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Cats’ tails could be the clue to how cats really feel about each other, says
Penny Bernstein, an expert in animal behaviour at Kent State University. By
reading messages in the tail, Bernstein suggests, a cat might save itself
aggro and maintain peaceful group relations.

For four months, Mickie Strack, one of Bernstein’s students, spent four
hours a day recording the behaviour of 14 unrelated cats living in her
seven-room house. The seven females and seven males (including three
kittens) had free range except for Strack’s sewing room and cupboards. She
monitored their feeding, napping, yowling, hissing, fighting, scent marking
and roaming, noting the way they held their tails while they were doing all
this.

The cats, she told a meeting of the Animal Behavior Society, soon divided
the house up into ‘home ranges’, which were larger for males than for
females. The ranges overlapped, and shifted with time. Animals with
favourite spots to sit and sleep would often use them with certain other
cats on a time-share basis.

Although there were clearly two dominant cats in the group, there was no
clear ranking beyond that. And while hissing and swatting were common,
out-and-out fights were rare. Strack catalogued a range of tail positions
that seemed to give clues about a cat’s mood and intentions. Some – such as
a tail curved gently upright – were displayed when the cat was not being
aggressive. Another – tail between the legs – was displayed in defensive
situations. Yet another – tail whipped smartly back and forth – was clearly
aggressive.

‘We’re getting more and more information about how cats interact with
people and what people are supposed to be to cats,’ Bernstein says. ‘It’s
time to begin telling people what cats are (telling) each other.’