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Am I the Alpha Cat?
In rec.pets.cats.anecdotes Marina wrote:
Nikki doesn't like it if I bring my face too close to hers, or in fact if I bring my face anywhere near her body, so I don't. Sometimes I can't resist her cute little tummy if she is lying on her back, and then I have to rub my face in it. Nikki just freezes in place, looking completely shocked. Frank, OTOH, rubs his face all over mine and doesn't mind at all that I stick my face close to his. Betsy always likes to lie on or next to me and be petted, but she *has* to have her tail towards my face. If I turn her around, she'll turn back, and if she gets disturbed too often, either by me rearranging her or by me turning over or something, she's off. Mandy likes sitting near (not on) me, facing me, and getting unending skritches on her face, ears and neck. She'll push at my arm or hand with her face if I'm so selfish as to be doing something else when she's ready for petting. But she does NOT like her belly rubbed, and never turns tail-end towards me. I just thought they had different personalities. Cheryl |
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In rec.pets.cats.anecdotes Orchid wrote:
Unlike dogs, eye contact is not a dominance signal. Rather, it is a signal of friendship, as it is in humans. Actually, I'm not sure this is true. Maybe eye contact isn't a dominance signal in cats, but it can often be a signal of *aggression*. I know that my cats get alarmed if I stare at them with my eyes wide open, and they relax if I blink slowly or close my eyes. In fact, one theory about why cats always head for the cat hater in the room is that when people like something, they tend to widen their eyes, and when they dislike something, they lower their lids at it. But cats are more at ease with beings (cats or humans) whose eyes are at least partially closed. So they'll tend to avoid the person who's exclaiming, "Oh, look at the cute kitty cat!" with big, wide eyes, and they'll go straight for the narrow-eyed cat hater. I don't know how scientific that theory is - for all I know, it's just a joke. But it makes sense to me! Joyce |
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On Fri, 15 Aug 2003 14:24:44 -0700, bewtifulfreak wrote
(in message ): "Orchid" wrote in message . com... On Thu, 14 Aug 2003 20:16:52 -0400, "Jenny" wrote: Heh. Grooming another cat is often a dominance signal -- the biggest, toughest cat grooms the others (like a parent would). Now, this isn't *always* the case but much of the time it is, especially when it's not part of an already-occuring mutual grooming session. That makes sense, as, like I said, this really does sound like something my Greebo might pull! I would seriously doubt that non-dominant cats suffer from self-esteem issues. After all, you are dominant to some people you know and submissive to others -- a good example is that you are socially submissive to your boss. Some cats are pushier than others, and the less-pushy cats don't seem to be bothered by it. Or if they are, it might not necessarily affect their self-esteem, but they probably just get a bit peeved with it (like you would when your boss lords it over you). It sure seems like Crowley feels that way sometimes, anyway! Every now and then, he'll be grooming Greebo, and then just start biting him, or sometimes they just get into a big tussle that I know is more serious than playfighting, because there's a lot of noise (screaming and yelling) involved. I suppose that's good, in a way; at least when he gets really fed up, he let's Greebo know about it.... A cat with low self esteem? I am having trouble grasping that concept. I don't think I ever met one who didn't think the sun came up in the morning just to warm him through his window. |
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"John Biltz" wrote in message
thlink.net... A cat with low self esteem? I am having trouble grasping that concept. I don't think I ever met one who didn't think the sun came up in the morning just to warm him through his window. LOL....exactly! That's why I said, Greebo's dominance may annoy Crowley, but I don't think he lets it affect his self-image any.... And, I know this may sound funny to say about cats, but I don't think they have enough ego to have a low self-esteem; they don't really worry enough about what anyone thinks of them to let anything affect their self-concept! Ann -- http://www.angelfire.com/ca/bewtifulfreak |
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Unlike dogs, eye contact is not a dominance signal. Rather, it is a
signal of friendship, as it is in humans. Orchid Sorry, but I beg to differ. In cats eye contact is a threat. If you star at a cat you are deliberately intimidating it. In the wild, a dominant cat will stare at a rival, and what will then usually happen is that the subordinate will drop eye contact and turn away. That's why cats are attracted to people who don't like cats - the lack od eye contact signals a lack of threat and the cat then feels it is safe to approach. If you are trying to make friends with a cat, you should always look away or to one side. Eye contact is threatening. Just my £0.02 Helen M -- Posted via Mailgate.ORG Server - http://www.Mailgate.ORG |
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Helen Miles wrote:
Unlike dogs, eye contact is not a dominance signal. Rather, it is a signal of friendship, as it is in humans. Orchid Sorry, but I beg to differ. In cats eye contact is a threat. If you star at a cat you are deliberately intimidating it. In the wild, a dominant cat will stare at a rival, and what will then usually happen is that the subordinate will drop eye contact and turn away. That's why cats are attracted to people who don't like cats - the lack od eye contact signals a lack of threat and the cat then feels it is safe to approach. If you are trying to make friends with a cat, you should always look away or to one side. Eye contact is threatening. Just my £0.02 How funny, I just now posted about this in another group! I was confused by what Orchid said, because I knew cats generally don't like prolonged eye contact, but I just read something which clarified what she said for me. Slow, blinking eye contact is a signal of friendship between cats, and can be very calming and a sign of affection when done by a human, whereas a continuous stare from humans or other cats is threatening (as per catsinternational.org). So it's the type of eye contact they don't like, rather than not liking any at all. Ann -- http://www.angelfire.com/ca/bewtifulfreak |
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bewtifulfreak wrote:
Helen Miles wrote: Sorry, but I beg to differ. In cats eye contact is a threat. How funny, I just now posted about this in another group! Er, one of the groups on this list, yes, but *only* to that group, so wasn't sure if Helen saw it or not, since her response was crossposted, whereas I had responded to a post in this thread that was not.... :} |
#8
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In lgate.org, "Helen
Miles" wrote: | Unlike dogs, eye contact is not a dominance signal. Rather, it is a | signal of friendship, as it is in humans. | Sorry, but I beg to differ. In cats eye contact is a threat. If you | [stare] at a cat you are deliberately intimidating it. In the wild, | a dominant cat will stare at a rival, and what will then usually | happen is that the subordinate will drop eye contact and turn away. This is my understanding too. I don't know where Orchid got her information, but it contradicts everything I've found and read. For instance, Pam Johnson-Bennett, in _Think Like A Cat_, writes (p.25): : Avoiding eye contact is one method a submissive cat uses to try to : prevent a violent confrontation with another cat. An aggressive : cat will make direct eye contact. Anitra Frazier, in _The New Natural Cat_, writes about "cat kisses", which consists of *blinking* slowly at cats as a calming signal. I've seen this work many times with ferals: when they lose the bugeyed stare and blink back, they are also visibly more relaxed. For humans, the natural tendency is to stare at things that interest us. This is how we quite unwittingly spoil initial contacts with cats: they would much rather not have a bunch of large creatures gawking at them. | That's why cats are attracted to people who don't like cats - the | lack od eye contact signals a lack of threat and the cat then feels | it is safe to approach. Thus the canonical story of the cat jumping into the lap of the one person in the room who didn't like cats - everyone else stared at the cat at some point and gave it the wrong signal! ;-) | If you are trying to make friends with a cat, you should always look | away or to one side. Eye contact is threatening. You can combine this by turning back to the cat and blinking slowly. The payoff is getting the cat to blink back at you! :-) |
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