Cats
Nature's adorable little carnivores
One of cat's greatest draws is communication with their humans.
Domestic cats use many vocalizations for communication, including
purring, trilling, hissing, growling/snarling, grunting, and several
different forms of meowing. Their body language, including position of
ears and tail, relaxation of the whole body, and kneading of the paws,
are all indicators of mood. The tail and ears are particularly important
social signal mechanisms in cats. A raised tail indicates a friendly
greeting, and flattened ears indicates hostility. Tail-raising also
indicates the cat's position in the group's social hierarchy, with
dominant individuals raising their tails less often than subordinate
ones. Feral cats are generally silent. Nose-to-nose touching is also a
common greeting and may be followed by social grooming, which is
solicited by one of the cats raising and tilting its head. Purring may
have developed as an evolutionary advantage as a signaling mechanism of
reassurance between mother cats and nursing kittens. Post-nursing cats
often purr as a sign of contentment: when being petted, becoming
relaxed, or eating. The mechanism by which cats purr is elusive. The cat
has no unique anatomical feature that is clearly responsible for the
sound.
Anyone can be a cat lady