Only five basic interactions? That must have been written by someone who never had the privilege of living with a tortoiseshell cat like Tulie.
When I pet one of the dogs, Tulie runs into the bathroom, jumps up on the counter next to the sink, and waits for me. Why? I rinse my hands after petting the dogs to avoid allergies, and she knows I will do that. Tulie loves water and is fascinated by it and wants to know where it goes.
That bathroom sink is missing a stopper. When Tulie was smaller, she would put her arm all the way down the the drain to her shoulder to find what was down there. She still loves it if I turn the water on just a little bit so it dribbles and she can swat at it.
Tulie makes her own toys. Because of that missing stopper, I bought a little steel strainer to fit in the drain, similar to this one:
She pulled it out and put it in the middle of the hallway where someone would accidentally step on it and stomp it flat. Now it makes a perfect toy for me to roll on the floor or toss over her head so she can catch it. I bought a couple more and she did the same thing to them. She has trained me well.
When she wants me to play, she starts with the usual cat "walk by and brush your leg with her tail". If I don't get a clue, she stops and puts one hind paw on my foot. I usually wear Birkenstocks at home, so she finds the spot between the straps and gradually puts all her weight on that one foot until I notice.
Like many cats, Tulie loves to play with a bird feather wand toy. These are the toys with a flexible wand, a string hanging from the tip, and a collection of bird feathers hanging from the end of the string.
Tulie's "sister" Sephie also loves this toy. Tulie has studied how I operate the bird toy for her and for Sephie. One night after I was done playing with them, I wedged the bird toy handle into a chair in the hope that they would entertain themselves. And they did! Here is Tulie on the chair and Sephie on the floor:
I've never seen a cat use a dangle toy on another cat :)
I've also had cats and agree they have all sorts of behaviors. The point of that article was more about a common cat "language." I just remembered one, that either it mentioned or something else did: when a cat wants to show it's comfortable with you, it will look at you and squint its eyes.
But just as humans do all sorts of interesting things besides talk, so do cats.
> when a cat wants to show it's comfortable with you, it will look at you and squint its eyes.
Having grown up around cats I have to admit I routinely do that slow-blink myself, even to other humans. My wife thought nothing of it until I pointed it out when I caught myself doing it. Not being a cat, she didn't read anything into it previously.
Thanks for asking. Yes, she is a bit on the heavy side, but I've seen much worse. We are working to slim her down, and hopefully the exercise with the bird toys will help.
Sephie is part Maine Coon. They are large cats to begin with, and she also has a very fluffy coat, especially on her belly. So she looks even bigger than she is.
When I pet one of the dogs, Tulie runs into the bathroom, jumps up on the counter next to the sink, and waits for me. Why? I rinse my hands after petting the dogs to avoid allergies, and she knows I will do that. Tulie loves water and is fascinated by it and wants to know where it goes.
That bathroom sink is missing a stopper. When Tulie was smaller, she would put her arm all the way down the the drain to her shoulder to find what was down there. She still loves it if I turn the water on just a little bit so it dribbles and she can swat at it.
Tulie makes her own toys. Because of that missing stopper, I bought a little steel strainer to fit in the drain, similar to this one:
https://www.homedepot.com/p/203675133
She pulled it out and put it in the middle of the hallway where someone would accidentally step on it and stomp it flat. Now it makes a perfect toy for me to roll on the floor or toss over her head so she can catch it. I bought a couple more and she did the same thing to them. She has trained me well.
When she wants me to play, she starts with the usual cat "walk by and brush your leg with her tail". If I don't get a clue, she stops and puts one hind paw on my foot. I usually wear Birkenstocks at home, so she finds the spot between the straps and gradually puts all her weight on that one foot until I notice.
Like many cats, Tulie loves to play with a bird feather wand toy. These are the toys with a flexible wand, a string hanging from the tip, and a collection of bird feathers hanging from the end of the string.
Tulie's "sister" Sephie also loves this toy. Tulie has studied how I operate the bird toy for her and for Sephie. One night after I was done playing with them, I wedged the bird toy handle into a chair in the hope that they would entertain themselves. And they did! Here is Tulie on the chair and Sephie on the floor:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=46rROBUDPYI
At one point in the video, the bird feathers happen to land on the chair. Tulie figures out how to get the toy unstuck so Sephie can keep playing.
And then the dogs walk by to get some water, so both cats stop playing and act real cool like "nothing to see here, move along now."
I think we have five new behaviors already! :-)