Behaviour/communication

Question
I was wondering if you could tell me what sort of eating behaviours cats have and how they communicate with each other?

Thanx!

Answer
Karlie,

I am not sure what you mean by eating behaviors, per se.

In the wild, cat's tend to not know when or where they will get their next meal, so they engage in gorging/fasting behavior.  I.e., when they encounter something edible, they eat as much as they possibly can and then have to go without until they capture or encounter their next meal.

In nature, cats tend not to graze but eat up everything they can whenever they get it.  In the domestic setting, we tend to feed our cats twice a day, measured amounts, so as to control their weight (obesity is as bad for cats as it is for people).  We do not leave dry food around for the cats to graze.

Cats tend to communicate using body language and their keen sense of smell.  When two cats encounter each other they touch noses to see if they know each other.  If not, there is usually much posturing, hissing, and spitting.  Cats who do not know each other may make a lot of noise, but they rarely will really hurt each other.

Cats tend not to communicate orally unless it is with humans or young kittens.

Cats normally communicate with facial gestures, tail gestures, and other body language techniques.  You can tell much about how a cat feels by watching its body language.  


A nice little book on cat communications is: "How to Talk to Your Cat!" by Lynn Allison; American Media Mini Rags, Boca Raton, FL; 2000.

Best regards... Norm.