The Cat Blog

A Beginner's Guide to Reading Cat Body Language

Tail position, ear angle, and the slow blink — a quick field guide to understanding what your cat is actually telling you.

1 min read

Cats communicate constantly — we're just not always listening. Here's a quick field guide.

The tail tells all

  • Straight up, tip curled — happy and confident
  • Puffed up — startled or threatened
  • Low and flicking — irritated; give some space

The slow blink

If your cat looks at you and slowly closes and opens its eyes, that's a cat kiss. Try slow-blinking back — it's the closest thing to "I love you" in cat.

Ears matter too

Ear positionMeaning
ForwardCurious, engaged
Sideways ("airplane")Anxious
Flat backFear or aggression

Learn these and you'll never misread the room again. Now go put your skills to use and rate a few cats.

Discussion

1 comment

A few more cats?

Take a reading break and meet the community's cats.

Rate some cats

More from The Cat Blog

Also made for cat people

Meet MeowSpace

Share everyday cat moments, follow fellow cat people and join the conversation in our free mobile app.