This post was adapted from an article in Focus.it.   The answers will appear next week.

What is your cat telling you when…

1.      You enter the house and the cat comes to meet you rubbing your legs.

a.   He is telling you that he is happy to see you

b.   He is leaving his smell on you to indicate that you are “his property”

c.    He is smelling the odors that you bring from the outside

2.      Lying on his favorite sofa, your cat stares at you intently, slowly blinking one or both eyelids. Meanwhile, he thinks:

a.    I’m keeping an eye on you

b.    I’m so sleepy

c.    I am relaxed and I feel comfortable here with you

3. Kitty stares at you motionless, with wide eyes, without moving a muscle: what is he trying to tell you?

a.  I am the strongest, surrender

b.  How scary!

c.  What is happening?

4.     Our cat’s ears contract quickly and keep moving:

a.     I have otitis. Why are you waiting to take me to the vet?

b.     What an itch, these fleas

c.     There is something that annoys me a lot…

5. You are in your favorite armchair with the cat on your knees: between one scratch and aother, suddenly, his ears change position and turn outwards.

a.     No more pampering. If you don’t stop, you risk a scratch or a bite

b.     Keep pampering, go ahead

c.     I’m tired, I could fall asleep at any moment

6.     Lying on his favorite window, kitty looks at you with the whiskers facing outwards. If he could speak he would tell you:

a.     Something strange is about to happen

b.     I don’t like this smell

c.     How good it is here 7

7. Whiskers forward facing, attentive look and tense muscles: your cat is telling you that …

a. Time to eat: why are you waiting for to fill my bowl?

b. I am very excited: have you seen my prey pass by too?

c. Let’s play?

8. Fur puffed and turned outwards, tail with bristly hair and kept well away from the body. What happened to our cat?

a. He got scared and puffed up his fur to look bigger and more threatening

b. He ate something that made him ill

c. You washed him with the wrong shampoo

 9.  The cat is looking out the window: it has an attentive gaze and a tail that whips in every direction and continually knocks on the windowsill.

a.  There’s something very interesting out there, let me out

b.  I’m very happy

c.  I feel alone 

10.  Your cat comes towards you with a straight tail, perpendicular to the ground. He is thinking:

a.  Be careful, I am very angry and I could attack you

b.  I am so happy to see you

c.  I’m ready for the hunt

11. If the cat is seated on its back legs with its tail curled around its body, he is manifesting:

a. Insecurity and discomfort, like a person with folded arms

b. Fear, and is ready to flee

c. Fear, and is ready to attack

 12. The cat looks out the window, its ears forward, its tail whipping in the air and its teeth banging loudly together. He is thinking:

a.  I’m cold: do you want to close this window?

b.  Let me out, it’s full of little birds out there waiting for me

c.  I have a toothache. Why are you waiting to bring me to the vet? 

13.   Our cat refuses to use the litter box and leaves his business around the house: under the furniture, on top of the furniture, in the middle of the sofa…in the meantime, he is thinking:

a.  I am the boss, I do what I want. For me the rules don’t exist.

b.  I can spite you

c.  I have a problem: Let’s try to solve it together? 

14.   Ears flattened against the head until they almost disappear, tense muscles, eyes wide open. The cat is telling us that:

a.  He is very hungry: better to prepare the bowl

b.  He is very scared: better not to approach because he might attack

c.  He is very scared: better to take him in your arms to reassure him

15. Comfortably sitting on the terrace with the cat, you suddenly notice that he is watching you: his pupils are very tight, like two pins.  What do you do?

a. Intense light bothers the cat

b. You should look for another place: the cat is very angry and could attack you

c. Bring him back in the house: he had a heat stroke

 16. Every time you enter the house, the cat comes to meet you and turns on his back with his stomach in the air:

a.   He wants an energetic scratch on his belly

b.   He wants to interact with you and shows you his complete trust

c.   He is scratching his back: have you checked that he has no fleas?