Unusual Cat Tail Expression

Diana Faye

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This is Maisie's curl - very expressive when she's close to me. But always a really cool tail to watch.

My one cat's tail curves downward like that. He is capable of straightening it out, but his natural carriage downward. Even if his tail is relaxed, if I gently hold/ stroke it it curls around my hand. I call it his monkey tail.
 

Elphaba09

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Silas's tail curls around my hand, and, sometimes when he walks past another cat, he will curl his tail around their faces, necks, or shoulders. He is 9 1/2 months old, taller than the rest of our other cats (though he is on the thin side), and 36" from the tip of his nose to the end of his tail. 16" of that is his fluffy tail.
 

G-Factor

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To the OP.

You have it right. When the tail is up with a slight curl at the tip, that means a happy cat who is exhibiting friendly behavior.

The tail straight up over the back is common in another of mine only when I scratch his back at the base of the tail, or sometimes when food is being served. Usually means that he is very receptive and happy.

You also may notice some will vibrate the base of their tail when they are very excited. I'm wondering you have seen this too. :)
 

IronHippo

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Radish (not a Maine Coon but does have a fluffy tail like your guy) does your B picture with his tail too. I tend to agree that it just means he's happy; in Radish's case, it usually means he's feeling extra happy/confident/sassy/so on top of the world you don't even know. He holds his tail in position A a lot, but it changes to B most frequently when he's hungry and we're about to serve him food, and when he sees someone he recognizes who he's really happy to see (he does it when I come home from work, and he always greeted me with his tail nearly touching his head when he was a kitten and I opened the door to his kitten room). I don't seem to have any pictures of him doing it though! Anyway, yes, Count is special--I know this because Radish is, too. ;)
 

Diana Faye

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Speaking of tails, I just experience a new one. Working on getting the kitties used to the harness outdoors. I took one outside last night, and he was wary but purring with his tail up. At one point, he was sniffing at some brush and his fur started to stand on end, like full on bushy tail. He still had it up and was purring, but he looked like a raccoon. I decided to take him inside at that point just in case. I'm not sure if he was scared, excited, or a mix of both.
 

NochasMom

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Well, all I managed to find was a cat pic with similar tail angle, and the cat is labeled as an American Ringtail
View attachment 281498
I had a ex-feral cat that looked almost exactly like in this picture, and she often held her tail stretching backwards, almost touching the back of her head (just an inch or two short of it). I never saw cats do it and it looked doggish to me, and so I often reprimanded her: Nocha, stop acting like a dog, you're a cat!

Re this tail position, years ago I saw a documentary about a farm in Siberia where they bred tamed foxes (I think you can find some clips on youtube). After a few generations they could tell right away if a growing pup was going to be friendly toward humans or not. Once they reached a certain age, the friendly ones held their tails up and curling.

I never heard about American Ringtail 'breed' until now and so, based on that documentary, I had thought that when a feral animal held its tail upright and curling towards its head, it was a sign that it had the right genes to be tamed.

Now I read the comments section from the link posted above, and it turns out that this 'American Ringtail breed' pops up in UK, Australia and New Zealand, and in 9 out of 10 cases, people say that they adopted theirs from the street or a feral-stray rescue center.

So, after reading all the comments I went back to the opinion that this tail position is a sign that the cat was feral him/herself or just a few generations back.

My ex-feral cat turned out the smartest and the most affectionate cat I ever knew. She mewed only when displeased or was locked out, and otherwise she was very talkative and greeted me in two-syllable curr-nyauoo, and always said thanks, when someone opened the door for her with one-syllable curr. And yes, her other tail position was 'a question mark'. She had other odd behaviors and I posed about it here: How Your Cat Reacts When You Sniff The Back Of Her Head?
 

Mandie_June

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Oh, goodness! I was actually directed here from a thread I started (because I asked the same thing about my two brother kitties).
Google was very difficult to try to maneuver because I would find one thing, but then it went somewhere else.
Does anyone have ties to the cats biological parents at all? I'm really interested if it's the experimental breed or just a genetic thing (like growing an extra toe bean).
 

lutece

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Lots of cats will hold their tails up along their backs or curl their tails like a corkscrew at certain times (I've had many cats do that)! Most of the cats described in this thread just sound like normal cats to me. The difference is that some cats hold their tails flipped backwards along their spine when the tail is in a resting position.
 

danteshuman

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I read this thread and watched the video. His meows are so quiet and sweet. My boy Jackie’s meows are more demanding and get answered with ‘what?’ Half the time. I also love the super curly tail in the picture. I have never seen tails like those before but they are amazing!

My cat Dante would vibrate the base of his tail when he got excited...... poor guy was neutered early because of it! Also he had the siamese tail where his tail curled/bent forward a little whenever he wanted to play ..... I called it his trouble making tail.
 

quietdumpling

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How funny! I was trying to google something similar because 2 of my cats (they're sisters) have tails that are bent all the way to the back (almost touching their backs) a lot of the time. I don't seem to see it as much in other cats so I was wondering if this was unusual. I've included my own drawing of how it looks on my cats (lol).

cat.png


I think it's the cutest thing!

The bigger sister also does the tail vibration thing. I always laugh when she does it because it's always in a particular corner of the kitchen and while her tail vibrates she does these adorable tippy taps with her back legs. I hope I can catch it on video one day.
 

susanm9006

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How funny! I was trying to google something similar because 2 of my cats (they're sisters) have tails that are bent all the way to the back (almost touching their backs) a lot of the time. I don't seem to see it as much in other cats so I was wondering if this was unusual. I've included my own drawing of how it looks on my cats (lol).

View attachment 298862

I think it's the cutest thing!

The bigger sister also does the tail vibration thing. I always laugh when she does it because it's always in a particular corner of the kitchen and while her tail vibrates she does these adorable tippy taps with her back legs. I hope I can catch it on video one day.
That tip toe dance while purring, vibrating and in a low crouch is what females do when they are in heat. And sometimes if you pat the girl right by their tail they will go into the dance just because they are happy.
 

kitkatgurl

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Oh this has happened with Maisie but I had never been able to get a photo until last night. You have to be quick before the fur lays down again. I had to laugh as her tail looks like a bottle brush it's that full! Or a raccoon tail (she's a split tabby/white Ringtail with a kink at the end for good luck ;) )

Her tail is soooooooo expressive (someone referred to it as a monkey tail) and it's actually something through which I can communicate with her, as bending down that far to scratch her head on walks is hard but the tail tip is a bit closer. Maisie is very responsive to the touching of her tail :)

I doubt she could curl her tail in full bush-mode but hey ya never know - that would be a cool photo!



Speaking of tails, I just experience a new one. Working on getting the kitties used to the harness outdoors. I took one outside last night, and he was wary but purring with his tail up. At one point, he was sniffing at some brush and his fur started to stand on end, like full on bushy tail. He still had it up and was purring, but he looked like a raccoon. I decided to take him inside at that point just in case. I'm not sure if he was scared, excited, or a mix of both.
 

Alldara

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I know this is a very old post. But this is the post that started me lurking on this website in 2020 after we adopted Magnus.

The photo that the OP drew was the only thing on my internet searches that described Magnus's tail....and 4 years later I FINALLY GOT A PHOTO

He holds his tail like photo B when happy.
 

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