The Hidden Language of Cats

August 15, 2023
A scientist of cat behavior explores the various ways domestic cats communicate. Brown, author of The Cat: A Natural and Cultural History, began studying cat behavior in the late 1980s while gaining her doctorate and working as a research assistant at the Anthrozoology Institute at the University of Southampton in the UK. As she notes, domestic cats descended from "shy, solitary North African wildcats" and now can be found throughout the world, including in more than 45 million households in the U.S. The author approaches her study of domestic cats from a scientific perspective, offering her firsthand observations and analysis of recent research studies in a writing style that is easily comprehendible and captivating. According to Brown, one of the cat's primary communication tactics is marking territory through spraying and scratching. But don't automatically yell at your cat to stop it. "Tension and conflict within the home," she writes, "may bring on more scratching than normal as the cat feels the urge to increase their marking behavior." Brown examines alternatives to the invasive and painful procedure of declawing, and she discusses the true purpose of meowing, noting that the rate of meowing tends to increase the longer feral cats are in the company of humans, as well as how cats use their tails and ears to express emotions. The author shares the benefits, beyond hygiene, that cats receive from grooming each other and investigates the "secret ingredient" of catnip and other plants that provide a special allure for cats. Brown also ponders the question of whether cats have personalities and discusses the "Five-Factor Scale of Domestic Cat Personality," known as the "Feline Five," to analyze cat temperament. As the research that Brown presents indicates, cats have made impressive strides in adapting and learning to communicate with humans. With her lighthearted yet authoritative approach, Brown helps us better understand our feline companions.

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August 28, 2023
Cat behavior consultant Brown (The Cat) breaks down the evolution of and meaning behind the signals felines use to communicate with humans and each other. She explains that ancestors of the modern domestic cat led solitary lives in which they communicated with each other only at a distance through scent deposits (in the form of urine, feces, or secretions from glands in cats’ paws that release when scratching) that can indicate a cat’s identity and fitness, as well as when a female is in heat. Domestication began with the rise of agriculture 10,000 years ago, and as wild cats began living in closer quarters with humans, they also interacted face-to-face more frequently with other cats, leading to new visual means of communication. Academic research illuminates the visual and tactile signals of modern cats, as when Brown describes a study that found cats were quicker to approach images of cats with raised tails, suggesting the posture indicates friendliness. She also discusses research showing that blinking slowly at a cat puts it at ease and that grooming between cats “may be a way of defusing tension.” The history enlightens and the science provides robust insight why felines do what they do. Cat lovers will want to add this to their shelf.