Tail quiver

Whenever I see Scratch in the bathroom she will look at me, raise her right back foot, then her tail will quiver really quick. I've never seen her do that in any other room. She also does it when I go to feed her. I always think she does it because she's excited.. do your cats do this and what do you think it means?

Pudge wiggles her tail too. Usually when I come home from work, when she wants me to pick her up or pet her, when she sees her favorite toy, and at mealtimes. It means she's happy (and in some cases is a sort of cheerful greeting).

Two possibilities. A simple vibration of the tail when standing right around you means "Hi! I love you! You're awesome!".

But, what you describe (because of the foot lifting) sounds more like what I'd call a silent spray. Like, she's going through the motions of spraying but is not actually releasing any fluid/pee.

It sounds like she's claiming her food and in the bathroom-- well, you "claim" that pretty often, right? Is that where her box is?

Originally Posted by Zissou'sMom

It sounds like she's claiming her food and in the bathroom-- well, you "claim" that pretty often, right? Is that where her box is?

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Her box is in the basement. Sometimes we have to hide her food in the bathroom so our dog doesn't eat it..

Sebastian does this as well...when I get home from work and go to feed him and when he is happy to see me. It is the cutest thing..I love it!!

Originally Posted by Zissou'sMom

...But, what you describe (because of the foot lifting) sounds more like what I'd call a silent spray. Like, she's going through the motions of spraying but is not actually releasing any fluid/pee...

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Yeah, I've noticed Rocket do that once in a while, and it's always at the same place (which was the main tip-off.) I was just wondering if you had any ideas on whether or not, and how likely, a silent spray can lead to the actual thing?

My sister's two boys do it pretty often, and in a little over 5 years neither have ever sprayed once. I've never seen my babygirl do either the silent spray or the real thing.

All three cats also do the "Hello, I love you" won't you tell me your name quiver. It looks a little different if you watch closely, and the leg raising thing is what really sounds like a "silent spray".

The non-spray one looks vaguely like someone stuck a big cell phone vibrator at the base of the tail... the spray one is a bigger vibration and kind of travels up and down. It's really hard to describe though.

I don't know how likely it is to become a true spray. Two of the cats (mine and one of my sister's) were spayed before sexual maturity. The other one was captured off the street at some point, he was a couple years old already, and then neutered. If that matters.

OK, thanks....it doesn't sound like anything I need be too worried about.

This was discussed in this thread

http://www.thecatsite.com/forums/showthread.php?t=88566

I don't think it has any link to spraying - ie the cat is not thinking about spraying - and won't turn into spraying. Spraying is about marking territory and this seems to be motivated by something totally different. Jaffa has done this for 9 years and he's never actually sprayed.

Every single post in the other thread is about its link to spraying...

Anyway. Like I said, there are two reasons. If the cat isn't lifting it's leg, then it has nothing to do with spraying. If the leg is raised, it's pretend spraying.

Originally Posted by Zissou'sMom

Every single post in the other thread is about its link to spraying...

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I posted the link to the other thread because I thought it might be of interest to the OP, not as an explanation of why it's not spraying, and because I didn't want to repeat what I'd posted previously.

I personally don't believe it has anything to do with spraying (if a cat wants to spray it will spray).

p.s. - I read the bit in your post about the cell phone vibrator a bit too quickly and thought it said something rather different!