bones is inconclusive). This may help explain why cats who are wounded or sick will often be purring.

  I’ve heard speculation that a cat’s purrs during the killing bite can aid in lulling the prey into a catatonic state. But they might manipulate us as well. A 2009 study by Dr. Karen McComb and colleagues demonstrated that humans could tell the difference between a purr that a cat was making while soliciting food—which they labeled an “urgent” purr—from a nonurgent purr. The urgent purrs included a high-frequency component that indicated some level of excitement that we pick up on, and probably respond to with attention or food.

  Cat Daddy Fact

  The Guinness World Record for loudest purr is held by Smokey, a British cat who could purr at 67.7 dB (about as loud as conversation in a typical restaurant).

  THE TOOTH CHATTER

  It’s a common sight: Your cat is staring at a bird through the window, locked in with complete focus. Then this crazy chattering, quacking sound comes out of your cat’s mouth. What the heck?

  Many cats chatter their teeth when they see prey that they can’t get to. Some will even chatter at other cats. One idea is that your cat is expressing frustration that they can’t get to that delicious bird. Some think the tooth movement is your cat practicing their “killer bite.”

  The theory with perhaps the most weight is that cats are mimicking the sounds of their prey. Margays, Amazonian wildcats, mimic the sounds of tamarin monkeys to lure them within pouncing distance. A 2013 Swedish study showed overlap between the types of sounds birds make and the sounds emitted by cats during the chatter, including chirps, tweets, and tweedles. Makes sense, doesn’t it? The Raw Cat, more than most predators, will find a novel way to secure its kill. Wolf in sheep’s clothing? Try the Raw Cat in bird’s clothing. Anyhow, for now, we’ll have to chalk this one up to Mojo Mysteries, but it might be another example of how vocalizations have evolved to help cats get what they need.

  BODY LANGUAGE

  Cats tell us a lot through their bodies. While all cats will have subtle differences in how they communicate what they are feeling—whether confident, relaxed, fearful, defensive, or ready to attack—there are some general signals they use, with both humans and other cats. Many of these signals are inherited from their Raw Cat ancestor, which, as you will see, sometimes creates challenges for the modern cat.

  The Tail

  A cat’s tail serves many purposes. It helps with jumping and balance, and can even provide warmth and protection. But when a cat is sitting, or walking slowly, the tail is free to communicate. The cat’s tail can send several different messages because the tip can move independently from the rest of the tail.

  In the Raw Cat’s ancestral environment (grasslands), the tail was likely a good long-distance signal of a cat’s emotional state. Strutting by with the tail in the air is a Mojo moment. The “tail up” with a curve at the tip is a classic friendly or playful greeting that says “hello,” or “right this way, follow me.”

  As the tail lowers, the message might change a little. An ambivalent tail is slightly lowered, at more of a 45-degree angle.

  The tail at “half-mast,” or horizontal to the ground, can be neutral, friendly, or even tentatively exploratory, and requires more contextual information for interpretation.

  A “tail down” can serve a few different functions. Cats slightly lower the tail while stalking prey. But a cat might also be trying to make himself smaller by lowering the tail, assuming either a defensive or fearful posture. In extreme cases, the lower tail is accompanied by the “army crawl,” or walking away from a potential threat quickly and as low to the ground as they can get.

  The tail between the legs is the most extreme expression of fear.

  A bristled tail generally signifies DEFCON 1. It can be offensive or defensive, but it is often a response to something alarming in the environment.

  A quivering tail (sometimes referred to as “mock spraying” since that’s exactly what it looks like) is usually a sign of positive excitement. In my experience, I’ve noticed the “mock spray” directed either at or near a person the cat is fond of. I can only guess that this signifies ownership with a posture that walks the tightrope between confident (body scent marking, rubbing, etc.) and unconfident (urine marking) cat language. Either way, I’ve learned to take it as a pretty high compliment!

  Tail lashing is often an indicator of impending aggression or defensiveness, while smaller, subtle twitching movements can indicate frustration or irritation. (See “The Energetic Balloon” in chapter 7 for more on this.)

  Cat Nerd Corner

  The Tail-Up Studies

  In a 2009 study of a feral colony in Italy, cats were observed for eight months. Researchers noted combative behavior between cats, which included biting, staring, chasing, and fighting. They also noted avoidance behaviors such as crouching, retreating, and hissing; and friendly behaviors, which included sniffing, rubbing, and presenting the tail up.

  The “tail up” was most often directed toward aggressive cats by nonaggressive cats, suggesting it might be a message that says “I come in peace” and could also inhibit aggression in another cat.

  To further demonstrate that the tail up served the function of expressing “Hey, I’m friendly,” John Bradshaw and Charlotte Cameron-Beaumont studied how cats responded to just silhouettes of other cats with different tail positions. This would rule out the possibility that the cats in the study were responding to other things aside from the tail up (like pheromones, vocalizations, or other aspects of an in-person interaction). The result? Cats would approach the image faster and raise their own tails in response to a “tail up” silhouette. When they saw the “tail down” silhouette, cats tended to respond with tail twitching, or by putting their own tails down.

  The Ears

  The ears can move subtly, quickly, and independently, which is why they are often the most telling aspect of a cat’s body language. They can be the first indicator of a cat’s emotional state. More than twenty muscles control the movement of the ears, and they are always ready to spring into action, even when your cat is resting.

  Upright ears allow cats to take in and respond to auditory information in the environment. For a relaxed cat, the ears will be upright, but slightly rotated to the side. When t
he ears are more forward facing, your cat is on alert, or maybe even frustrated.

  Flattened ears can mean different things. If the ears are sideways and down, your cat is fearful, but also still trying to get information. The flatter the ears, the more fearful the cat. Complete backward rotation of the ears is getting them out of harm’s way in anticipation of an attack.

  When each ear is doing something different, the interpretation is more ambiguous . . . and in that moment, so is your cat’s emotional state.

  The Eyes

  Pupils dilate under low light levels, but they also dilate during the fight-or-flight response. Dilated pupils let in more light and information about the environment (when cats are assessing danger, for instance, more information means securing multiple escape routes). The more dilated the pupils are, the more defensive the cat is probably feeling. On the other hand, a cat with constricted pupils is likely confident and relaxed.

  However, it’s not just about what the eyes are doing; it’s also about how exactly they’re being used. A stare is usually a challenge, but a cat’s degree of focus and distractibility while staring will usually tell you how much of a “challenge” it really is.

  A cat who is avoiding eye contact with another cat is typically doing so for a reason—usually to minimize the likelihood of a confrontation.

  Blinking slowly is a sign of contentment and relaxation . . . which is why we try to evoke the Slow Blink when greeting or communicating with a cat. (More on this in the “Cat Greetings/Slow Blink” section in chapter 11.)