Interaction
Play
All cats love to play, and playing is an important part of any kittens development. Playing is how cats learn the important lessons of attack and defense. They may look cute when attacking a ball or piece of metal foil, but they are actually learning or practising the art of stalking, chasing and pouncing. Cats need to play all through their lives, so don't stop playing with him just because he reaches adulthood. A cat that is played with regularly is more likely to be happy, content and healthy and less likely to suffer from behavioural and weight problems. Just like humans, a cat who remains ative in mind and body can remain healthy and alert well into their old age.
Cat Toys
You do not need to spend a fortune on fancy cat toys to keep your cat amused. All cats are fascinated with movement so all it takes is a piece of string with a feather or wad of paper tied to the end to keep him entertained for hours. Ping-pong balls and scrunched up metal foil are also particularly good as they only require the lightest touch to send them flying across the floor, inciting your cat's innate responses to chase and capture. If you do want to buy your cat some toys, then a wide range is available, everything from simple toy mice to play centres designed to stimulate behaviour such as stalking, pouncing, chasing and jumping. These can be expensive but you can easily made something similar with joined up cardboard boxes with holes cut in them for your cat to crawl through and climb on top of. As with children, you may find that often, your cat is more interested in the box the toy came in than the actual toy itself!
Catnip
The smell of catnip, or catmint, is very attractive to cats. It is believed that cats react to an oil in the plant, invoking a state of well-being within them. catnip is completely harmless to cats and is not addictive. Most cats will respond to it's effects but not all, so do not worry if your cat shows no interest in it. If you have a garden that your cat is allowed in to, then it may be a good idea to grow a patch of catnip for your feline friend to roll around in. ALternatively, you can buy jars of dried catnip that you can sprinkle onthe ground for your cat to rub against, and also many cat toys have catnip inside them to encourage play. Kittens do not develop a response to catnip until they are about 3 months old.
Communication
Cats use a variety of different methods for communicating with other cats, humans and other animals. These methods include biting, rubbing, body language, meowing, purring, scent marking and others. All of the scent related activites are generally for the benefit of other cats and animals, as humans do not have sensitive enough sensitive enough noses to pick up these markings. Vocal communication is mostly for the benefit of humans, especially meowing. Growling and hissing can be used to communicate with other cats but meowing seems to be a learned behaviour that cats start when they realise that humans are not picking up on other signs they use such as body language and scent marking. This can be seen when looking at adult cats in the wild, who very rarely vocalise, choosing instead to use scent and body language to communicate.
Scent
Anyone who has owned a cat will be familiar with them rubbing themselves against objects, including humans. This is done not solely as a sign of affection as many people believe, but as a way of marking things (and you) with his scent that marks the object or person as that cats property. This is done through glands that cats have around their head, body and tail which exude a scent perceptible to cats but not to humans. Cats also leave their scent by scratching which has the added benefits of leaving a visual sign of the cats presence and keeping their claws in good order. As well as the glands mentioned previosly, cats paws also contain special glands to allow scent marking when scratching.
Cats may also adopt spraying as a means of marking their territory, although this is uncommon (but not unheard of) in neutered males, and neutered and whole females. Spraying involves a cat standing up and spraying their urine onto usually a vertical surface. The scent is thought to contain information regarding the cats' age, sex, health and rank, with the freshness of the scent indicating how long ago the cat was present.
Body Language
Cats use their tails to signify many emotions to other creatures. A tail waving from side to side can show that a cat is displeased, while if they are hunting they may simply twitch the top of their tail, but this can also indicate anger. Cats greet close friends with their tails held high, showing happiness, but may greet strangers with their tails held slightly less high in the air. If your cat is holding it's tail far to the ground, this is usually indicative of displeasure and unhappiness.
Cats may also touch noses or rub cheeks in greeting, which are both friendly greetings, and as mentioned above, a way of marking their territory. Licking acts as a way for cats to bond. Cats will frequently groom each other, but only with other cats they know very well. This is done as a sign of affection and cats will sometimes groom humans for this reason as well. Grooming is also used to demonstrate the dominant cat, with the more submissive cat being forcibly groomed by the dominant one to ensure the social order is still in check.
Many cats display the act of kneading. This is a soft continual pawing of an area, usually just before the cat lies down. It is a sign of happiness and contentment and is thought to come from either the time when wild cats had to flatten areas of grass or foliage in order to sleep comfortably, or the instinct that kittens have to knead their mothers teat to stimulate milk production.
Yawning and blinking in front of a human is seen as a sign of trust and affection in cats. If you are to dramatically close and open your eyes while looking at your cat, you will see that this action will be reciprocated by your cat. This is one of the signs of cats intelligence, as they are able to correspond one of their body parts to the body part of a different species.
Purring
The purr is most often used as a way of signalling that a cat is happy. Cats tend to purr whilst displaying other signs of happiness such as raised tails and half-closed eyes. However, cats may also purr when they are frightened, anxious or nervous. They do this as a way of comforting and reassuring themselves the same way that we might hum or whistle to ourselves if we were scared.
The exact meaning or meanings of the purr have been debated for a long time and still no-one is completely sure what it means when a cat is purring and happy. It may be to signal that the cat is feeling sociable or that he is seeking or receiving attention or it may simply signify a cats contentment or friendliness.
It is not entirely clear why cats purr with other cats, but is most likely to be a signal of friendliness, or possibly a signal that the cat is healthy and well.
There has been one study done that shows that purring may also be beneficial to cats health. The study discovered that all cats purrs had the same frequencies as those known as the best for bone growth, fracture healing, pain relief, relief of breathlessness, and inflammation. So it is possible that purring acts as a kind of internal massage for cats, keeping muscles and ligaments in prime condition, and healing wounds or bones that are damaged whilst relieving pain and reducing swelling.
