It shows how much communication means to them.
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Cats don’t act things out for each other. We might not realize that they have a sophisticated communications system that already works well.
I’ve seen cats convey concepts like, You try that mysterious device first, The squirrel is back at the computer room window, and The bowls have vanished from the kitchen! Yet, to my human eyes and ears, it’s been only a brief bit of nudge-nudge-wink-wink.
But humans need to have it, more or less, spelled out for them. And that’s why some of my brightest cats, and even my not so brightest, dramatize their needs and wants for me.
Especially after they know it works.
Puffy would drag himself over to our feet and raise… one… trembling… paw. He was really good, and he would usually get something for his performance.
Mr. Bond likes to play hide and seek from behind my laptop screen. Even if he’s making a big fuss about hiding behind it.
While Olwyn likes to come into the kitchen, and ask us why we’ve summoned her there. Whether we have, or not.
How can we let our cat know we like these performances? How can we encourage them to try more dramatic license?
Watch them. We might be surprised at how the cat reacts when we pay attention to them, even when they are not asking for it. Cats will try to see how they can reliably attract our attention for future reference.
Study them. If our cat is trying to snag our attention, what do they do with it? If they roll over, extend a paw, or flop down on us, they are asking for affection. But if they act coy, and twirl around, they are asking us to follow them.
Respond to them. Get up, or move in their direction, using a phrase like Show me, which will always signal the cat that we are ready to observe what they would like us to observe. Perhaps we will figure it out when we get there. Perhaps we will need more help.
Cats will continue to do whatever gains, and expands, our attention. The more we appreciate, and applaud, their efforts, the more they will try to communicate.
Every actor needs an audience.
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There’s more ways to understand our cat with The Way of Cats than the article you are reading now. See all of my posts on WHY CATS DO THAT.
