Yesterday I posted on social media photos of my famous angry cat expressions and I asked you to send me yours and your response was magnificent. A question I get frequently asked is “how can I understand that my cat is angry?”
I combined my personal experience with short research on relevant articles on the internet and I present you with some of my results.
Firstly, I would like to highlight the fact that the separation of emotions is somewhat clumpy. That is, there is rarely anger without a hinder of fear, rarely a derogatory expression does not include some anger etc. So, we are essentially studying the phenomenon of the annoyance of the cat as manifested through various emotions with the most notable one being anger!
So, let’s see what are the most common signs that show that your cat is angry:
Is my cat angry?
- Groaning/growling/whistling: If you think that only dogs growl, you are mistaken or completely non-observant, or you have never seen an angry cat. Angry cats make a wide variety of noises that signal their disapproval, such as groaning, whistling or squeaking and growling. In a case like that your cat is screaming that it is angry and the best you have to do is to give it space to calm down. When it calms down to some extent, you can try to play with it and reinforce its positive feelings. You may be surprised at how quickly moans can turn into purring.
- THE EYES: If you have a cat, I suppose and hope you have noticed that we, cats, express ourselves very strongly through our eyes, which are the most expressive thing about us. There is no way you will not understand when our look is annoyed. It is very similar to yours when you are annoyed, so if our look reminds you of anything, do not ignore it. We are INDEED angry at that moment.
- Their look when you are about to leave them (for a trip): If you think that your cat does not understand when it is time for you to leave them for days, you are mistaken. They know very well that the moment you start packing your things, something that has happened in the past, is about to happen again. In that case, if they are not loners like me, who on the one hand are glad that the suitcases open and can go and smell them and get into them, but on the other hand are also glad that they are going to stay alone for a few days, you will find your cats looking at you with a somewhat icy, annoyed and perhaps scornful, but not too angry look. Do not forget to leave them a t-shirt with your scent to accompany them while you are away.
- Hiding: Hiding is one of the first signs of annoyance/dissatisfaction/fear/anger of your cat and should not be ignored. In that case, resist the urge to get it out of hiding. Again, give it space and time until it recovers on its own!
- The whiskers are stuck on the muzzle: Even the position of the whiskers on the muzzle is often indicative of your cat’s mood. If they are loose, your cat is calm, if they are projected outwards, it is a sign of excitement and if they are stuck on the muzzle it is a sign of annoyance!
- The ears turn backwards: One of the most classic signs that your cat is annoyed/angry is when its ears turn backwards, protruding slightly (like airplane wings). In that case, you should again leave your cat alone and keep your distance, giving it the luxury of time and space! If you try to approach it, it may give you a nice scratch and it will be right.
- Abrupt movements of the tail back and forth: One of the most common signs that your cat is angry is the abrupt, spasmodic movements of the tail back and forth (like a whip). Whatever you are doing the moment it seems annoyed, stop doing it, take some distance and give it some time to get over its nerves (which are out of the roof in this case).
- When the hairs of the tail and the spine are standing up and the back is bent: In this case, we are not talking about anger that it wants to hide, but, ladies and gentlemen, about our cat being extremely angry and also scared and anxious at the same time. You better run! At this point, we should mention that in general, that cat’s tail is one of the means it uses the most to express its emotional state!
- It leaves a smelly present on your bed: Very few human cat roommates haven’t found this kind of present from their cats on their beds (pee or poop). Here, anger is somewhat mixed with separation anxiety. Your cat is unable to cope with the fact that you left to go to work and chooses the place that smells the most like you to use its own fragrance, in an attempt to deal with its stress. At this point it should be noted that I have NEVER done such a thing to my lousy human parents!
- It eats less or not at all: One of the clearest signs of discomfort and anger for your cat is when it begins to limit the amount of food it eats or when it stops eating altogether. It may even go so far as to refuse to eat at all, as a protest against something that is happening and bothering it. The entry of a new pet, or something else that disrupts its routine is capable of disturbing it so much that it resorts to such an extreme measure.
One time, I stopped eating for 8 days and I am not sure if it was the stomatitis I suffered or the fact that my parents were taking care of a newcomer stray cat!
As you understand, we have some nerves as well, as living creatures that we are. Do not ignore them, leave us alone, give us time and space, stop doing the things that annoy us and everything will be alright, I promise!
Lastly, check my personal photos here, I’m angry 99% of the time angry! MEOW
