Cats That Wag Their Tails Like A Dog When They're Happy?

[I_Wuv_Kitties]

anyone have a cat like this or meet one? I've always thought tail wagging = bad but sometimes I meet kitties at the shelter who legitimately wag their tails when they're happy just like a dog.

Here's a video of a kitty at the shelter today. She came in as a stray. I initially closed the door and stopped petting her when I saw this but then she started crying and meowing because she wanted me to come back. She's very obviously tail wagging because she's happy, a feature we usually only see in dogs. It's not in this video but she even let me hold her and walk around while she happily wagged her tail and asked for pets. Whenever I stopped petting her, even for a moment, she meows like she's saying "don't stop", which you can see in the video.

 

[moorspede]

It's common for cats to move their tails from side to side when they are stimulated, either when they are playing and excited or when they are upset.

One of my cats in particular is a curious kitty, she's into everything. I love her tail, it never stops moving.

 

[goingpostal]

My kitty wags her nub whenever she's excited, it's pretty cute and I'm not sure if it's just because it's a bob tail that it looks like dog wagging or what but my husband says the same thing. She also comes over to beg for attention then falls over so you'll rub her belly.

 

[astrael]

One of my friendly ferals, Rufus, his tail goes nuts when I pet him. It really, really is like a dog's. It threw me off at first too. I thought he was antsy or getting overstimulated. But nope. He just loves wagging his tail when I pet him. He's quite adorable overall. (He has a bad habit of grabbing my pants when I try to go inside. And not just a swipe, he holds on.)

Another one wags her tail too, just more slowly. Two other twitch the ends a bunch. Scutch (my picture, our only indoor kitty) doesn't move his tail at all, unless he feels restless/playful or his skin is irritated (dry skin, we use conditioning wipes to help him).

 

[sargon]

Many cats will emulate animals around them, such the story of male cats who spend time around dogs and start lifting their leg to pee, or how Freya learned to make the standard kitty greeting trill sound like the English word, "Hello."

There's no reason why cats can't see dogs wag their tails when they get attention and think it is a thing they should do!

 

[Caspers Human]

A cat and its tail are two separate, symbiotic beings.
They are of completely different minds.
They are only attached together in one body.