Why do cats wag their tails?

Have you ever watched your cat and asked yourself what it might be thinking? It sometimes seems that these furry friends enjoy situations in which you don’t know if they love your or want to claw your eyes out. They only sit and watch you from a distance. But sometimes, they can’t keep their poker face and let these emotions go out or they show them on purpose.

Have you ever watched your cat and asked yourself what it might be thinking? It sometimes seems that these furry friends enjoy situations in which you don’t know if they love your or want to claw your eyes out. They only sit and watch you from a distance. But sometimes, they can’t keep their poker face and let these emotions go out or they show them on purpose.

And sometimes, cats are betrayed by their own tails which say more than they would like to. Do you know what the reason they wag them is? It’s not that easy as some may think. It's not true that a dog wags its tail when it’s happy and cat lashes it when it’s angry. For both cats and dogs, it’s also about the way they wag it and the reasons might be opposite. If we know what we should observe, a cat’s tail can also be used to understand its feelings, even though it’s not as revealing as dogs’ tails.

But you can recognize many cats’ moods by observing it. Even from its position. Is it down or vertically erect? Does a cat lash it or slowly swing? If you know your cat, you might already have some idea of what it does with its tail in certain moods.

Still laid or freely hanging tail means absolute relaxedness. Erect tail indicates joy. A shape of a question mark signals playful mood. A bristled tail is a threat or a manifestation of aggression.

And now about the already-mentioned wagging. Free, smooth movements from one side to another may indicate happiness. But if it lashes from one side to another, it is vigilant and advises you to do the same. For example in a situation it hears an unknown or suspicious sound.

If a cat jerkily lashes its tail from one side to the other, it means excitement (both positive and negative). If it really swishes back and forth, it is really annoyed. You should stay out of its way. When a tail suddenly goes up from swishing, it’s too late. This indicates an immediate attack. If only a tip of the tail jerks, it is a threatening posture. Only one swish with a tail which is often accompanied by turning a head away means that you’re basically dead for the cat and it doesn’t care about you at all at the moment. It’s a contemptuous signal of cats.

As you case see, a cat’s tail is a really good indicator of a cat’s mood. Have you learned to understand your cat’s movements? Do you know about another mood your cat’s tail reveals?

 

Related articles

Cat expressions of love

Although it might appear that the cat doesn’t give a tail about you and it is indifferent towards you, maybe you will still find some displays of affection in its behaviour. Do you know how cats show such affection towards a person?

Cats need grass

Cats love grass. They nibble at it if it's to clean their belly from hairs or just for fun. In addition, if you get a cat its own flowerpot, you can hope that it will leave your other plants alone :).

Do you know how to properly remove a tick?

Whether you remove a tick from a dog’s or cat’s fur the right way might affect whether the animal will become infected with Lyme disease or another malign disease transmitted by ticks. Have you got the right technique and tools?

How to detect a Lyme disease infection in a dog

Just like with people, also in dogs, Lyme disease is a very grave illness. There are an estimated 20% of ticks infected in the Czech Republic. And because despite the use of antiparasitic agents, your dog might get a tick from time to time, it’s good...

Even cats have their drugs

I’ve already written about cat mint, today, we’ll take a look at another, lesser known drugs. Since not all the cats respond to all of them and they don’t respond to everything the same way. Therefore, if you didn’t succeed with cat mint, maybe you’ll...

First aid for hyperthermia in an animal

I’ve already written about the fact that you’re not supposed to leave your dog closed in a car on summer days or on how to prevent hyperthermia in cats and dogs. So you have mastered the prevention already. But it is also necessary to know how to...

How chinchillas got almost exterminated

Without a question, chinchillas are beautiful and cute furry animals with large ears, a long tail and distinctive eyes. Do you know where they actually come from, what their name means and that we almost succeeded in nearly exterminating them before...

The Mystery of Cat Tongues

You have probably noticed that cat tongues are quite unique. They are rough and somehow scratchy. It seemed weird to American biologists and therefore they decided to look deeper into it.

How to easily understand the cat food selection

It can be quite a task to choose the right pet food precisely for your cat. To even understand the contents... That’s why we’re going to take a look today what to focus on, what to look for in the contents and what you should rather avoid.