Behavior

Cats will be cats!

To behave or misbehave! That is the question...

Their personalities are as varied as their appearance. Some are a bit standoffish, others cuddly. Some are loud and demanding, others retiring and quiet.

Some normal feline behavior does not seem so normal at times! The cat with evening “wildsters” tearing around the house, swinging from the curtains; the cat in heat caterwauling at 3 a.m. , and the couch cat potato all test the limits of our expectations.

Though authors report different personality types for different breeds of registered cats, there is still a broad spectrum of individual temperaments and fairly significant variation between lines and geographic strains within each breed. In general, the Oriental or Foreign type cats are more active and vocal.

Though cats used to be considered solitary individuals, more recent studies suggest a highly evolved social structure in multi-cat environments. Cooperative care of young kittens, and lots of social grooming join cat fights as favorite Kitty pastimes!

Recent research at Cornell University found that cats have a very specific set of vocal signals which are put together to make messages, much like a vocabulary. There were about 100 separate vocalizations!

Though they don't have the benefit of language as we know it, cats have learned how to train us to meet their needs. Different sounds mean different things to us!

Select the links around the right side and bottom of this page to learn more about the fascinating world of feline behavior.

 

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