Cat behavior

Cat behavior includes body language, elimination habits, aggression, play, communication, hunting, grooming, urine marking, and face rubbing in domestic cats. It varies among breeds and individuals, and between colonies.

Communication can vary greatly among individual cats. Some cats interact with other cats more easily than other cats. In a family with many cats, the interactions can change depending on which individuals are present and how restricted the territory and resources are. One or more individuals may become aggressive: fighting may occur with the attack resulting in scratches and deep bite wounds.

A cat's eating patterns in domestic settings (homes) can be unsettling for owners. Some cats "ask for" food dozens of times a day, including at night, with rubbing, pacing, and meowing.

Kittens need vocalization early on in order to develop communication properly. The change in intensity of vocalization will change depending on how loud their feedback is. Some examples of different vocalizations are described below.

Purring – soft buzz, can mean that the cat is content or possibly that they are sick. Meows – this is a type of greeting that is used most often. Mews – usually happens when a mother is interacting with her young. Hissing or spitting – the cat is angry or defensive. The cat should be left alone. Yowls – can mean that the cat is in distress or feeling aggressive. Chattering – chattering their teeth. They do this when they are hunting or being restrained from hunting.

Cats rely strongly on body language to communicate. A cat may rub against an object, lick a person, and purr. Much of a cat's body language is through its tail, ears, head position, and back posture. Cats flick their tails in an oscillating, snake-like motion, or abruptly from side to side, often just before pouncing on an object or animal in what looks like "play" hunting behavior. If spoken to, a cat may flutter its tail in response, which may be the only indication of the interaction, though movement of its ears or head toward the source of the sound may be a better indication of the cat's awareness that a sound was made in their direction.

These behaviors are thought to be a way of marking territory. Facial marking behavior is used to mark their territory as "safe". The cat rubs its cheeks on prominent objects in the preferred territory, depositing a chemical pheromone produced in glands in the cheeks. This is known as a contentment pheromone. Synthetic versions of the feline facial pheromone are available commercially.

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