Why do cats roll over? Is it to be subordinate to you, or have their stomach rubbed?

Probably both. It depends on the situation I guess. With my guys, it is usually the bellyrub!

The "nodding guy" was supposed to be at the end of my post, but I was rubbing my cats belly and he hit the mouse to "enter"!!

The stomach is a very vulnerable part of the body on a cat. They roll over and it expose it for a belly rub as a sign of ultimate trust. It is a great compliment. I don't think they ever do it as a sign of submissiveness like a dog would tend to lower himself to an alpha dog.

I agree that the roll over is not a submissive posture, it is a sign of ultimate trust.

However it does NOT always mean "touch me here". Mazy loves to show off her Yummy Tummy, and it is so plush and soft looking with a double row of dots, how I long to touch it, but I wouldn't dare touch it, I'd lose my hand, and probably my arm too.

But she knows I won't so she can trust me, and show me.

It actually can be when cats are interacting with each other.

I have a full house here, and that means cats of varying personalities. Some are very submissive to others. Tomas will roll over and expose his belly to tell Sho "Enough, you win. You're big kitty" when they're playing and Tomas has had enough. The kittens will do it with the adult cats, to pretty much say the same thing. They try and try exposing their bellies and cooing at Siri to win her over... Sadly it never works for them.

But to humans, all it really means is that they want attention from us.

Holland likes to roll over when she's found a nice sunny spot on the floor. Sometimes she wants her belly rubbed, sometimes not - so I always approach her slowly and watch her signs. She'll give me a light "bunny kick" if she wants me to back off, but when she does want a belly rub she sticks all four paws in the air and closes her eyes.

Mistoflees LOVED getting his belly rubbed. Especially toward the end of his life. He'd roll over and get "into" the rub lol.

Sometimes Sneaky will come over and roll over onto her back. But she doesn't really want her belly rubbed, I think she's just telling us she trusts us.

HollyHeart hasn't really rolled over on her back for us. She likes to be a cuddly kitten, but on her terms. If it's not cuddle time- forget it

My question is- so what if a cat does that to another cat while they're playing? Because HollyHeart (4 months) will come over to Sneaky during their play sessions and flop over onto her back. Is she showing submissiveness to Sneaky? Or is it just how they play?

Cheryl

In my opinion it's play. Honestly, I don't think the concept of submissive is in a cat's 'vocabulary'. yes there is a hierarchy among multiple cats, but I don't think I've ever seen a cat actually act "submissive"

Of course cats have submissive body language and vocals. Nothing like dogs, and nothing like what humans see as being submissive. One of the primary submissive gestures when a female cat is in heat is rolling on her back and showing her tummy to invite a male. In general if a kitty is exposing their belly it is a submissive gesture, it shows trust, comfort in your presence, but doesn't mean "belly rubs", atleast in most cases

Yes, it shows trust, but not submission. They are different things.

When Tolly and Mazy and Jennie greet me after I've been gone all day, by flopping on the floor and spinning over to show me their tummies, they are not being submissive, they are telling me how happy they are to see me, and how much they love and trust me.

I do not betray that trust by reaching down to to those Yummy Tummies, because I know that is not what they are saying.

When a female cat in heat invites a male it's biological, not submissive. I spay my cats, so don't see any of that kind of behavior. But even so, it is not submissive, it is instinctual.

I've seen it used to diffuse fights between cats that are not housemate or bonded with each other.

One cat I used to witness this behavior in a lot (stray that a neighbor cared for) would do this to all cats. He was an extremely nervous cat that didn't like other cats getting close to him and didn't fight. He did not trust other cats (and had major trust issues with humans as well). He'd show his belly to any cat and make pitiful kitten like cries. Strangely it worked, other cats would look a bit disgusted and leave him be.

that's too funny

When cats expose their bellies to you is an honor

I don't think it is the same between cats though. During fights, the cat pinned down belly up will do more damage because all four claws are out and ready to tear the opponent's underside. During play though, cats do this embrace thing with tummies sticking together which is very cute.

oh dear. i never thought about that, but it makes sense. i only saw one real catfight in my entire life. that was around age 7 or 8. my aunt's cat (who is the spitting image of Penny) and an outdoor siamese male (also "semi-owned" by the same aunt) my dad had to spray them with a garden hose to make them stop. it was awful. thank goodness I have not seen another catfight.

Showing the belly (to a human) is not submissive in the sense of hierarchy. Dogs are pack animals, so humans can be "alpha," but cats have very loose social relationships. We talk about "alpha cat," but cat social interactions are actually quite complex, and humans play no role in the cat heirarchy. ...so rolling on its back is either a greeting (kittens roll on their backs to greet mum) or defensive. In pets, cats that do this with a human are greeting us. Sometimes it is an invitation to a belly rub - often it is not. THAT totally depends up on the cat.

A cat that does this to another cat is not (generally) being "submissive" - it's acting like a kitten - likely to help it avoid confrontation. If confrontation can't be avoided, that cat is ready to defend itself as someone pointed out - with all claws at the ready.

And submissiveness is definitely in a cat's vocabulary. Some just aren't. But a tail tucked down under the body (in between the legs) toward the belly is definitely submissive...as is tucking up into as small a posture - hunkered down - as possible. We have a submissive kitty.

Here is a GREAT article on cat communication: http://www.messybeast.com/cat_talk2.htm

Seti absolutely shows his tummy as a sign of submission. He only does it when he thinks he's in trouble and when I've caught up to him. If he has distance on me he keeps moving. If I catch up to him down he goes. The trouble with my above statement is that we tend to think in terms of dogs when we say submissive. A submissive dog is saying, "Ok, I'll do what you ask." A submissive cat is saying, "I'll do what you want as long as you can A)make me and B) are looking." We need better words to say what we're talking about I think.

That's too cute!

And you are so right about needing better words to say what we're talking about. Because you're right - that's submissive - but in the same sense as a kitten to its mom, not in the sense of acknowledgment of you being "higher" on the totem pole.

As regards the OP's original question, the question was specifically if a cat rolls over to be subordinate to you. The answer to that is definitely no.

Submissive and subordinate are definitely two different things - especially in cats. In human-cat relationships, a kitty rolling on its back isn't "submissive" in terms of some kind of acknowledgment of social rank, but kitty is exhibiting behavior a kitten displays with its mom - which, while it may have an element of "submission" to it, has no element of subordination to it. (And is usually a greeting).

When talking about cats and submission, I think of an element of fear, not subordination. Dogs indicate submission but as an act of indicating their being subordinate to a superior in the pack. And you're so right - this language just doesn't apply when talking about cats.

If "submissive" means "I don't want to take you on," then a kitty does not roll on its back, but will hunch up as small as possible with its tail underneath it. It may start to roll onto its back from that position - but that's to get ready to defend itself (similar to being on its back ready to fight). To indicate submission in terms of not wanting to mess with anyone, the cat walks around with its tail so between its legs that it's underneath it, really. And cats just really don't display that kind of behavior towards people - really just to other cats. ...and again, it's not a social rank thing, like with dogs. It's just the personality of... a scaredy cat, so to speak.

With the cat I mentioned, it definitely was a form of submission towards people. I have no idea what that poor cat's life had been like when he was younger. He also did the tuck up tight to look small posture.

But yes, cats and dogs cannot be compared. Cat submissive = " I know I can't take you on, you win... for now", dog submissive is more like "yay! you're the boss. Look at me roll over, accept me". Big difference.

Siri is my scaredy submissive cat. She'll tuck tight if truly frightened of one of the cats and if humans approach her too quickly. Almost as if she's been hit before. I'm constantly telling her she's a good girl and comforting her. The only time she shows her belly is when sleeping, and only when she's sleepy does she enjoy it being rub (she doesn't bite or kick at other times, she just gets scared).

Banshee lived on her back. She knew that when she exposed that pretty belly of hers I'd come to her. Always. So when she felt that she wasn't getting enough attention, she'd flop on the floor, roll on her back, and meow at me. I'd tell her about her purrrty belly and get on the floor with her. She loved it. I could tousle her belly-fur and she'd just lay there and purr.

She would sleep flat-out on her back. And even if we had other people in the house and we were all sitting in the living room, she'd come in, get right in the center of the room and flop. And she'd stick her paws out, so we would all comment on her belly. We probably have more pictures of her splayed-out than in any other position. Even when she was sleeping in a kitty-clump with the other cats, she always ended up flat on her back.

It got to the point where all I had to say was, "Where's that purrrty belly?" or "What a fluffy belly!" and she'd flop on cue. In Banshee's case, she just adored all the attention she got.

Yeah - I know about the submission on the back... Ghost does it. Pulling tight into a ball... Casper does THAT. And these two have become friends. Cas is terrified of the other cats in the house, but he is FINE with Ghostie b/c G is probably the most unthreatening kitty I have ever met.

Both my kitties roll onto their backs for two very different reasons

Madison still has the need to wrestle, so he'll roll on his back, I'll put on the kitty glove and pull down my sleeve, and roll him around while he chews on me and kicks me. It's never agressive, he rarely leaves a scratch, he just likes to play and he rolls over to let me know its play time.


Maybelle will roll on to her back when she's really really happy and being pet. she just flops right over like ahhh, now pet my belly!


She is terrified of other cats, and extremely submissive, (she spent a good 6 months of her life being attacked by 4-5 other cats routinely before I saved her ) and I have never seen her roll for Madison, she'll growl, hiss, run and corner herself or hide, but never ever rolls. It's sad really, it'll be a long time before she can leave the room she lives in, if at all.

but I don't see a cat on his back as a submission like you'd see in a dog. I do however feel honored when I'm allowed to pet my kitties bellies

This seems so strange. Until I got the Siamese pair none of my cats ever liked their tummy rubbed. The Siamese surprised me by rolling over and I wondered about that until I read that Siamese are very 'dog-like' cats sometimes 'even rolling over' to have their tummy rubbed.

So, now it seems that it is not just a character trait of specific breeds, but a behaviour exhibited by some cats and not others. I know ALL of my cats have trusted me, maybe they just never felt the need to demonstrate it.

Perhaps, cats are evolving!

It's not "dog like" at all, it is very common behavior for many cats and has always been.

Trout does it to pick fights with us She shows her belly, we rub it and then she bites our hands

Hehe. Mazy has the most Yummy Tummy, and is very generous with showing it, but I don't dare touch it. I need my hands and arms.

There are various reasons a cat will rull over and show its tummy... none have to do with "evoloving." It is how kittens greet their mums, and ANY cat will do so to get into defensive ready-to-attack position.

Interesting thread!

I agree that they show their tummies for different reasons, depending on the cat and who they're interacting with.

Nova runs to the door to greet us when we come home, and rolls around. She does not like tummy rubs.

Zoom shows us his tummy either because he wants rubbing, or because he wants to play. We say to him, "Tummy Rubbles" or "Eggy Wegg" and sometimes he'll roll over when we say these things. Eggy wegg is a plastic easter egg that he likes to rabbit kick. If he wants it, he'll roll over and we'll place it near him. When he kicks it away, we bring it back to him. He sometimes rolls over on his own, without us saying anything and we have to figure out which one it is that he wants.

Goopy and Loki like to sleep on their backs sometimes, usually propped against somthing. (Maybe it's comfortable for plump cats?) Goopy does like tummy rubs, but Loki does not. I imagine they feel comfortable and relaxed enough to expose their vulnerable parts to us maybe?

When Loki shows another cat his tummy, it is usually because he wants to be left alone. He gifts rabbit kicks to the head to anyone who doesn't get the message. I haven't noticed our other cats showing their tummies to each other.

Dogs do this. I found out that with cats - its the opposite kinda. When fighting the cat on the bottom is really the dominate one as they have all 4 feet and teeth ready to rip the belly of the cat on top!

Then again, some just like to have their belly rubbed. Ever notice that if you do it too long they will "attack" your hand or foot?