Hello.
I have a 14 year old cat. He has always seemed exceptionally intelligent to me, as cats go. He often will watch people do things and try to imitate it, such as piano and he tries to communicate ideas, such as exactly what it is he wants, etc.
I decided to look for cat behavior information because a few things just do not seem cat-like to me; afterall I don't even LIKE cats, but he won me over to the feline side. He was a pet store kitten that soon ended up in my care due to situation, and we've been together for 12 years.
Calling ME??
==========
First the bedroom. He respects my bedroom as mine and wont go it it without me telling him "its ok, go on in!" Even if I am in there and the door is open: "Mew!" .. "come on!". I spend a good deal of time there because thats where my computer is and I work at home. He loves to be close to me, and loves to lay in bed with me and watch the bedroom TV. Now on behavior sites, there are various explanations of a deep throaty meow; but sometimes HE will head upstairs and continually make this deep throaty Meow that sounds like he's yelling "hello" with an M. If I go upstairs, he will be sitting in front of my bedroom door, and utter a crisp "mew!" when he sees me, and get up acting like he wants to go in the room with me.
Am I interpreting this correctly? I think he is literally calling me to come spend some time with him napping or something.
Scratching Gestures?
================
Again to the behavior sites; there are various explanations of scratching at surfaces. Well, if I am in the kitchen and he wants petting, he will sit in front of the dishwasher, and scratch at it gently with one paw, look at me and meow. After a few attempts at this, he will walk over and rub on my leg, until he gets some scratches or stroking.
What I gather from this is, he is either seeing his own reflection in the surface and showing me "scratch the cat", or not, but trying to SHOW me "scratch, scratch!". he always looks back at me after every scratch to see if I am looking..... and in the end its always petting/scratching he wants.
Tail Movements
=============
The behavior sites tell me that a tail in motion is a sign of not so happy; if thats the case this cat needs therapy. He has a long tail and it constantly wags (gently and slowly) darn near his entire waking lifetime. There IS a different motion when he goes into hunt mode or is aggravated - a single quick switch of the tail, maybe two. He's got something else for "aggravated" that surprised me the first few times - he has a "pfft" sound be makes when he is aggravated, by first inhaling deep, then exhaling hard through his nose.
Food Please!!
============
This cat doesn't make a lot of noise when he's hungry or wants something he smells - instead he sits next to his food or whatever bowl, whichever he wants, and waits for eye contact, then utters a single "mew". If its something I am eating that smells good (he has a serious affinity for bits of breast meat from KFC!!!) he will sit upright on the floor, quietly, and when he gets eye contact, raise one paw off the floor and beg like a dog!
Yes, I do give him people food sometimes, as long as he doesn't start misbehaving over it, or stop eating his own food - why deprive him of something he really likes..
Eating with people
==============
He also has a routine, he eats when I eat. Albeit, he does eat on the FLOOR...... but sometimes when people are over, and we eat out on the deck - the cat WILL NOT eat his food, he will meow at me and meow at me, until one day I tried something. "Maybe he just wants to eat with us", i thought. So, i took his food bowl out on the deck, a few feet away from the table, and guess what. He went to eating as if all was normal.
Misc Attention
===========
When all other cases don't fit, and he wants something, he will sit upright by my feet, and reach out with one paw and just touch my leg a couple times to get my attention - the strangest one of all, its much like a person tapping another one the shoulder to quietly say "hey, listen"
Eye Contact
==========
The sites all say direct eye contact is a bad sign - challenge, but when i pet him, or he wants something and is trying to 'talk' to me, or even if hes just bored, he will sit and stare me in the eyes... but its definitely not being a challenge, its more like he's 'connecting' to me as a person would.
Theres a host of other odd things he does, but these are the most prominent. None of them seem to agree with what the behavior sites try to tell me they are about, but I could be just misinterpreting him.....
I dont have a clue sometimes, if I am crazy, or if this cat is really a puppy that thinks hes a person. Ive read that some cats have very unusual behavior, based on their breed, but hes a pet store cat, so I have no clue what he is. Theres a few pictures below....
I have a 14 year old cat. He has always seemed exceptionally intelligent to me, as cats go. He often will watch people do things and try to imitate it, such as piano and he tries to communicate ideas, such as exactly what it is he wants, etc.
I decided to look for cat behavior information because a few things just do not seem cat-like to me; afterall I don't even LIKE cats, but he won me over to the feline side. He was a pet store kitten that soon ended up in my care due to situation, and we've been together for 12 years.
Calling ME??
==========
First the bedroom. He respects my bedroom as mine and wont go it it without me telling him "its ok, go on in!" Even if I am in there and the door is open: "Mew!" .. "come on!". I spend a good deal of time there because thats where my computer is and I work at home. He loves to be close to me, and loves to lay in bed with me and watch the bedroom TV. Now on behavior sites, there are various explanations of a deep throaty meow; but sometimes HE will head upstairs and continually make this deep throaty Meow that sounds like he's yelling "hello" with an M. If I go upstairs, he will be sitting in front of my bedroom door, and utter a crisp "mew!" when he sees me, and get up acting like he wants to go in the room with me.
Am I interpreting this correctly? I think he is literally calling me to come spend some time with him napping or something.
Scratching Gestures?
================
Again to the behavior sites; there are various explanations of scratching at surfaces. Well, if I am in the kitchen and he wants petting, he will sit in front of the dishwasher, and scratch at it gently with one paw, look at me and meow. After a few attempts at this, he will walk over and rub on my leg, until he gets some scratches or stroking.
What I gather from this is, he is either seeing his own reflection in the surface and showing me "scratch the cat", or not, but trying to SHOW me "scratch, scratch!". he always looks back at me after every scratch to see if I am looking..... and in the end its always petting/scratching he wants.
Tail Movements
=============
The behavior sites tell me that a tail in motion is a sign of not so happy; if thats the case this cat needs therapy. He has a long tail and it constantly wags (gently and slowly) darn near his entire waking lifetime. There IS a different motion when he goes into hunt mode or is aggravated - a single quick switch of the tail, maybe two. He's got something else for "aggravated" that surprised me the first few times - he has a "pfft" sound be makes when he is aggravated, by first inhaling deep, then exhaling hard through his nose.
Food Please!!
============
This cat doesn't make a lot of noise when he's hungry or wants something he smells - instead he sits next to his food or whatever bowl, whichever he wants, and waits for eye contact, then utters a single "mew". If its something I am eating that smells good (he has a serious affinity for bits of breast meat from KFC!!!) he will sit upright on the floor, quietly, and when he gets eye contact, raise one paw off the floor and beg like a dog!
Yes, I do give him people food sometimes, as long as he doesn't start misbehaving over it, or stop eating his own food - why deprive him of something he really likes..
Eating with people
==============
He also has a routine, he eats when I eat. Albeit, he does eat on the FLOOR...... but sometimes when people are over, and we eat out on the deck - the cat WILL NOT eat his food, he will meow at me and meow at me, until one day I tried something. "Maybe he just wants to eat with us", i thought. So, i took his food bowl out on the deck, a few feet away from the table, and guess what. He went to eating as if all was normal.
Misc Attention
===========
When all other cases don't fit, and he wants something, he will sit upright by my feet, and reach out with one paw and just touch my leg a couple times to get my attention - the strangest one of all, its much like a person tapping another one the shoulder to quietly say "hey, listen"
Eye Contact
==========
The sites all say direct eye contact is a bad sign - challenge, but when i pet him, or he wants something and is trying to 'talk' to me, or even if hes just bored, he will sit and stare me in the eyes... but its definitely not being a challenge, its more like he's 'connecting' to me as a person would.
Theres a host of other odd things he does, but these are the most prominent. None of them seem to agree with what the behavior sites try to tell me they are about, but I could be just misinterpreting him.....
I dont have a clue sometimes, if I am crazy, or if this cat is really a puppy that thinks hes a person. Ive read that some cats have very unusual behavior, based on their breed, but hes a pet store cat, so I have no clue what he is. Theres a few pictures below....
