Since cats rely upon their tails so much to communicate their emotions and intentions,would a tailess or bobtailed cat be somewhat handicapped? I was wondering because I adopted a manx-type cat about three months ago,and the three cats that I already owned seem to be taking much longer to accept him than they did each other. He always approaches them in a friendly manner and isn't a bit pushy or aggressive,but they all reguard him with great suspicion and behave like they think he's really odd. Could it be that they can't read his body language as well?
2007-07-22 08:20:02 · 3 answers · asked by casatranio 2 in Pets ➔ Cats
Cats do use their tails to send out communication signals to others. I read somewhere once, that a cat with no tail might get into more fights or be perceived as threatening by other cats, because they aren't able to do the raised "happy" cat tail signal. Perhaps this is why your other cats are not quite sure how to react to him.
The web site below explains cat communication and their body language in more detail.
http://www.messybeast.com/cat_talk2.htm
2007-07-22 08:31:41 · answer #1 · answered by Michele the Louis Wain cat 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Most of mine watch the eyes, ear angle and how high the head is held on the other cat, not the tail. Oh, and if the back humps up, they watch those features more than the back half.
If he holds his head above the line of his back (so even the chin is higher than the top of the back) that's too aggressive for most cats and would cause problems because it's the "I'm top cat" body language. His ears need to cup towards the other cats, not lay sideways or facing back, also. Watch how he interacts with them, not their body language towards him. Could be he's asseting too much dominance for them to relax.
2007-07-22 15:31:53 · answer #2 · answered by Elaine M 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
no,cats have other ways of communicating
2007-07-22 15:38:21 · answer #3 · answered by Liz 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋