What is your pet thinking? What do cats think

Hello!

Do you already have a wonderful cat or a beloved charming cat?

And you are interested in the question whether your fluffy gold and about what in general cats think?

Wonderful! Today we will fully understand this issue. I will say right away that cats love to think about food and other things that give them pleasure ... But cats and cats have a lot of different thoughts ...

It is not for nothing that domestic cats have been considered a symbol of comfort and well-being for a century now: these creatures feel their owners and their environment so much that one can simply wonder how appropriate and even obligatory they sometimes seem to be in our apartment! A month passes - another, and we understand that the cat has already become a member of the family, something very necessary in our life, we quickly become attached to it and begin to love it like our own child. Around this small animal, the vibes of some kind of strong magic soar, bewitching and binding us to it with the most incredible power.

Arriving from work or school tired, we exhaustedly fall into an armchair and stroke our kitty, which immediately jumps on our knees, and we ourselves understand with pleasure: how good it is to return home like this, to our warm cozy apartment where this beautiful purring creature will always meet you - and fatigue goes away by itself ...
In order to better understand a cat, what it wants and what it feels, you need to have the skills of the finest feline psychologist or seer, because the signals and impulses that this mysterious animal gives are usually so faintly perceptible and veiled that reading them is worth considerable observation and almost perfect flair.

Sometimes, for example, you might think that a cat feels comfortable and completely calm, while she is in great anxiety and does not find a place for herself. And vice versa: you can assume that the cat rebelled and scared to death, although in fact she was attacked by cheerful enthusiasm, and she simply invites you to play with her!

How to learn to read the feelings and desires of your beloved pet? In this article, we will look at several interesting behavioral situations, understanding which will undoubtedly help you establish the best contact with your cat and even more sensitively understand the thoughts and feelings of these beautiful animals.
First of all, you have to immediately come to terms with the idea that you can learn to absolutely accurately understand the feelings of cats: this is such a lengthy and ambiguous science that there is very little chance. However, cats are living beings and live with us, and, therefore, we see them and can try to read their thoughts and desires, for example, from the movements of the body and tail, from the position of the ears, from the size of the pupils, from the sounds that the cat makes . The task is complex, but still very interesting and worth closer consideration. So let's get started...

Stage number 1. Learning to understand BY THE TAIL, what do cats think.

So, for example, if a cat wants your warmth and attention or just wants to eat, her tail curls up like a question mark,

and if the cat feels relaxed, then the tail is already taking a horizontal position and the very tip of it looks down.

When the tail rises sharply, and its bend becomes especially noticeable, this usually means that the cat is aggressive and wants to show you to stay away.

If the tip of the tail looks vertically up, then the cat is alarmed by something and feels internal discomfort.

By waving the tail, you can also read the emotions that the animal experiences at one time or another. For example, if a cat is very irritated, it sharply jerks the tip of its tail from side to side. She behaves similarly when she is visibly agitated or preparing to jump after a mouse.

When a cat attacks, its tail becomes hard, like a branch, and if it also sweeps it around, this movement betrays stressful tension in it, showing that it is frightened or simply feels danger.

If the cat wants to retire, then she simply lifts her tail up, hides her eyes and hurriedly leaves the room.

Stage number 2. Learning to understand ON THE Muzzle, what do cats think.

Of course, the cat's muzzle does not have too distinct facial expressions, which, for example, the muzzle of a dog has, however, here you can try to read something.

If the cat is set up very aggressively, then it looks point-blank, its pupils narrow and become vertical, the whiskers stick out rigidly forward, the ears are strongly pressed to the head.

If she is even ready to rush at the enemy, then a wide-open mouth with bared teeth and gums is added to the above signs.

When a cat is frightened and wants to obey, its pupils dilate. At the moment when she is serene and feels completely calm, her eyes are covered, and from the edges of her eyes it becomes noticeable inner eyelid. Pay attention to the movement of the ears: when they are tense and the cat presses them on the sides - this is a warning, if backwards - inner fear, if carelessly moves them to the left, then to the right, then it simply explores something or saw something very curious.

Stage number 3. Learning to understand BY THE MOVEMENT OF THE BODY, what do cats think.

Watch also the body of the cat and the movements that she makes to them, for these signs can be very eloquent. If, for example, a cat bends into an arc and stands on straight legs, then in this way she wants to give the enemy a signal to get out of harm's way. If she thinks only of defense and there is more fear in her than aggression, then the cat simply lies on her back or on her side, and, spreading her claws, presses her paws to her chest or stretches them to their full length.

When a cat is set up especially peacefully and wants your attention, then, arching and making a stiff tail, it begins to rub aggressively against your legs, meowing or purring. If your pet behaves in this way, then do not be lazy to respond to him with mutual affection: cats love such an owner very much and quickly become attached to him, loving him faithfully and distinguishing him from all the other household members, you just need to have time to be the first in her hierarchy of values.

Stage number 4. Learning to understand BY MEOWING AND purring, what do cats think.

Cats often use sounds to amplify their signals. Meowing is by far the most common sound signal.

However, a cat almost always gives out such a range of emotions with the help of meowing that it is difficult to talk about the differentiated semantic load of this sound signal. There may be a request, and a demand, and indignation, and a plea ... Moreover, the intonation may practically not change.

Another thing is purring! With this pleasant sound for any ear, the cat most often expresses its sympathy for you, at such moments it feels especially calm and your company is pleasant to it.

Just as often, cats purr during hygiene procedures, combing oneself with a tongue or when they have just eaten and are full - here purring can turn into a blissful rumbling.

But beware of the cat when it hisses: at such moments, it just boils with anger and it is better to leave it alone.
In conclusion, I would like to add simple wisdom: if you pay more attention to your pet and analyze its behavior, then over time it will be possible to establish the closest contact with it, when you can understand your cat with just a wave of the tail or movement of the ears.

And most importantly, love your cat, and she will always pay you the same coin, then mutual understanding with her can be established without any extra effort.

P.S. Well, that was the opinion of my aunt Sveta, a veterinarian, about what do cats think.

I, as a black cat, believe that it is much easier to learn to understand us, cats and cats, than professionals think.

What do you think: what was your cat thinking about today? I would be glad to know about it from the comment to this article!

Your black cat, Jose Carreras with love on la-murmur.ru.

Everyone who has pets at least once thought about what their tailed pet is thinking about at this particular moment. Let's try to figure out what cats and cats think about and how to understand what they want by their behavior. More and more scientists are inclined to the idea that the behavior of animals is subject to far more than just instincts. What can we say about us - the owners of these wonderful creatures, cats and dogs: we are absolutely sure of this.

Thoughts of a cat

Everyone knows that if a cat purrs, then it is good for her. However, this is not always the case. Sometimes it happens that a cat purrs because it hurts. In this case, you just need to take a closer look at the animal. If a cat lifts its tail high when meeting you (as they say, “tail with a pipe”), this means that it trusts you. The symbol of absolute trust is the position in which the cat or cat lies on its back and raises all 4 paws up. This speaks not only of trust, but also of inviting the animal to stroke and caress him. By the way, dogs behave in a similar way. When getting a cat, keep in mind that these mustachioed creatures are hunters by nature and need space and opportunity to practice. It is not surprising if your cat suddenly grabs your leg with its front paws - in this case, this is an imitation of hunting, a game.

What can a cat say

As for various other demonstrative signals, pay attention to the following behavior of your mustachioed friend: if the cat or cat is happy, they always take a relaxed, even somewhat imposing pose. As you already know, they can even fall apart on their backs, or they can simply sit down with their legs spread wide or lie on their stomach with their front legs extended. In this case, the whiskers will be directed forward, and the tail will lie completely free. But if the cat presses its ears and crouches, this means that it is ready for a fight. This is especially true for cats, which at the same time also tuck their tail under them. A satisfied cat will begin to rub its muzzle against your legs and arms and at the same time will make rumbling sounds - in a word, with all its behavior it will express its gratitude to you for the comfort, warmth and affection that these cunning people can, by the way, beg for in this way.

Can cats think?

So we come to the main question, which was partially answered at the very beginning of the article. What are cats thinking? Personally, as a person who now lives with a cat (and before that a dog lived for 18 years), I am absolutely convinced that animals have mental abilities, moreover, dictated not only by instincts. A cat can worry, can take care of the owner, can be happy, can be sad. At the same time, I am far from idealizing my pets, but simply draw logical conclusions from their behavior. Even scientists today recognize that most animals are characterized by a certain mental activity, and they are able to draw at least the simplest conclusions. And the same applies to cats. I will give you one true story so that you can see for yourself. I won't retell it, I'll just leave a link. This story clearly shows that cats, as well as dogs, have not only instincts, but also feelings, and, moreover, the mind.

Look into her eyes

Look your cat in the eye. If she looks away, then this indicates that she respects you and is ready to obey you. These animals look point-blank only at the enemy. If your pet has constantly dilated pupils, she shudders all the time, it is better to go to the veterinarian. The pupils of a blind cat can also be too dilated. Understanding whether a cat is blind or not is easy. You must quickly bring your index finger to her eyes. If she sees well, she will immediately close her eyes to protect them from the threat.

Look at your pet's eyelids:
1. The eyelids are half closed. This means that at the moment she is calm, just resting.
2. Her eyes are rounded, eyelids are open. Something has captured her attention, she is concentrating, watching what is happening.
3. Eyes are fully open. The pet is excited. There can be many reasons, for example, she is passionate about the game or smelled her favorite food.

Notice the tail

Take a close look at how her tail looks at the moment:
1. Your cat has a straight tail, its tip is slightly curved. He is pleasantly excited, as he saw his beloved mistress or felt that they decided to feed him. If the cat stretched out its tail, and it trembles a little, then at the moment it is marking something. The tail raised up indicates that the animal is friendly.
2. Your pet's tail is lowered, helping him to maintain balance when moving. At this moment, she does not experience any special emotions, but is engaged in familiar daily affairs.
3. stood on end. This suggests that your pet met a stranger who appeared on his territory. We need to be prepared for territorial aggression. The animal had a surge of adrenaline, which often happens when she is frightened by something, considers the situation dangerous.
4. The cat began to wag its tail. Something does not suit her, she is angry or annoyed. Sometimes she has such excitement because she could not catch a mouse or a bird.
The cat is alarmed

Your cat has opened its mouth slightly. This indicates that she is now in turmoil, feels danger, since a woman has appeared in the room. stranger or an animal, there is a foreign smell. The cat family has a special organ called Jacobson's organ. With the help of it, the cat can feel both the smell and the taste of the object. To do this, she needs to let air through the upper part of her mouth, for which she pulls her lips back a little. Sometimes from the side it seems that the cat is smiling. This smile even has its own name: "Flehmen's smile."

Look at the ears. They are pressed to the head: the animal is frightened or annoyed. If you see that the cat's ears are completely pressed to the head, run away as soon as this sign indicates that your pet is now attacking. At this moment, the animal experiences panic fear, therefore it turns into a dangerous predator.

These pets often lick. But this is not only for cleaning the fur, but also a good way to calm down. If she licks herself quickly and actively, this may indicate that in this way your pet is trying to relieve stress and cope with irritability. Another sign of confusion and confusion is the rapid licking of the cat's lips. If you see this sign, your pet is not necessarily dreaming of a cutlet or cat food, he is just worried about what is happening.

The cat rejoices

When a cat rubs like that human foot, she demonstrates that she loves him very much and considers him a member of her clan. If some furniture was awarded such an honor, she shows that she likes this item, this place in the apartment. When a pet jumps on your knees, after which it rubs its forehead against yours, then remember that this is a special sign of attention that she honors only her beloved owner, the chosen person in her life.

What else says that your pets are in a state of complete satisfaction? She lies on her side or back with her legs outstretched. If she is still squeezing and unclenching the pads of her paws and lying with half-closed eyes, at this moment she is blissful.

There are many other important nuances that you can pay attention to if you want to learn as much as possible about the desires and needs of your pets. However, based on this knowledge, you can determine what mood your pet is in, whether he is scared, who he loves most in the family, and so on. Watch your pet today and try to guess what he is thinking, and share your observations in the comments.

It is no secret that an ordinary person, not always aware of this, is inclined to anthropologize the world around him, trying to cognize it exclusively in subjective human categories. The cat family is no exception.

We think, for example, that our cats are “noble”, “proud”, “independent”, “graceful”… That is, we endow them with purely human qualities. But who are they really? And, most interestingly, what do cats think about people? ...

Scientific tests?.. That's nonsense

In general, the thinking of a cat is a dark forest. Or a magician's black box. David Grimm, editor of the online journal Science, describes the research of the Italian scientist Christian Agrillo in one of his articles. According to Agrillo, studying the cognitive abilities of fish is even easier than felines!

This was manifested in the test of the so-called "digital competence", during which three dots are drawn on a desired object (for example, a bowl or a feeder with food), and two dots on an undesirable one (an empty bowl). During the experiment, the animal (Agrillo worked with both monkeys and birds) must learn to make an informed choice.

Unfortunately (or fortunately?), the cats failed the test perfectly. Under laboratory conditions, most of the selected cats were very worried and could not participate in the experiment, and those four that behaved more or less loyally reacted very poorly to the proposed game conditions.

True, in the end it was possible to establish that cats pay more attention to the size of the dot, and not to their number - when hunting, the size of the victim is fundamentally important, and you cannot catch two birds at once. What's the point of counting them?

Are cats smarter than fish?

Of course not. Then, the principle of having a mind should not be built solely on the ability to communicate with a person (recall here, for example, about hypothetical non-humanoid civilizations for which contact with a person will be impossible in principle). Cat people are not aliens. It's just that cats still remain wild, closed within their authentic, non-human behavior.

This is what is written in the work “Cat Sense” British biologist John Bradshaw, who spent more than 30 years studying the issue. Cats, compared to dogs, do not live with humans for so long (10,000 and 30,000 years, respectively) and most of them (about 85%) reproduce freely, without human intervention.

An important fact in this process is the fact that almost all domestic cats are castrated, therefore, reproducers a large number offspring are again unsocialized, street cats.

Cats think humans are big cats

So what do cats think of people? Bradshaw believes that the "theory of competent consciousness" is hardly applicable to cats, the essence of which is that one species may have an idea of ​​the mind and picture of the world of another species. That is, cats think that people are big cats. And most importantly, they are non-aggressive, non-hostile.

There is a lot to be said and thought about this. For example, cats may think that we are stupid cats. we do not try to spread our scent and thus poorly dominate our territory. Or that we're unhappy because we don't have claws or fur. Or that we hunt badly and eat all sorts of nonsense, like vegetables from the store or boxes of fast food.

By the way, an interesting conclusion is that cats that bring a dead rat or bird to the threshold (into a room, on a blanket or pillow) do not at all want to make a gift to the owner or show their gratitude. Cats think that a person is a big cat. And where there is a "big non-hostile" cat, it is quite possible to hide the prey in order to eat it later.

Big cat mom

What cats think about people is also suggested by some features of the behavior of adults. For example, cats “tread on” the owner with their paws, rub against his legs or purr, which is similar to the behavior of a kitten in relation to its mother. In general, in this model of behavior lies such a sweet innocent cunning that suits both the owner and the four-legged pet.

One side, adult cat he realizes himself as an adult, on the other hand, it is so convenient to be a small capricious kitten that is taken care of ... Here, by the way, are the obvious parallels with human behavior.

Summing up, we add that the behavior of cats in relation to humans varies greatly. A kitten that has been in contact with a person from the first days will obviously be more adapted for communication than a street cat that was taken into the house as an adult. There are, indeed, real cat-dogs who try to understand the owner to the best of their ability. So, the behavior of a cat and what they think about us largely depends on us.

Animals have been with humans for thousands of years. Help to hunt, protect the house. They worked with them, they were deified, they were sacrificed - but you never know! Just think: thousands of years! Does this mean that we are used to them? Maybe someone perceives "our smaller brothers" as a source of profit, but most of my friends treat them differently. Pets are a small miracle.

Such a miracle has recently been living in our house - a cat. Her name is Mukha, and this name completely characterizes her. She is fast, runs around the house, it seems, not stopping for a minute. It seems that she has a special trajectory or so-called points that need to be run, no matter what it takes. It is very light, small and fluffy. Our ball of happiness. She has a big belly and dark fur, which is why we jokingly call her "Fat Hog". Coming home after school, we will definitely say hello to Musha. It’s even nice to just take her in your arms and stand up, tell her something that happened during the day. She almost never looks me in the eyes, always somewhere far away. There is a feeling that she is not next to you, but somewhere far away, thinking about something of her own. And the boundaries of my world are also expanding. I seem to be carried away with her to other spaces, to other times. It's so cool! When we are busy with our own affairs: doing homework or just watching TV, the Fly always wants to be in the spotlight, like a child. She comes and lays down on your lap. This is very pleasing, because warmth, peace and sonorous purring emanates from it. And when I'm in a hurry somewhere, running from one room to another, she constantly gets under her feet, then I also take her in my arms, start stroking her, and my hand becomes a toy. The fly is only 5 months old, and she plays all day long, and when everyone in the house falls asleep, she comes to our room and lies down either on my bed or with her sister, but most often with me.

Our cat is absolutely extraordinary! Everyone knows that the cat family is afraid of water. And she is not! Runs around the bath and plays with water. Then he crawls out with a wet tail and starts chasing him, that is, he turns five circles. All this makes me very happy. With what a perky mood I play with Mukha!

In general, she has an interesting fate. When my family and I were relaxing in the country, my brother and his friends brought under his jacket a small, torn, with beautiful green eyes lump of life. We all looked at each other, and dad said his final word: “We take it.” The fly was tiny, shy and offended by the whole world .... But as they say, everything heals quickly on cats, and after a week there were no wounds at all. She got used to us, and we got used to her. The fly is not afraid of heights, stands perfectly and jumps on two legs. Stretches its paws when you lift it up. She looks like a circus cat. We sometimes joke, saying that Kuklachev would definitely take her to his circus.

For all these qualities and simply for the fact that she is, she is ours, we love the cat Mukha. Without a doubt, she changed our lives, and we changed hers. For us, Mukha is a member of the family. She even has a passport, which was given to her in veterinary clinic. It is impossible to be bored with her, she will learn something. And I don’t even want to imagine what would have happened to Mukha if my brother and his friends hadn’t found her in the country, in a pipe near the lake?

Kuznetsova Alexandra, 16 years