I've always called it head butting, but some people might call it head bumps and while researching this article I have seen that it is more properly called head bunting. Anyway, whichever term you use, cat head butts are when a cat softly rubs their head against yours, or even bonks their skull against yours a little more strongly. A cat might also head butt against your leg or arm. But, why is my cat head butting me? As you might guess, by the title of this article, cats head butt to show affection! In fact, PetMD says that if your cat thinks you are worth head butting, you should consider it the highest of compliments! Vet-Organics.com says that cats have...
A few weeks ago when I was looking into whether cats like baby talk I started to wonder if cats recognize their names. I know when I say Sophie's name at dinner time, she usually comes running, but sometimes I have to add the sound of a spoon clinking against a plate to get her attention, so is she just responding to me calling because it's dinner time, or does she actually know I'm calling her? So I dug a little deeper to find out - can cats recognize their name? Do cats understand their names? The quick answer is that cats do know their names, but may or not respond based on the personality of your cat, when their...
If you look at a cat with their furry bodies and 4 legs, then look at snakes with their scaly bodies and lack of legs, at first glance they seem very different. But, look a little closer, and you'll see similarities - like they both have slitted pupils in their eyes and both make hissing noises! So, what's the deal with cats and snakes? Why do cats have reptile eyes? Starting with those cat snake eyes, this is an example of convergent evolution. Convergent evolution is when 2 animals that aren't closely related have similar characteristics. Cats and snakes both hunt similar prey, like small mammals and birds, and both use similar hunting techniques. According to Petshun.com, both snakes and cats...
As you may know from many of the other articles on this site, I live with 2 cats. One of them seems to be dominant over the other, with the other often taking their cues from the dominant one. That got me thinking about cat hierarchy. What is the cat social structure and how is it established? Catster.com says that most wild cats (except lions) are solitary predators. They find a large enough territory to supply enough prey to feed themselves and stick to it, except for mating or if they get in a dispute with another cat about where the boundaries of the territory are. However, domestic cats have adapted to living in groups when there are enough resources...
Last week was St. Patrick's day, but did you there is another Saint's day that falls on March 17th? St. Gertrude of Nivelles is also honored on March 17th, and I bring her up here because she is sometimes called the patron saint of cats! Acccording to U.S. Catholic, Gertrude of Nivelles was born in 626 and was the youngest of 4 children in the family. During that time, families would often look to increase their prestige by looking for stragetic marriages with noble families. Her father had arranged a match between her sister and the son of a powerful bishop, and he seemed to have the same idea for Gertrude. When Gertrude was 10 years old, her father hosted...
