Guardian: Feline uncertain? Cats do give clues if the fur's about to fly, study finds

[Judi Lynn]

Study of 105 pairs of interacting felines decodes the cat behaviour that puzzles humans – and flags up the unsubtle battle cry of claws and yowling



Kittens play and test out their powers. Photograph: Melanie DeFazio/Stocksy United

Nicola Davis Science correspondent
@NicolaKSDavis
Thu 26 Jan 2023 12.16 EST
First published on Thu 26 Jan 2023 11.00 EST

When cats get together it can be difficult to tell rough and tumble play from a full-blown scrap. Now researchers say they have decoded feline behaviour to help owners spot when the fur might be about to fly. Dr Noema Gajdoš‑Kmecová, first author of the research from the University of Veterinary Medicine and Pharmacy, in Košice, Slovakia – a cat owner herself – said understanding feline interactions could be difficult.

“Many owners are asking themselves the question, are these cats playing, fighting? Or what’s going on actually? We found out that there was actually very little scientific evidence to guide us in answering this question so we decided to go for it and study inter-cat interactions,” she said.

Writing in the journal Scientific Reports, Gajdoš‑Kmecová, and colleagues, describe how they examined the behaviour of 105 pairs of interacting domestic cats recorded on videos collected from YouTube. They also advertised for cat owners.

The researchers randomly selected 30% of the videos and analysed the cats’ actions to produce six behavioural categories, including wrestling, chasing, vocalisations, and motionless postures such as crouching. Each of the cats in the full sample were then assessed for these categories.

More:
https://www.theguardian.com/science/2023/jan/26/feline-uncertain-cats-do-give-clues-if-the-furs-about-to-fly-study-finds

[Rhiannon12866]

1. K&R, sounds very useful. Granted, I only have one cat and he's pretty laid back

But I'm bookmarking nonetheless. Thanks!

[TreasonousBastard]

2. And after over 200 cats she's stiil unsure...

Remember it's cats she was researching.

[burrowowl]

3. Really and when a cat wags its tail its pissed not happy.

[intrepidity]

4. The behavior

“When cats are young and when they are wrestling and not vocalising they are most likely playing,” the team write. But when there are extended inactive pauses, vocalisations and chasing, the cats may be in the midst of a fight.

[Warpy]

5. I had 2 cats who'd grown up as solitary cats

and I saw a lot of hissing, growling, posturing, and swipes that didn't connect. I also saw them chase each other around and huddle together when there was a perceived threat like thunder or some idiot shooting off firecrackers, the little fakers.

I only saw one serious fight and it was a silent one, two cats arguing over prime couch space, narrowed eyes, flat ears, and a steady "whap whap whap" as bits of floof flew around and they landed punches, beating the crap out of each other. Then they just took off in different directions and had nothing to do with each other for a couple of hours. Both cats had been upright all the time with only their forepaws engaged, like a couple of hairy boxers. Nobody got injured so year, it was pretty funny.

Even among feral cats, I've noticed it's all show most of the time. When it's tomcats fighting over a female, the aggressor cat is the one on the ground, that's not a submissive posture, it means bunny kicks are coming and the other cat risks having his guts ripped out if he gets too close, which is why the swipes from the other cat are carefully delivered.

Cats, even if they're strangers or domestic cats who don't like each other, are 95% drama queen when it comes to fights. I'd say that if there's a lot of growling, hissing, and yowling, it's all show. When they get quiet and one cat hits the ground, it's serious, get the broom and use it to separate them.

[CountAllVotes]

6. One of my tomcats in still jealous of Missy the black cat

Last edited Mon Jan 30, 2023, 12:17 PM - Edit history (1)

Silver was green with envy when I adopted her from the same kill shelter he is from.

Here it is some 7 years later and I still hear the occasional "fake" cat fight going on. It sounds horrible and they race around chasing one another. Silver likes to get her in the garage where he can play hide and seek with her. Some times it does get rough!

I just noticed yesterday that Missy has a patch on her front leg where the hair is missing. It is not irritated like a wound would be. Its just a bald spot. I wonder if some of her antics with Silver recently caused her to get the fur rubbed off of her?

I don't much like these fake cat fights and I hope that Missy's bald patch regrows the fur on it soon.

Unsure as what to do as where I live there are few veterinarians seeing pets these days. I know that sounds odd, but that's the reality of things around here.