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   Why is your cat mad? Maybe it's because you're not listening   
      
   [ from https://www.theglobeandmail.com/life/home-and-design/    
   article-mad-cat-behaviour/ ]   
      
   by Jeremy Freed   
   Special to The Globe and Mail   
   Published April 13, 2023   
      
   The field of feline behaviour research has rapidly expanded over the past two   
   decades.Nils Jacobi/iStockPhoto / Getty Images   
      
   In some ways, Billi is a typical YouTuber whose short videos of her lounging   
   at home, interacting with her family and talking about whatever's on her mind   
   have racked up nearly 70 million views. What sets Billi apart, however, is   
   that she's a cat. Thanks to a device called FluentPet, a set of modular,   
   paw-friendly buttons that can be customized to play specific sounds, the   
   14-year-old American shorthair has learned to "speak" more than 60 different   
   words.   
      
   As anyone who lives with a cat might expect, among Billi's most-used buttons   
   are those for food and treats, but she also knows how to request specific   
   toys, ask to go outside and identify different members of her human family by   
   name. When Kendra Baker, Billi's owner and de facto social media manager, gets   
   home, Billi greets her with a cheerful, "Hello!"   
      
   Aside from being extremely cute, Billi's videos suggest something that a   
   growing body of new research confirms: Our cats are constantly trying to   
   communicate with us. In fact, TheyCanTalk, the largest citizen science study   
   of animal cognition ever attempted, is currently studying hundreds of dogs and   
   cats around the world, including Billi, in an attempt to better understand how   
   and why they communicate with us. (The study is funded by FluentPet, but the   
   results will be assessed by independent researchers studying animal cognition.)   
      
   Unfortunately, with the exception of owners such as Baker, we tend to be   
   terrible listeners. "We are always flabbergasted whenever another species   
   conveys anything that we humans would call intelligence, but every species has   
   its own form," says Baker, a veterinarian at ZooTampa in Florida. "Humans are   
   kind of dumb when it comes to non-verbal communication."   
      
   This, more or less, was the conclusion of a recent study at the University of   
   Guelph, which found that only 13 per cent of participants (most of them   
   veterinarians) could accurately read a cat's facial expressions. "They   
   definitely do have facial expressions which differ in positive and negative   
   states," says Georgia Mason, a behavioural biologist and one of the study's   
   authors. "This is also perhaps why not everyone loves cats. It makes them a   
   little hard to read - unlike dogs."   
      
   Part of the reason for this is evolutionary: Dogs evolved to hunt in packs,   
   and they have been domesticated and selectively bred over millennia to live   
   and work alongside humans. Cats, conversely, evolved as mostly solitary   
   creatures who, over the last 10,000 years, have largely domesticated   
   themselves. Because of their nature as lone hunters, cats never evolved the   
   complex facial muscles that humans and dogs use to communicate their emotions   
   in close quarters, and this has been the source of much confusion ever since.   
      
   The gulf in our understanding of cats has also been widened by the fact that   
   their cautious nature doesn't easily lend itself to scientific study,   
   especially compared with dogs, who are generally more eager to please. "Cats   
   have attracted relatively little research, partly because they're only   
   partially domesticated, which makes them prone to timidity and makes it hard   
   to study them in the lab," Mason says.   
      
   Despite the scientific challenges inherent in studying subjects who would   
   often rather be napping, cuddling or staring out a window, the field of feline   
   behaviour research has rapidly expanded over the past two decades. While still   
   in its infancy, most of the findings in this growing corner of animal   
   behaviour science reveal a recurring theme: Many of our assumptions about cats   
   are wrong.   
      
   Among the most widespread misconceptions is the notion that they don't   
   particularly care about their human companions beyond our ability to provide   
   food and the occasional chin scratch. A 2019 study at Oregon State University,   
   however, found that cats are as strongly bonded to human caregivers as dogs or   
   even infants are, while a 2017 study found that a majority of feline subjects   
   preferred social interaction with a human over food or toys.   
      
   Another popular myth, that cats don't know their names, was roundly   
   contradicted by a pair of Japanese studies from 2013 and 2019, which found   
   them to be not only adept at recognizing their names among similar-sounding   
   words, but also able to recognize the names of other felines in their   
   environment.   
      
   "Studies like these reaffirm what many cat owners have already thought," says   
   Gabriella Smith, an animal cognition researcher in Vienna. "Cats pay attention   
   to what we say." Smith is among a team of researchers working on TheyCanTalk,   
   which is focusing on dogs and cats that have been trained to communicate using   
   FluentPet boards. The animals are recorded using the devices in their homes   
   (as opposed to in a lab). Smith and her colleagues believe this means that   
   they are more likely to observe the creatures' natural behaviours more   
   accurately - particularly where cats are concerned.   
      
   The TheyCanTalk researchers are still analyzing the data, but Smith says that   
   preliminary findings suggest cats can communicate just as well as dogs, with   
   several subjects able to use more than 40 different speech buttons. While   
   FluentPet boards provide a new means of interspecies communication, she says,   
   they come with a high cost, ranging from $106 for a six-button starter kit to   
   more than $300 for a deluxe 32-button setup.   
      
   But they are not the only way to understand your cat's desires. "I try to take   
   off my human-centric glasses and remain open to perceiving any and all `tells'   
   the animal may be expressing," Smith says. "In the case of my cat Pancetta, I   
   make sure to pay attention to every part of her body when she appears to want   
   something, for example, the direction of her ears and body, as well as the   
   movement of her tail and her proximity to me."   
      
   Our cats, Smith says, are telling us what they want in the only ways they know   
   how, and it's up to us - by paying close attention to what they do in which   
   contexts, and offering solutions - to meet them halfway. "It may take a   
   while," she says. "But a relationship can only deepen when a strong level of   
   understanding is achieved."   
      
   Pet costs spike alongside inflation, with dog and cat owners digging deep   
      
   Owners who are willing to invest the time to learn how to read a cat's subtle   
   cues, or train it to speak using a device, will be rewarded by a more   
   meaningful relationship with their pet, experts say. They may also, however,   
   be surprised by what their furry companions have to say. If Billi is any   
   indication, the current boom of feline cognition research may yet reveal that   
   the life of a house cat, no matter how pampered, can be a frustrating one.   
   Despite her outgoing, people-loving personality, and a loving owner who is   
   committed to catering to all of her needs, Billi's favourite word by far,   
   Baker says, is "mad."   
      
   "That's the one button I 100 per cent believe she knows. I'm going to   
   anthropomorphize, but it's like she has been mad her entire life and was just   
   waiting for the chance to tell me."   
   Tell tail signs   
      
   Cats communicate through their faces, bodies and tails, but those aren't the   
   only factors to take into account, says Melissa Shupak, animal trainer and   
   shelter programs manager at the Toronto Humane Society. "It's important to   
   look at everything all together to understand what they're communicating. The   
   cat's entire body, what is going on in the environment, the cat's history, the   
   person's relationship with the cat, et cetera."   
      
   With that in mind, we asked her to decode a few common tells.   
      
   The tell: Tail up, ears up   
      
   What it means: Generally these are good, positive signs. Continue with   
   interaction such as petting or playing.   
      
   The tell: Lying on back, belly exposed   
      
   What it means: It's a trap! The cat is showing that it trusts you, but it's   
   also ready to grab or swat if needed. Proceed with caution.   
      
   The tell: Body flat, paws tucked in, ears back   
      
   What it means: "No thank you. Stop what you're doing and give me space."   
      
   The tell: Arched back   
      
   What it means: The clich‚ Halloween cat post can be playful behaviour for   
   kittens but is usually fear related for adult cats.   
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