Spot the signs of cats in pain

This is an excellent video about spotting the signs of pain in your cat AND it has Jess from Postman Pat in it!

Cats and sign language

I read a snippet somewhere the other day about how someone had taught their cats some sign language, and coincidentally, one of them actually went deaf when they got old and it came in handy as they were still able to communicate.

Thinking about it, I thought how I have taught Lila several signs without really planning to do it. Firstly, when she's had some treats, and she's had enough, we show our empty hands to her and say "no more" and she knows not to ask for any more treats after that. Secondly, we like many pet owners, pat the sofa, the bed or our laps to say "come and sit with me, or have a cuddle" and if she's in the mood, she'll jump up. She also knows a pointed finger and a stern face means "shit, I did something naughty!! Better look apologetic"

It had me wondering if it was worth coordinating with my husband and thinking of more signs for every day events in a cat's life. There are a lot of deaf kittens, especially ones with white ears, and of course a lot of cats do go deaf with age, and naturally, signing is useful there, but it must be must more natural for a cat to interpret signs and body language than words. Cats communicate more with each other with eye contact, tail movements and ear positioning than they do with noises. Meows are mainly saved for us primitive humans that can only understand each other with words...

With this in mind, I've been considering designating signs for "I'm going to feed you now" , "bedtime" , "out of that room!" and "down!" and maybe more. After all, Lila uses sign language at me all the time- wagging her tail or rolling over and showing me her belly.

What do you lot think? Is it a daft idea? What signs do you use with your cat without thinking? Have you ever owned a deaf cat? I've heard before now in multiple cat households where there is a deaf cat, the other cats will sort of lead the deaf one around and help them out, like they know they have trouble.

And this post has no pictures so...

I think "Toes look like beans" is the BEST thing I've heard relating to cats EVER! I can't stop thinking how cat toes look like beans now! Also this cat looks a lot like Tiggy, particularly in picture 2
(Tiggy likes to go in boxes, especially ones too small for him!)

Hello!

I hope I won't create any more blogs now. This is a bit more general but mainly focussed around my passion for cats and everything to do with them! This is a place for me to generally muse about pretty much anything and everything!

For a start though I will introduce you to the three most important cats in my life, though there are many that have touched my heart, these are the three I consider my "flock".

Lila showing that she does like to climb on the laptop

Lila as an older kitten sleeping on my bed

Lila 

Lila is an amazing cat. She lives with my husband and I and she is my shadow and my best friend. We've had her for three years now, and she was rescued by Team Cat Rescue (their website is just part of Cat Chat, they are a small charity). She was only a kitten and they found her in a garden. I suspect she is the runt of the litter, though I hate that word, as it sort of implies they're slightly sickly and pathetic and she's not, she's just tiny!

She's a very special, delicate and afraid cat. We have worked incredibly hard of the last few years to bring her out of her shell, and we've got to a point now where she will take a treat from friends hands when she knows them well, and will let just a couple of our close friends stroke her gently, once. She's all over me when nobody else is here- standing on my face, sleeping on my laptop etc, but she is very afraid around anyone other than my husband and I, and will still hide from us when she's afraid.

She is an indoor only cat because when she is scared she runs, and runs and runs and doesn't stop. And EVERYTHING scares her pretty much! I hope to build a run in my garden so she can access it safely, but she's never shown an interest in the garden anyway to be honest!

She's a sweet cat and it's been hard work, but worth every second so far and I'd love to see how far she can grow in her life. She represents everything that is amazing about rescuing a cat, and that determination with a troubled cat can really pay off. She's my world and I love her to bits!

Tiggy

Me and Tiggy having a hug in the garden

Secondly there is Tiggy. Big fat Tiggy. Well, he's lost weight but he's still enormous- he's naturally a very large cat! Tiggy lives with my parents, but he was my cat when I was a teenager. I had to leave him behind when I moved in with my now husband and sadly he's lived longer without me living with him than he has with me there. We took him in as a kitten when my friend adopted him but he didn't get on with the cat they already had. He was a lunatic little spitfire with big ears like a bat and enormous paws. We knew then he would grow up to be large cat!

Tiggy sitting watching wildlife... on a bin.

Thankfully as he's grown older he has calmed down, and now enjoys a quiet life watching squirrels in my parents garden and chasing mice and birds (and annoyingly catching and eating them). My biggest worry with him at the moment is some recurrent lungworm which he must be getting from the things he keeps catching. Grr. He doesn't listen to sense when we try to keep him in to recover and keep him away. He needs to go outside, he's NOT an indoor cat. He does spend most of his time indoors now anyway, but it's that half an hour he spends outside, patrolling his territory, having a wee and catching birds that's important to keeping him sane... when he's trapped indoors he claws at the carpets and gets a little bit loopy. He never claws at things otherwise.

Overall he's a content cat, and eleven years old now (it's very nearly his birthday actually!).

Pandora and I having a cuddle

Pandora

Thirdly, lastly there is Pandora. Pandora is my husband's cat, but similarly to me, when he moved out of his mother's house to go to university, he left his fur-baby with my mother-in-law. When he first got her, my MIL actually said she would have nothing to do with the cat, and it was 100% my husband's responsibility etc etc. Now they are inseparable and you'll often find my MIL cooking chicken just for the cat and wafting it to cool it down. She bends to her every whim.

Pandora showing just how big her eyes are!

Pandora is queen of all she surverys and she knows it. Most people in her life are wrapped right around her paw, but I am onto her! In a way, I think Pandora respects me for that. Cats can sense when you're confident with them, and not only that, but I can interpret body language in them quite well, and I can sense that Dora appreciates that at times, because silly humans often don't get what she wants! I'm also the one that takes her to the vet for her jabs and things though, because I'm the only one who can cram her in her carry box. She HATES the cat carrier more than any cat I've met, and for a small cat, she has go-go-gadget legs (as I call them!) and the shoulder of my leather coat will testify that I don't always get her in the box right away. She actually shredded the leather a bit... I was a little upset about the coat, but then pleased it wasn't my flesh. She has needle-sharp claws of doom, and is very fast! If she doesn't like you, you know about it. In fact, she is an excellent judge of character in my experience. Naturally, she loves me.

So that's my three cat-babies. Only one lives in my house with me, but the other two are still "mine". Tiggy will always be my baby as I remember holding him in the palm of my hand when he was a kitten, and Pandora is like my step daughter because I married her "dad". I thought it best to introduce them first, as when I talk about cats, and even problems relating to other cats, I will refer back to my babies and experiences I've had with them.

I intend to address some issues surrounding cats, discuss things, help with other people's cat problems and much more in this blog. I'm known to many of my friends as a Cat Guru. I've taught myself everything I know through books, the internet and a subscription to Your Cat magazine as well as all my own experience over the years. I don't ever claim to know everything about cats, but I've spent a lot of time researching them and just spending time listening to cats themselves (I'm not insane, my cats don't actually speak to me in people words, but I understand them through their body language).

I have no formal qualifications to do with feline studies (though I'm hoping to save up and do some distance learning courses) but if you have a feline question and you think I may be able to help, please ask! I've helped many friends with cat psychology queries over the years. I AM NOT A VET though. If you suspect your cat has anything serious wrong, please take them to the vet instead of messaging me!

Thank you for reading, and I'm looking forward to coming back here with more feline related posts in the future! MEOW!