All the time? No. But I think I can read cats better than I can read people.

It is possible to have a feel for your cat's emotions - it's in the position of the ears, the cast of the eyes and what their tail is up to, but it's not necessarily possible for a cat owner to tell you what the mood of someone else's cat is.

Ohhh ice cream. And sushi. And cats. I'm not sure which I like the best-- great pictures! Yup, you can always tell a cat's mood if you've been around them long. It's not just the facial expressions. Look at the whole body-- the way they hold themselves, the way they move, whether they're holding themselves tensely.

There is one expression that is a very specific communication though-- I call it the "It's cool" blink. They sort of lift their chins slightly while blinking once. It means, well, everything's cool. If you are near a cat who is a little tense (not one with the screaming mimis-- that won't work)try giving it the It's cool blink, and it will probably repeat the gesture to you, and then relax. Works with tigers and other big cats, too...

Yep, I talk to my cats with the slow blink all the time. It works great!

Being a cat person (I have three and have never lived without one) yes I think I can get a good idea of what cats are feeling most of the time. They are very much like horses in that they speak with their whole body not their face. Growing up alone with animals I learned it's only people who are fixated in expression being face only tho we do use body language it's not nearly to the extent animals do.

It's not just ear position and tail position but how they carry their body, what muscles are tense on the frame what are relaxed, how the whiskers are held, the sounds made (mew is a kitten sound ow is a warning sound cats only actually combine the two when dealing with humans because they have a dangerous child relationship with these big animals). It's interesting to watch a cat walk away from a situation they aren't sure about on the surface they may seem uninterested but if you look at the frame the muscles for fight (haunches, shoulders, neck) will be tense but the further they move from the source the tightness shifts to the running areas (more in the haunches for the launch and spine elongates).

I have to say I have a special connection with cats and horses. Hubby long ago gave up being astounded that strange cats take to me. Once when the owners (who were panicked and sending out tense frantic body language) couldn't coax their cat out of a drainage pipe at a rest area on the interstate I got their cat out in less than ten minutes. The trick is to be welcoming but not confronting to make mother cat sounds (soft mew, gentle purs, a few chirps when actions you want to encourage happen) and sit relaxed waiting and a willingess to wait for a long time. The cat eventually came out and very warily came to me and when it was well within reach I petted it a bit hitting the special cat happy areas (under the chin, base of tail, cheek low toward the neck) then picked up a cat that purred and handed it back. My life is filled with such stories and cats.

Cats, horses, pigs, chickens... are very expressive if we are willing to accept how they communicate and not try to force our human ways on them. A horse whisperer isn't astounding just someone who is willing to forgo our methods of communication watch horses and accept their methods. Cats are the same way.

Yes I'll agree some cats are better to read than others. I prefer Siamese for the reason they are vocal and expressive. I think understanding how a person or animal feels goes a long way in understanding their communication. In my experience only humans tend to communicate something that is different from what they are feeling at the time. So understanding the feelings in animals (not just cats but horses, pigs, chickens, llama, etc.) is a step in communication. Admittedly there will be conflict in animals fear and interest, but usually they will be saying I'm conflicted clearly.

In the 40 years or so I've found with all the cats I've known (at times we had 30 cats in the various barns on our farm then add in other farms I've lived/worked on) that there are standard vocalizations. I've had vets and animal behaviorist confirm that it's true unless a cat was taken too early from a parent and put in a human only situation, then they miss some of the later lesson on advanced vocalization.

I've always talked to cats (mine and others) evoking a positive response. Some come running, some sit and reply vocally, others repl with body language but with basics such as soft mewing, chirping, or OWing.

Cats do have personal preferences that are against the norm. My furry boys right now love to have their bellies rubbed and have since they were kittens. Once they are greeting someone they flop and wiggle belly up. First cats I've seen do that but the chirping and purring is the same as with others when they prefer rubbing in the traditional happy areas. But like people we all have our preferences as to what we like to do with friends.

With the one Siamese I had for 18 years (she made all the moves in undergrad, military life, and grad school) I developed a very close relationship to the point we would sing together in our languages. I would sing "Who's the best kitty in the world?" PC would chime in with a loud "MEEEE" "Who's the best mommie in the world" "CHRRRP" and so on our song went until she'd break out in a solo with traditional cat vocalizations and vocalizations that are particularly Siamese. During that time I found LG as a kitten and raised her, she is much more vocal than my furry boys because she picked it up from PC. The funny thing was when LG was little she wanted to sing with us but she isn't Siamese and hadn't mastered the sounds so at times when we looked to her for her chorus or like we were met with her trying to make sounds but it was just open mouth and whiskers wiggling. Eventually she mastered the sounds and now with PC gone for going on 9 years LG is right now curled up in her chair next to me having our morning chat and purr.

Feline-human is different from Feline-feline and I don't mean to imply it's not. Human- any animal is different from communications in clowder, herd or pack. We ask of them unique things that aren't asked of them in social structures among themselves. So therefore communication has to vary then add in physical differences (I can't truly purr like a cat, huff like a sow, etc) and the language that winds up working is one that is pidgin for both but understandable.

A big factor in communication with many of the species I've worked with and trained is body language which most humans don't even consider much less understand. Many of our gestures are aggressive to animals we challenge by how we traditionally approach up on two feet and it sets the tone as confrontational for many animals across species. Picture you approached by a giant in a posture you associate instinctually with attack, this giant that can pick you up at will, then it extends toward you in a swiping motion... that's what a horse, cat, dog, chicken, pig, llama see until they understand humans.

I'm rambling without morning coffee, my apologies. Animal human communication is something I've lived with and worked with all my life. It's something I find hard to explain to other humans but easy when dealing with other animals. It's not one that's given to word or verbal expression but it's more intuitive and subtle.

Wow. You seem to have a fount of info.

Could you elaborate some on the phrases for "chase me" and "if you continue that we will fight" idoms? I think I need to learn them.

Two of my cats are definitely not human-minded; they came to me semi-feral, and we're very slowly gaining trust -- but I still can't hold them, pick them up, brush them or cut claws, which is a real problem.

Thanks!

My two cats have me trained very well to respond appropriately to their moods and needs. One is extraordinarily communicative and insistent, the other just easy to read.
I've had cats most of my life and it's just a matter of exposure. Like people, when you're around a cat for a while you come to understand its non-verbal indicators and cues. Also, it's been proven that cats /do/ have a range of sounds with specific meanings and as you come to know your cat, you learn its sounds.

My cats, often but not always. I imagine (though of course this is speculative) that it's the same way with parents and their pre-verbal kids. You spend enough time together and you can't help but pick up the nuances.

Chocolate, ice cream, sushi and cat faces

Now that's eclectic cuisine! Of course, if it's going to be any good at all, the cat faces have to be fresh.

I've always found cats easy to read. (This pic is Heidi's disapproving glare when she sees the humans packing the suitcases.)

Ooh, this calls for /my/ cat royal displeasure icon.

When some filkers were arranging to meet for dinner on Tuesday, I tried to arrange something near Greg's so we could go there afterwards. They didn't listen; maybe next time. I haven't tried Cinnamon Nutmeg! I love his coconut. I agree that Roasted Marshmallow is not for everyone; it is better as part of an order than on its own.

When Willow is drooling, has her tongue out and generally looks like she has an IQ of -20, I assure you that anyone could tell she was happy! Sometimes it is clear and sometimes we make it up and sure, we do that just to annoy non-cat people. Actually, we do it to avoid admitting that sometimes we can't tell.

Yay for the Greg's!

Mmmmmmmmmmm. Sweet Cream. Roasted Marshmallow. I still have a jar of Greg's chocolate (fudge?) sauce ....

Some cats are very vocal and will "talk" to you constantly. Vir (in pic) makes very distinctive and different cries for "hug," "treat!," "play," etc.

Other cats rarely make a peep. In either case, body language trumps every time.

I've known a few cats who were liars. For example, I'd get home after a trip and my late lamented Pyanfar would be trying very hard to be mad, but it was *so* *hard* when I was rubbing her ears & scratching her chin just right. Her mouth would be cussing me out for leaving her, complete with growls and hisses, but the closed-eyed blissful face and so-straight-up-it-vibrated tail were saying, "IloveyouIloveyouIloveyou." Like a lot of humans, they can lie with their voices but not with their bodies!

Hmmm .... dogs, cats, horses, pigs chickens, earthworms .... I think they are all smarter then me so I just try to enjoy there company when they feel like giving it.

Yes, if you live with a particular animal, or person for that matter, you learn the body communication.

There are certain forms of body communication that are common to the species, and so you can interpret even a strange cat by those means. (ear spread, haunch crunch, eye directions, yawns, stretches, grooming, bottle-brush tail ...)

However, even that can be dangerous. 9 times out of 10, a cat whipping its tail side to side is about to scratch you, badly, unless you calmly, quietly and *immediately* back off. Pumpkin, on the other hand, does that when she is at her happiest. Tigger use to literally *wag* her tail (like a dog - very different than the side-to-side switch of a normal cat tail) when I came home.

So, it's a lot like reading people by body language -- the more you do it, the better you are, but also the more chances you have to get it wrong when somone throws a curve-ball at you!

By the way, it's not *all* body language; it's just that cats tend to be less vocal than humans or dogs (except for Siamese cats!) Cats do growl, although it's a very different sound than what you think of as a growl - higher pitched, more eerie. They chirp, mew, meow, howl, grunt, yelp, whine; all in ways that are quite feline, quite different from other animals, and all learnable, even by stupid (as in slow-learning) humans.

By the way, cats and horses get along extremely well together, more so than horses and dogs. Look at all the commentators who hang around with both.

Well, I have my theories, anyway:

To a certain extent, I think it is symbiotic - cats chase the rats/mice that would rob the horse of food; the supply of said rats/mice serves as food to the cat. Barn cats really are working animals!

Their natures seem at least complementary, if not alike. Horses don't like to be startled, and much can startle them -- sudden movements, noise, boisterousness. Cats move smoothly and seldom (they spend at least 80% of their time sleeping -- it's their metabolism!), are very quite, especially when hunting, and are the exact opposite of boisterous (well, ok, they play boisterously, and we all know the 9-o'clock/whatever time crazies) most of the time.

They also have similar habits of eye etiquette - long, unblinking stare, challenge vs non-challenege looks, etc.

And a horse can provide a LOT of protection to a cat.

Of course I can tell Shadows mood. It's easy. If he's lying on my lap (like at the moment while my arms are around him because I'm typing) he thinks "Nowadays it's so hard to get good servants!"

If he sits in front of his empty food bowl he thinks "Nowadays it's so hard to get good servants!"

If he's bein cuddled by me or my husband he thinks: "Nowadays it's so hard to get good servants! At least they attend to me, but has it to be this way?"

If he lies somewhere in the flat he thinks: "Nowadays it's so hard to get good servants! At least they leave me in peace right now - but they really could attend to me!"

And if... well, I think you got it. ;)

It's not so much that cats have facial expressions, but that they have body-language. You have to read the whole cat, not just the eyes, ears, and mouth.

RE: cat body language, over time, you're reading the whole sequence of movements and then seeing the consequences of those actions. Failing to figure out what they want will have dire consequences eventually.
Fail to get the clue when they're fussing about the dirty water bowl? They'll find a towel and scratch it into the water.
Block up their favorite napping roost, they'll find ways to knock over the offending object or spill noxious things onto it.
It's particularly obvious when our big tabby scratches frantically at the neglected litter box with a face like he's been sucking lemons, occasionally complaining vocally, and later on one finds a present left on the floor to remind busy people that he's waaaay beyond forgiving you, even if he's been patient. After all, as lisande commented, "it's so hard to get good servants."

Oh yeah! And *language* they use, my my my!