Cat Language 101

| June 11, 2006 | Leave your comment

Term AKA Description
“Annoyance Ears” One or both ears laid back in disapproval
“Bum Down Commitment” Hunkering down to eat, after hovering over food
“Prairie-Doggin’” “Doing Meerkat” Standing on hind legs with front paws hanging down
“Henning Out” “Loaf of Bread”
“Buddha Mode”		 Lying down with paws tucked under and only chest fur showing
“Purrin’ or Endurin’” Kitty’s attitude about being held
“The Butt” “The Tail” (with expressive movement) Portion of the anatomy shown to human to reveal displeasure
“Meatloafing” “Being a Meatloaf” Lying down, dozing, with all four paws tucked in and tail wrapped around body
“Surfer Dude” (Variation of “Meatloaf” Usually on a chair, with forelimbs extended straight forward so the “armpits” are on the edge and the arms are sticking out in space
“Zoomies” “Crazies”
“Chasing Invisibles”
“Greeblies”
“Banshee Cats”		 Crazy racing around with “Airplane Ears”
Vulching “Doing a Snoopy” Hovering over something (potential prey?), usually from a high position
“Making Butt Face” Expression after two cats engage in mutual butt-sniffing (probably Flehman Response)
“Making Bread” “Making Biscuits”
“Marching” (When standing)
“Cat Dancing” or “Tap Dancing” (Kneading while Walking)		 Describes cats’ kneading activities
War Cry “Yipper Lips” Chattering at birds outside window
“Little Gaping Hole” Facial expression after sniffing (See “Making Butt Face”)
“Boofy” Description of tail when alarmed (combination of “bristling” and “poofy”)
“Butt Wiggle” “Winding Up”
“Digging In”
“Revving Up”		 Anticipatory action prior to pouncing on real or imagined prey
“Squishy Eyes” “Lovey Eyes”
“Blinky Love Eyes”
“Squinky”		 The squinting look that indicates extreme pleasure and/or love
“Merfing” Faint, squeaky sounds which communicate approval (or desires)
“Hoovering” “Snarfing” Digging into Food with Gusto
“Snarf and Barf” Self-Descriptive
“Blanket Surfing” “The Mole” Burrowing into bedding (or a pile of clothing)
“UBDD (Under Belly Dingle Dangle)” “Slabs of Flab”
“The Udder”		 The pocket of fat or loose skin that flaps from side-to-side when a cat runs.
“Chin Roll” Rolling chin-first to the floor (an indication of wanting petting)
“Elevator Butt” Raising that part of the body the cat desires to be scratched
“Dead Mousie” “Airin’ it Out” Lying on back with tummy exposed and feet sticking up in the air
“Pitty-Pat” Gentle taps to a human’s nose to get him to wake up and feed the starving cat

from Cat Language 101, I guess someone knows cats pretty well.

Cat Language 101 was posted on June 11, 2006 at 9:22 am in Furbabies and. It was last modified on June 11, 2006 at 9:22 am. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response or trackback from your site.

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  • http://www.tastetheworld.org Chase

    Hahhahah!! CUTE! I have 2 cats, so I know exactly what that stuff is. :)

    I love the UBDD! One of my kitties has a BIIIIG one!

  • http://fragilemusings.net Robin

    Chase – :wave: I have 2 cats as well. They need a name for when cats feel the need to knock everything off tables…for fun it seems :dunno:

  • http://vixen.wordpress.com/ vixen

    All of us cat owners read this list, and giggle knowing exactly which each move looks like. LOL Though, I only have one cat, and he makes that “butt face” when he licks is one empty nut sack! LOL

  • http://jedisluzer.blogspot.com Sarah

    My cat never tucks his limbs under. He is the only cat I’ve ever had who won’t do it. He unfailingly tucks them all under except . (TM). Haha. I love the bird war cry, though.

  • http://jedisluzer.blogspot.com Sarah

    OK, it hated my comment. Or else I was too busy drinking coffee and messed up my tag. Oh well.

  • http://miss-ann-thrope.com Miss Ann

    the butt in the face thing is called the backwards smile. they’re wrong about then a cat sticks it’s butt in your face…it’s a sign of happy, lovey stuff.

    They left out the head butt and rubbing…marking you as theirs.

    cats will not sleep belly up if they don’t trust you.

    The chattering thing? oddly, it’s supposed to lull it’s prey into a feeling of safety.

    the ears and tail speak volumes as does the type of meow. i’m telling ya, i know exactly what all 5 of these kitties are saying. you just have to pay attention.

    oh and if knocking stuff over or scratching happens immediately after being discipled, it’s pay back. really.

  • http://fragilemusings.net Robin

    Miss Ann – Ahhhh…payback. Now that sounds like Aurora :rolleyes:

  • http://heather-anne.com heather(anne)

    Very cute!

  • http://www.heathersblog.com Heather B

    just thought i would let ya know that in IE your blog is totally messed up from the tables you added to your post….

  • http://kentuckygurl.com Kentucky Girl

    Heh…those are cute!

  • http://fragilemusings.net Robin

    Yuck. Damn IE :rant: