This is generally an offer of food, but this time Mr. Bond gave him a sidelong look and let him know that he wasn’t actually hungry. Even though one of the best ways cats show us they are hungry is to pretend they are actually much hungrier than they are.
So, are cats capable of pretending something that isn’t so? Do cats know when they are pretending? Are cats basically honest? Can we trust what they say to us?
Yes.
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Because it’s true: cats play make-believe. They chase fake mice. They can display I meant to do that. They can remind it us it is dinnertime by pretending they haven’t eaten in ages.
When cats pretend, they know they are putting on a play for us.
They know they are pretending, and they know if we know they are, too. James Bond used to send RJ in to wake us up for breakfast, and Mr. Bond would pretend he was “just lurking” in the hallway. Mr. Bond may know he’s busted, but he never lets on.
Yet cats do not pretend certain things at all. Affection and apprehension are never exaggerated for effect, so we should take these displays seriously. Cats do not exaggerate gestures of affection because showing affection in small ways is an important index of its depth. This is something cats never lie about.
Likewise, cats do not pretend to be frightened; this is not something they like to show, this is always an honest reaction.
When they exaggerate for effect, it is in the pursuit of better communication. The same way that people tend to raise their voice when they are uncertain if their message is getting across, cats “turn up the volume” on the body language expression, and use verbal cues as well.
When cats wish to appear more capable than they are displaying, this is also a serious signal; it is a survival signal.
Now, the cats know that an ungainly skidding across the kitchen floor will not be actually dangerous; the worst thing is to look foolish, which is bad enough. But in the wild, such an outcome could make them look like easy prey to a bigger predator. So, they don’t make anything look unplanned or clumsy.
Every cat will vary in their ability to plan and and carry out these little plays; these successful one cat shows. But every cat does some of it, and the more we are an appreciative audience, the more our cat will be comfortable in displaying more of their emotions, good and bad, for us.
Cats have the intelligence to construct a hypothetical series of events that would look better than what they just did, and pretend that this alternate universe actually happened.
We might say that show business is in their blood.
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There’s more ways to get our cat to be affectionate in The Way of Cats than the article you are reading now. See all of my CAT AFFECTION posts.
