It's very important to remember that cats are solitary predators. And that even those living in feral colonies will hunt alone. This means that they lack the complex visional signaling repertoire of social predators. And their body language is somewhat limited. For example, when two cats meet they lack the ability to signal to each other that they don't pose a threat. This can result in stand offs that last for considerable periods of time with neither cat able to retreat due to fear of pursuit. However, despite this lack of appeasement signals, our cats do maintain an ability to communicate certain emotions to each other, and to us, if we know how to interpret them. Let's start with vocal communication. Did you know that cats living in feral colonies tend to be much quieter than our domestic cats and that the meow that we associate with the cat is something that genuinely serves to communicate with us humans rather than between cats? This means that there's a huge individual variation in vocalizations, as each cat learns the best way to communicate with its owner. There's also a great amount of breed variation, with oriental breeds, such as the Bermese and Siamese, having a reputation for being a lot more vocal than the standard moggy. The purr is something that is unique to the felidae family. And domestic cats are able to generate between 25 to 150 vibrations per second. We all associate the purr with the happy contented cat, but did you know that cats may also purr when they're distressed or in pain? The reasons for this are poorly understood, but it may be that the purr has a self-soothing, or even healing function. Cats may also purr when they're trying to seek something from us, such as food, attention, or access to the outdoors. This is called a solicitation purr, and it's generally lower pitched, harsher, and faster or more urgent. Let's move on now to visual signals. These may be very subtle, such as the orientation of the cat's whiskers, or a small flick of the tail, or they may involve the whole body posturing. For example, a very fearful cat will have a low and tucked body posture with all feet firmly on the ground, ready to flee if necessary. An angry or attacking cat, on the other hand, will draw itself up to full height and may have quite a stiff body posture, with a puffed up coat. It's thought that cats experiencing conflicting emotions, such as fear and rage at the same time, are more likely to show the arched body posture as shown here. On the other hand cats will often stretch out and lie on their side when they're relaxed and content. A cat may also roll over and expose its underside. This is a sign of trust and can also be used to elicit play. It's not an invitation to stroke the cat's abdomen. Facial expressions in cats are perhaps a bit more subtle. But paying attention to the eyes, ears, and whiskers can give us a lot of information on how our cat is feeling. For example, have you ever wondered why cats will always go to the one person in a room who doesn't like cats, rather than the person who's desperately trying to get the cat's attention? This is because direct eye contact can be perceived as threatening to a cat, whereas gaze aversion is a signal that cats use to avoid conflict. Another thing to look at is the size of a pupil. This will be dilated when the cat is fearful or highly aroused. The eyes can also be used to signal contentment. For example, cats may use a soft gaze with their eyes half closed and slow blinking eyelids when they're relaxed in our company. A cat's ears and whiskers can also be very expressive and both will generally point forward when the cat is alert or focused on a particular person or object. However, the ears can very quickly move to the side and flatten in a fearful cat, and the whiskers will generally be pulled back. If cats are experiencing frustration or anger, then the ears may rotate backwards and the whiskers may be held out away from the face. Finally, let's end with the tail. The natural tail position is roughly horizontal with the tail being raised vertically in greetings and friendly encounters. A fearful cat will lower and tuck in it's tail, while a downwards pointing or arched tail may be seen during aggressive encounters or conflict. The movement of the tail can also be very telling and also quite subtle. Flicking of the tail can often be the first sign that a cat is uncomfortable with a situation, and this should signal to us owners that we need to back off, particularly if we're stroking the cat at the time. This can progress to thrashing of the tail in a cat that is experiencing anger, or thumping in a cat that's frustrated. There will be more on the manifestations of feline emotions during later weeks.