Your cat hears, sees, smells, tastes and feels the globe otherwise than you are doing (and processes it in the course of a really completely different brain), therefore it ought to be no surprise that there area unit usually miscommunications between humans and cats! to grasp and to ultimately modification your cat’s behavior, it's essential that you just perceive however your cat interprets the globe.

The World According to Your Cat

Hearing

Although not nearly as good at detection lower pitches, cats will acquire thusunds so faint or high-pitched they're out of the vary of human hearing. Sound is a crucial a part of the cat’s world for each extant and human action. hear what percentage completely different sounds your cat makes—this is your cat human action in AN undeniably complicated language. as a result of your cat hears high-pitched sounds higher than you, it's vital that you simply remember of noise levels in your home, notably if your cat is timid or simply upset by commotion. area unit you enjoying music loudly or victimisation the vacuum cleaner? If your cat is reacting to those sounds, it's best to form a quiet, calm space for your cat to remain in whereas you're cleanup or diverting guests.

Smell

The wet, gravelly patch of skin on your cat’s nose is termed a rhinarium. It will catch and hold scent molecules and offers your cat a superior sense of smell. In fact, smell is thus necessary to a cat’s survival that they need a secondary chemoreceptor. On the roof of a cat’s mouth behind the front teeth is that the vomeronasal organ, that you'll be able to see once your cat yawns. once confronted with associate particularly fascinating or uncommon smell, a cat can drop its jaw open and let the scent waft across the vomeronasal organ during a behavior referred to as the Flehmen response. additionally, as a result of scent is significant to cats, they're going to mark close to something. For cats, scent could be a means that of communication. do that experiment yourself: gift your cat with a brand new object and observe his reaction. possibly, your cat can smell the item. If it's fascinating (and tough and non-threatening), the cat can butt the item along with his head and rub the facet of his face (and generally his whole body) against the item. Your cat has simply claimed the new object by marking it with pheromones. Cats have scent glands on the perimeters of their faces and in alternative places on their bodies and tails. within the wild, scenting is that the manner cats communicate with alternative cats. once your cat weaves around your legs or ankles, he's showing love by depositing his distinctive scent and claiming you as his own! Scenting and marking territory with excreta is otherwise cats communicate “owned” property. For cats UN agency area unit domesticated and reside during a house, spraying excreta will produce extensive issues among the home. For a lot of info on understanding spraying and modifying the behavior.

See More : Breeding of small cats

Scratching

Scratching is AN natural behavior that has several sensible functions, like scenting, stretching and sweat and keeping nails in good shape. Cats scratch for multiple reasons, and tho' this behavior is beneficial and necessary for each the mental and physical health of your cat, the behavior usually are often at odds with a guardian’s want to stay piece of furniture intact and pristine. Luckily, there square measure many ways to stay cats from scratching inappropriate surfaces.

Touch

Cats have a awfully keen and complicated sense of bit; they need countless touch receptors everywhere their bodies. These receptors ar most varied within the face (nose, whiskers) and feet (paw/paw pad) areas. The whiskers of a cat ar extraordinarily sensitive to the touch and ar necessary in serving to the cat to pity prey whereas looking and in navigating around dark areas and thru slim passages (the whiskers can tell the cat if he will match into alittle passage manner or between 2 objects). The bit receptors within the paw pads {are also|also ar|are} custom-made for looking and are valuable in serving to a cat to work out the sort of prey (even within the dark) and if the prey continues to be alive. Paw pads and nose bit receptors also are terribly sensitive to temperature.

Taste

e Since style is expounded to smell, and cats have a superior sense of smell, their sense of style is outstanding, too. However, this doesn't essentially mean your cat has what we'd take into account nobility. Cats can place things in their mouths that we discover foul or unclean. this can be half curiosity and half necessity because the solely method for cats to hold one thing is in their mouths. once it involves food, cats have completely different likes and dislikes. it's necessary for you to get what sort of food is appealing to your cat to confirm that he chow well. it's additionally necessary, however, for you to remember of what diet is healthiest for your cat. typically the food your cat needs to eat isn't continuously the healthiest option—just like kids, cats usually like “junk food” to healthy, nutritionally complete foods. For a lot of data on diet and nutrition.

Vision

Contrary to well-liked belief, cats cannot see in dark. Mammals would like some lightweight to see; but, cats square measure much better equipped to check in bottom lightweight. in contrast to our pupils, that expand and contract as a circle, cats’ pupils begin as small vertical slits which will receptive embrace the complete iris, the coloured portion of the attention. The tapetum could be a reflective layer of cells at the rear of the attention that bounces even the faintest lightweight back through the sensitive cells. have you ever ever noticed your cat’s eyes glowing at night? The glowing is really lightweight mirrored off the tapetum. This reflective feature enhances a cat’s ability to best utilize low amounts of sunshine, a attribute all nocturnal animals have to be compelled to survive.



Nocturnal instincts

Cats square measure naturally nocturnal (most active at night) and dark (most active at dawn and dusk) animals. If we tend to take into account that the domesticated cat’s ancestors came from the plains and deserts of continent, the fashionable cat’s hour antics build good sense. Temperatures rise dramatically throughout the day on the African grasslands. To survive the warmth, animals realize shade and sit still. a wise predator (which the cat most actually is) won’t waste energy seeking out concealment places of prey and chasing down game whereas the sun is up. At sunset, the temperature drops and darkness hides movement. this can be the perfect time to return bent realize food and water, and it's exactly the time once the ancestors of your cat went on the prowl. thus your cat’s screaming charging around at three a.m. isn’t essentially a “behavior problem”—it’s Associate in Nursing instinct.

Climbing & leaping

Any level is missive of invitation to a cat. A young and determined cat will leap virtually straight up 2 or thrice his linear unit. In human terms, that might mean having the ability to high-jump concerning 12-to-18 feet from a dead begin. Cats additionally can dauntlessly jump many feet across horizontal chasms and “tight-rope” walk on slim passages several feet off the bottom. Cats additionally prefer to “roost” in high places—atop the icebox or on the highest shelf of the closet. This need to climb and sleep in high places may be a survival instinct passed on from their wild ancestors. within the wild, cats have to be compelled to follow prey up drop faces and on the limbs of trees. additionally, cats within the wild have to be compelled to hide from predators, and therefore the best place to cover is up high wherever nothing will progress behind them. These survival instincts area unit alive and well in even the laziest domesticated house cat!

Aversion to drinking water

Many domesticated cats live regular being slightly dehydrated. this can be due, in part, to their desert ancestry, after they were designed to survive while not access to regular water sources. Domesticated cats typically need encouragement to drink. strive together with moisture-rich wet food in your cat’s diet. it's additionally vital to own quite one water bowl and to put these bowls throughout the house. typically cats square measure additional inclined to drink from water bowls that square measure during a completely different location than their food bowls. you'll be able to additionally invest in water fountains, as several cats like better to drink from running water sources. Also, make sure to put your cat’s water bowls in safe, quiet areas off from dogs, young kids or general house commotion. Remember, within the wild, cats take time to drink only if it’s quiet and they’re safe from predators.

that you perceive your cat and the way he relates to the planet, you're higher equipped to change any behavior you may see inappropriate or problematic.