Way of Cats blog

Another of the many advantages of multiple cats is the way each cat can act as a translator for the other cats’ behavior.

While I call such behavior “mirroring” when a cat finds their behavior compatible with another cat’s, it can also be something a cat does involuntarily, which “reflects” clues about another cat.

Recently, RJ was fussing at me; even though he had just eaten a whole bowl of food. RJ is not a subtle boy, but he’s clear. So I followed him to the kitchen and filled the bowl again. When I set it down, he stepped back. It was Tristan who ran in to eat; it was Tristan RJ had been asking for. But because he is still working on his communication skills, he picked up Tristan’s hunger and expressed it as his own.

As this example shows, we don’t even need this capability working at a high level, as when Olwyn got James Bond to translate for her. We simply need to be familiar with how our cats interact; and notice when the patterns change.

There are many circumstances when the other cats can be a valuable indicator about how we interpret ambiguous or even missing clues:

When a cat is sick. Sudden changes in cat interactions can be triggered by one cat’s illness. While cats are very good at pretending when they are not sick or when they are actually feeling pain, they cannot so readily hide their true feelings from the other cats.

Some cats will react with extra solicitude; some cats will react with fear and anxiety. But if one cat is acting strangely, it might be caused by the now quietest cat around; who is hiding something.

When cats have conflicts. Tiffs between cats who have always gotten along can be difficult to unravel. All we can know for sure when a sudden conflict arises is that something must have changed. Cats don’t suddenly develop dislikes among themselves; anytime we think that about our cat conflict, we are missing something that will help us solve this problem.

We have to consider that a cat or cats might be picking up anxiety, but express it by being easily annoyed by things they normally shrug off. It’s time for some detective work: we must remember that the cat causing the trouble… might not be the cat causing the trouble.

When the environment has changed. A lot of times, our cats are creating anxiety between themselves because there’s something going on that they cannot do anything about. We don’t know, because it’s something that happens while we are away at work or otherwise absent at only those times.

This is where having taught the cats Show Me is very valuable. When the cats act up, asking them to Show Me will at least get us to the new humidifier which is making a whine we can’t hear… but they can. Or, as happened one summer day, there’s a jar of olives stuck in the back of the fridge, rattling against the fan. Or they may take us to the window… where we see someone has spent their day working on the street quite noisily; while we are working somewhere else.

Even if we can’t address the issue, or figure out what it is, we can make reassuring noises and wave our arms around at it. Sometimes, that’s all the cats need to feel comfortable enough to ignore that outside commotion.

When people are sick. Mr WayofCats had been battling what he thought was a cold; he’s used to taking longer than average because of his compromised immune system. I insisted we head for the doctor when I saw the way all the cats had taken to hovering around him and piling on when he took naps. That’s when I said, “The cats are saying you are really sick.” It turned out to be pneumonia.

Our cats are sensitive creatures who can’t help picking up the vibrations of all the events around them. Our cats are social creatures who can’t help but react to distress from other living beings.

Knowing this will help us figure out what to do when the cat is upset; even when it’s not really about this particular cat.

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There’s more about multiple cats in The Way of Cats than the article you are reading now. See more posts on the MULTIPLE CAT ADVANTAGE.