Tail flicking.

[lovemycats2]

If I pick up Kitty he lets me know that he wants down by what looks like a small scowl and a complaint.  So I set him down.  He then procedes to flick his tail at me as he walks away.  It looks like he is saying "Shew!  Shew!" to me.  I know that when a cat flicks their tail at you they are saying to leave them alone.

However, I have been getting this tail flicking from 2 cats when they are obviously interested in what I am doing at the moment.  One example is I was making a sandwich and Amelia engaged me in "conversation" so she could have a piece of lunch meat, which she got.  As she was meowing, she also flicked her tail at me, but it was more like towards her head instead of the tail flicking that seems to flick away from the cat when they want to be left alone.  

The other cat does not seem to flick his tail at all.  So, I was wondering how many ways a cats tail is used in it's body language so I can better understand what they are saying.  2 Cats use their tails very frequently in different kinds of flicks , ususally coupled with some vocalization.  Since they are communicating it is only courteous of me to understand what the are trying to say.

I completely understand when I am being shewed away, because that is exactly what the tail looks like it's doing.

The rest of it, I don't quite understand though.  

 

[p3 and the king]

The tail is one of the cats many ways of communicating with eachother and with us.  If it is standing straight up, they are happy and confident.  If it is flicking while it is up it usually means they know something good is going to happen (food, petting, play, etc.)  If it is down toward the ground, and swinging or flicking irritatedly, it usually means "leave me alone right now".  Or if it is just kind of even with the rest of their body, not straight up but not down near the floor, it means they are concentrating and focused on something like hunting mode.  The position of the tail says a lot.  You can tell also by their body language during the flicking of the tail, too. 

 

[legallyheidi]

I've noticed mine, adult and kitten, seem to do it when something is pestering them, or if they're annoyed. Maybe it could be a personality-type thing as well?

 

[rad65]

I find it's hard to tell what a cat means by relying solely on the tail flick. My younger cat's I'm-so-happy-and-I-want-you-to-pet-me tail flick is the exact same as my older cat's go-away-NOW tail flick. You have to know the personality of the cat to have an accurate translation of what the tail flick means.

 

[gibbly]

a cats tail flicking can mean a whole boatload of things, a constantly flicking tail tip(flicking from side to side) typically means that the cat is thinking about something (or has been my experience, a cat will be walking somewhere, stop, start flicking the time of it's tail then get this "OH YEAH now I remember!" look on it's fact, and proceed to go and do something else xD), a tail tip flicking consistantly to one side or another (to the left, or to the right) typically means a frustrated cat (again, my experience), they're ticked, but they're not MAD, a full tal (what I call flagging) where they flip their tails over their backs or from one side to the other usually means they are relaxed (I've seen cats do this just before they lay down).

just as a dogs wagging tail doesn't always mean it's happy, a cats moving tail doesn't always mean that it is mad, like we are taught in books and such O3O

 

[otto]

The better you know your cat, the more you will understand what his or her tail is telling you. Like you understanding that certain flick that means, 'go away, you bother me'. I wouldn't try to go by any general definition much, I mean use them as a general guide maybe, but don't try to fit your cats into a preconceived mold, every cat is an individual when it comes to tail language. Pay attention to the cat, and understanding will come. :heart3:

 

[aeevr]

Check out these images:

cat-tail.png

• aeevr
• Aug 27, 2012

cat-ears.png

• aeevr
• Aug 27, 2012

from this length article:

http://messybeast.com/cat_talk2.htm

 

[catspaw66]

Yep, that shows it very well.  Each cat will have little personal quirks added to the basic body language, though.

 

[sk_pacer]

Da Lip has a very active tail, and the tip flicks back and forth almost constantly, regardless what he is doing. He can be purring and kneading and the tail still flicks. If Jack's tail flicks that same way, look out, someone or something is gonna get it. If you have a cat with a curled tail, any information printed goes right out the window - you have to learn to read the curl - when Tippy is very happy, that tail lies almost flat on his back, the end curled over his flank, if he is just wandering around, the tail stands up in a neat ring. The curl only leaves when he is doing the crazy cat run or sound asleep and partly uncurls when he is mad.