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Cat Facts : Ten Facts About Social Behavior
The following cat facts on social behavior and interaction should help you better understand your pet. Cat behavior is largely misunderstood, even by experienced cat owners. I hope you find this helpful.
The following cat facts on social behavior and interaction should help you better understand your pet. Cat behavior is largely misunderstood, even by experienced cat owners. I hope you find this helpful.
Cats are well known and loved for their independence and self-absorbed nature. When they do pay us some attention, we usually feel quite special. A cat that rolls over on its back and asks for a belly scratch should be rewarded with affection.
Do you ever wonder what your cat is thinking? I do, all the time. I wonder why cats do what they do. Cats are a mystery, but a lot of their behavior can be understood if you know the reasons behind it.
As pet owners, it’s part of our jobs to learn how to better care for our cats. Here are some cat facts that may help bring you closer to your feline friend.
1. I need time to be alone. The ancestor of the domestic cats we have today lived alone. They were not pack animals like dogs. Although cats do sometimes form colonies, they usually time share their territory with other cats when they are forced to live close together.
2. A kitten’s tendency to be friendly and sociable comes from two sources; genetically, primarily from the father’s genes, and behaviorally, primarily from learning to be sociable from their mother.
3. The most important time in a kittens life, when it comes to socialization, is between two and seven weeks old.
4. When recovering from a trauma, such as a car accident, cats can go through a second socialization process. This can sometimes result in the cat becoming more social after the fact. In other cases, felines can become withdrawn after experiencing trauma.
5. Descending from solitary creatures that stake out a territory and hunt alone, domestic cats have a limited set of body language skills.
6. Cats leave distinctive scent marks which, if you had the right nose, would tell you a story. This is how they make up for a limited set of body language skills. That and the fact that they are sneaky and quick!
7. Your cats will leave their scent in strategic places all over their territory. They’ll also leave their scent on you and other animals in the house. This creates a communal scent, and provides your cats with comfort knowing that these animals are part of the same social group.
8. When you scratch your cat’s back, you’ll notice that she will raise her back end up so as to better scent your hand. She’ll also very often stiffen her tail while keeping it bent.
9. A tail held vertically is a greeting, and an indication of happiness. If you had a tail, your cat would probably appreciate it since he’d better understand your mood.
10. If the front paws are curled up and tucked in, your cat feels comfortable and safe. A relaxed cat will often also extend the back feet out to the side while tucking in the front paws.
Did you find these cat facts interesting? I hope at least some of them surprise you a bit. If you take a minute to read between the lines, most of them will allow you to better understand how your cat communicates.