h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

I've found with all the cats that I've had, that the more you talk to them, the more they will talk back, often quite affectionately. One female cat I had who was over 15 years old would have quite long conversations with me. I think it's also important to look at what the tail is doing as that can be an important indicator of whether the cat is disturbed about anything.

In the article you say that adult cats never chirrup at one another. May I refer you to the YouTube stars, the talking cats, whose conversation is conducted in chirrups and meows and lasts for well over a minute. Both parties to the conversation are adult cats approximately 10 years old.
My moggie also chirps and meeps at almost anything, but that's because he's an idiot.

Should I add something to the Entry that idiot adult cats may also chirrup to each other?

I've changed it from "it never occurs" to "it rarely occurs".

Thanks for your input.

Some years ago I was told by an elderly Japanese gentleman that to make your cat happy you should smile at him/her by slowly lowering and rising your eyelids as this was how cats smiled.

So far it has always worked.

Good luck

Yeah, I like this idea and will try it out!

When meeting a cat you've not met before, I find it best to follow a strict code of 'etticat'. First, avoiding any sudden movements, slowly get down on your haunches so that you're on its level (this won't work if it's on top of a high wall as you won't be able to reach it). All the while do the slow blinking routine (this can be accompanied by slow nodding for extra reassurance) whilst enquiring after its health in a soothing tone of voice. If it hasn't run away you can then offer it a finger to sniff; once it has ascertained that the finger is not too to unseemly come into contact with its coat (they like to know where it's been), it might then condascend to let you stroke it. Try a one-handed brain massage interspersed with scratching behind the ears & round the collar area; be cautious about stroking too far down the back as some cats take this as an insult. The only problem with conversing with a 'strange' cat is that it might think it's got a friend for life, and start following you, in which you have to undo all your good work by running towards it, flailing your arms and hissing.

I follow a similar procedure to Rikardo. I have made friends with many cats in the area which is not always a good thing as the neighbour's cat often wants to come into our home and I know that our cat would take grave exception to that. Otherwise it's really good to meet and greet cats. I would say that the first few seconds are crucial in establishing a rapport.

My trouble is that I've now adopted three cats who all seem to get along well but we are attracting all the other cats in our neighbourhood and this is upsetting the applecart a bit. We don't have a catflap but leave our door and shutters open enough for our cats to come in and out as they please, but that means that it's open house for all the rest which results in major bust-ups during the night. It's as if we've got a great big neon sign up outside saying "welcome to all cats, come in and have dinner on us".

You can buy a special cat flap which only opens if it detects your cat's collar. But I've only seen it advertised; I've never heard any reviews.

Unfortunately our cats are naked! We live so far in the country and they're such independent animals that they don't wear collars. I've heard that those catflaps are pretty good though.

if your cats are microchipped there are also catflaps which can be programmed to recognise the microchip, unfortunately i can't remember the firm making them, but they could be worth searching for on the internet.

my old moggy makes very throaty 'prrrroooooowwwwwww' noises in the middle of the night, as if he can't find me and wants me to call him so he knows where i am... he's not that bright, i'm always in the same place!

All cats are "not too bright". But they like to think they're superclever, and get insulted if you laugh at them.

Yes, I've noticed that they can get a bit tetchy if you laugh at them but then with some of the antics they get up to you can't help it. I usually apologise to my cat after I laugh at him and make a fuss of him which makes him feel better and gets him to purr and relax again. He's a big softy really, except with other cats when he can be quite vicious. He knows where his bread is buttered!

I read/heard that a slow blink was the cats' version of a smile about 8 years ago. It made sense to me; because, as I think is suggested on this thread, staring at a predatory animal is a direct threat. I have used this "trick" on our cat, for the last 7 years; and he never fails to respond, with a similar gesture. I've also tried it on over cats, whom respond in the same way (when the get over their initial apprehension). Dogs seem to like it as well, although they don't actually respond with a (slow) blink, in my experience.

Yes, I'm trying the slow blink with our cat and he does seem to respond and enjoy this form of communication.