Conference misery::feline

    One of the (many) nicknames we have for Alex is "Whips", because when
    she's happy her tail whips around any and all which ways.  When she's
    angry, it whips ever faster (which is REALLY something to see).
    
    Rico's tail is quieter, and usually is just straight up (with the
    kink).
    
    K.C.

    The book "Cat Watching" by Desmond Morris explains all .....
    
    Twitching tails usually indicate that the cat is undecided.
    
    
    Lisa.
    

    Nippa will twitch/move the last 2-3 inches of her tail very rapidly
    when she's upset....when she's happy, the whole tail is relaxed and
    swaying gently back and forth.

    I agree with Lisa that when it is just the tip of the tail...it
    means that cat is undecided.  This usually happens when one of my cats
    is outdoors and they see me...they are undecided whether to come
    greet me because they know if they do....I'll probably bring them
    inside.
    
    I also read the book Cat Watching..very interesting opinions!!
    
    Sandy

    Zeno walks around the house with his tail straight up like an antenna.
    sometimes we'll see just his tail, twitching, straight up, as he makes
    his rounds.
    
    shannon
    

I think that every cat has a "tail language" all their own.  Missy Hana has
so many ways of talking to me with her tail:

	1) tail straight up, tip curled over, quick little jerks of the
	   whole tail....is her "happy to see me" body language.  She runs
	   up to me with her tail "dancing", and then sits at my feet looking
	   up at me with her beautiful aquamarine eyes.  Then she tells me
	   her adventures since I last saw her.

	2) tail whipping around in all directions....is her "pre-attack"
	   body language.  When Hana is crouched down with her tail whipping
	   around, she is about to jump on The Flash and remind her who is
	   Alpha female cat in our house.  The Flash gives a satisfying
	   squawk when jumped on, rolls over on her back, and makes mock
	   swatting motions at Hana's head - noone ever gets hurt or even
	   seriously harried in these encounters, but Hana is satisfied
	   and prances away with her tail in the normal position...

	3) Tail straight up in the air, swaying ever so gently from side
	   to side (a very little arc) as she walks.  I call this Hana's
	   Drum Major tail - she usually parades in front of me down the
	   hall, leading the procession as I go about my household duties.

Dilly's tail talk is entirely different - her pre-attack tail is down and
complete still (but her whole body vibrates as she hunkers down)...her
happy tail is straight up, tip gracefully curled over, swayed gently back
and forth - and her "marching" tail is down and out from her body, swaying
gently back and forth.  

    Kelsey constantly swishes his tail.  The darn thing is like a whip,
    always into things and knocking stuff around.  I don't what type of
    statement he is trying to make but find it incredibly annoying!! :^)
    
    When he is happy, he will back up to a wall or cabinet and shake his
    tail back and forth like he's going to spray but nothing comes out.  He
    also makes little puurrp sounds and chirps while he's doing it.

    RE: .7
    
    >When he is happy, he will back up to a wall or cabinet and shake his
    >tail back and forth like he's going to spray but nothing comes out.  He
    >also makes little puurrp sounds and chirps while he's doing it.
    
    Rico does this...he gets up on the kitchen chair and stands on it, with
    his front paws on the table, his rear paws start to "dance" and his
    tail starts to shake, and me makes a funny snorting/mrrrrp-ing sound. 
    We call it "dancing for his dinner".
    
    K.C.

    
       The only time Tykey's tail does anything is when you start to pat
      her then it goes straight up, now Domino, his tail is always swaying
      in the breeze and his will usually knock things over with it.
      But also when you pat Tykey if she's laying on a chair, she will go
      round and round in a circle laying down while your patting her, once
      you stop, she stops...It's pretty funny to watch..
    
    
    Diana

    Cleo's purr twills when she is really happy.  When we cuddle together on
    the couch, she will sigh using her voice.  She loves to curl up next to
    me when I've got the sleeping bag out and laying there watching TV. 
    It is the absolute best moment of the day!  :-)
    
    Karen

    A question on what another behavior means.
    
    My cat climbs on the bed or a pile of clothes and kneads his front
    paws. It is like a slow walking in place of the front paws only.
    or he is trying to soften up the bed/clothes, but he doesn't always
    lie down.
    
    Bruce

    We call it "pushy paws" and I believe it is a sign of total 
    contentment!   My Dewey does this all the time...and drools the
    whole time!
    
    Sandy,

    I've read that cats retain this inborn instinctive behavior from the
    time they are kits and nursing ... "kneading" helps the milk flow,
    which makes them feel warm and fuzzy ... and then kneading continues
    when the cat is cozying in (or up) as it gets older.
    
    Wumpkin does 'num-nums' when she's on my shoulder ONLY; Harry (the Rat)
    does them when he's settling down on the bed at night.
    
    Some cats I've had keep their claws IN when doing num-nums; others MUST
    have the claws fully extended (ouch!) -- but I've never had one that
    switched back-and-forth, claws-in, then claws-out.
    
    I think it's the equivalent of thumb-sucking or rocking for un-furred
    creatures.

    There are only 2 places that Rico "kneads"...one is my arm (when he is
    lying next to me), the other is my stomach.  When he's kneading my arm,
    it is with claws out (my upper right arm is completely destroyed)...but
    when it is my tummy, no claws.
    
    Alex does it whenever, wherever, however, whyever, etc.
    
    K.C.

There was recently an article in Cat Fancy that discussed the language of
the cat tail.  Though I'm sure some cats haven't read the article and still
insist on individuality, it still makes for interesting reading for humans.

Jill :-)

    I have a friend that lived in Hawaii for years and she tells me that
    they call kneading "Lomi-Lomi" (sp).  That means "massage."  I love it!
    
    Jo

    My cat Escoh does it on my back which is absolutely WONDERFUL after a
    long day sitting at the tube! She will sometimes knead up and down my
    back. And like K.C. said any place, any time, anywhy, etc...
    
    Roslyn

    We have one cat with "Happy Feet!"....He does it when
    near you, on a blanket...

    My cat kneads his hind paws!  Is this normal (if it is, then it's the
    first time I can say anything Spike does is normal : ).  At first I had
    this horrible thought that he was lining up to spray, but he bunches
    the blanket, towel, clothes, up behind him, and rotates his hind end
    around and kneads with his hind paws.  His front paws stay in place
    like a pivot.  Then he turns around, a couple of pats with his front
    paws, and plops (and I mean PLOP!, he weighs over 20 pounds) down to
    snooze.  
    Sarah

    Laci makes lomi-lomi with her front and back feet.  It looks really
    weird.  She usually only does this on Ken, not on me or anything else. 
    I tease him that she is trying to do something obscene to him. :')  
    
    Jo

>    Laci makes lomi-lomi with her front and back feet.  It looks really
>    weird.  She usually only does this on Ken, not on me or anything else. 
>    I tease him that she is trying to do something obscene to him. :')  
    
nope.  Just practicing her tap dancing....

      My Max usually uses all 4 feet too..........

    J.C. uses all 4 feet too...but his front feet march like he
    is in a parade.  He actually stays in one place and raises them 
    real high!!
    
    Not bad for a cat that hated people!!!  Still can't get him to
    purr to much...but we are working on that!!
    
    Sandy

Kyra does "happy feet" as well.  Every night just before I go to sleep.  I'll
be laying in bed watching TV when all of the sudden she'll jump up and just
start kneeding the covers next to me. 

Michaela (RIP) used to do "happy feet" whenever we picked her up.  Her feet
would go IN THE AIR!!  We used to laugh because it seemed as if she was
keeping time with her feet. (-:

Holly

as the Dillster likes to crawl under the covers and knead my side at night,
I find that I never forget to trim claws anymore...once every two weeks like
clockwork.  She has a wonderful way of reminding me...PAIN.  

    Furby does more of a "tap dance" when she does "happy feet". She
    doesn't use her claws at all! She just sort of taps you in the belly!
    It's really cute!
    
    Feendoonie doesn't knead much. usually she just sricks one claw in me
    at night to get my attention! OUCH!
    
    Y

Hannah stands on her head (burying her nose in your clothes) when she kneads.
Before she starts, she'll stand there kind of squinty-eyed, as if she's trying
to remember what to do next.  Then she places her forehead against you right
next to her front feet and starts to knead in a very slow and purposeful manner.

Simon just drools (and purrs) ;^)

    Miss Pearlie Mae stands up when she does happy feet (mostly on our
    blanket on the bed or the one on the couch).  She'll grab a mouthful of
    blanket and then turn around in a circle while kneading, so the blanket
    gets all tangled up.  I find it really funny that when I start laughing
    at her, she continues, but looks up at me as if to say "hey! what's so
    comical about this?"
    
    shannon

    Miss Pippin does two dance steps on the bed just shortly after we get
    in.  We've got a top sheet over the blankets so what she does is this
    sort of shuffle/hophop on the sheet to let us know she wants to get
    under it - so we sort to play along with it cuz she starts trilling and
    giving head butts until we let her under.  Now she doesn't want to go
    completely under the covers, she just wants to get under the top sheet
    so she can do the dig-it samba on the blanket.  With this top sheet
    over her head she wanda-lagustas for about 2-3 minutes until she
    strategically places herself between me and Richard.  When she's in
    place Gino (the better mannered of the three) comes up and gives me
    good night kisses, talks for a bit and then gets down at my fee.  Then
    comes Stitch who starts walking all over me making muffins on my chest,
    purring loudly and dropping dolops of hot drool on my face - not done
    yet he gets in the crook of my arm and starts sucking on my night shirt
    (but this time my upper self is on the damp side) when he's done with
    this he pushes Gino out of the way in Richard's direction, gets down at
    my feet and goes to sleep.  
    
    I don't need an alarm, they wake me up the same way about 4:30 a.m.
    with Pippin tipping over perfume bottles for the kicker.
    
    sigh
    
    Giudi