Do we know what our cat is telling us?

We have a bit of a challenge when it comes to communicating with our cats. Humans talk to each other with words. Cats talk to each other with body language.

Olwyn and Tristan speak in body language

This is one of the reasons cats study us so closely. They are trying to figure out what our bodies are saying.

This is why I urge people to talk to their cats all the time. We can't help but signal our emotions with our bodies when we speak. Cats do learn key words from our speech.

When they put these two things together, they translate what we are saying so much better!

We should also pay close attention when our cat do try to speak with us. It's not at all unusual for a cat to make sounds with their humans. In fact, this is something cats only do with humans, not with other cats.

If our cat "speaks" to us, pay attention right away. Mention their name, get to our feet, indicate our willingness to provide what they are asking for.

Since cats speak with their body, their own instincts will compel them to "show" us what they want, by running to the kitchen or the window, or just twirl in place... if what they wanted was attention.

If what they want is some attention, we should give them some.

Find out why, when it comes to cats, we are so willing to be manipulated.

Cats smell better than us

How much better do cats smell than we humans? Twice as good? Five times as good? How about fourteen times better?

So if we can smell the litter box... we know our cat is actually smelling it that much more.

New laptop skin for looks, but to RJ, it's how it smells.

It's not just that cats are able to smell so much more than we do. It's also that it conveys that much more information to our cat.

To a cat, another's scent tells them a lot about the mood, the activities, even the state of health of the other being.

Like any Superpower, this ability can be as annoying as it is amazing. If our cats have a smidge of something on their fur, they know. They cannot rest until it is groomed away.

This is why cats are so interested in our shoes when we come home, and why they stick their heads into the grocery bags. We bring home a carnival of new smells when we buy new things and visit a new area.

So let's be understanding when our cats get intent on things we are not aware of.

Just because we can't smell it doesn't mean there is nothing there to smell.

For more on this cat SuperSense, read how cats smell.

Can we love a cat who is grown up?

We often want to get our cat as a kitten. There's nothing wrong with that. Except... we don't know what we are getting.

Three weeks old and we have no idea.

They are too young to give clues about their personality, and so much of their personality has already been set.

We don't think of kittens as already having a personality. We think of them as a blank slate where we can write whatever we want.

But this isn't true.

From the very beginning, our prospective cat's genetics could make them an Alpha, a Beta, or a Gamma. All great cats, but all very different experiences. And that's before they even emerge into our world.

Even at six weeks, which is really too young to leave their mother, our future cat has learned what beings they can trust. They have explored the world and formed opinions about it. They have learned to get along with their siblings... or not.

While kittens this young are learning all the time, they are not aware of it. Their short attention span means they are easily distracted and must be constantly reminded of proper behavior.

A cat past the kitten stage has full access to their thoughts, their collection of communication strategies, and a store of patience. We can establish a working relationship in a fraction of the time it takes to raise a kitten. When we meet our cat as an adult we can each discover things about ourselves, right away.

Of course we will make our own impression on our cat.

No matter what age we get them at.

Consider other cat ages with the cat acquisition continuum.