The tail is an extension of the spine: while the human spine stops at our pelvis, in animals, including cats, the spine continues backwards for another 18 to 23 small bones, or 20 to 30cm.

The average female cat’s tail measures 25cm (10 inches), and the average male cat’s tail measures 28cm (11 inches), with larger breeds like Maine Coons having tails up to 40cm (16 inches) long. The tail can be narrow (in smaller, short-haired cats) or it can be thicker (in larger, long-haired cats like Persians).

The bones of the tail are covered in layers of connective tissue, blood vessels, muscle, skin, and fur. The tail has a rich supply of nerves, giving cats the ability to make their tail move in small and large ways. A cat’s tail can twitch or quiver almost invisibly, or it can move like a whip to strike with strength.

Domestic cats use their tails in a range of different ways to communicate with other cats and with humans.

Cat tail language can tell you about a cat’s moods, emotions, and intentions, allowing you to understand and predict a cat’s behaviour. The movement of the tail can tell you as much as a purr, a meow or a yowl.

A tail can move in an almost infinite range of combinations of movements, but the following tail positions are the most common ways that a cat may use their tail to communicate.

What does it mean when a cat’s tail is up? When a cat holds their tail straight up vertically, this is a friendly invitation to engage: anatomically speaking, the cat is exposing their anal sac region, inviting other cats to sniff this area as a type of intimate social engagement.

Sometimes the tip of the tail may be curled, creating a characteristic question-mark appearance.

Pet owners can relax when cats approach them with their tail high in this position: it’s a friendly greeting. Your cat is saying, “I’m your feline friend”. A question mark tail may be accompanied by purring.

If a cat uses their tail to wrap around your leg, or perhaps another cat’s tail, this is a sign of close affection.

At a biological level, a cat’s tail includes scent glands, so the tail is used to swap scents with other creatures. This is similar to head-pressing and cheek-rubbing, and it’s as if the cat is petting you, in the same way as you pet them when you want to engage.

Flicking the tip of the tail is a sign that a cat is feeling irritated or fascinated by something. Cat owners should scan the cat’s environment to see if they can spot the source of the cat’s attention. This can be a sign of early annoyance if there is a threat to a cat in the vicinity, or a sign of playfulness if there is a toy close by.

When a cat wags their tail (moving the tail rhythmically from side to side), they are expressing ambivalence about what to do. If they could talk, they would be saying, “I am not sure about this”.

So if a cat is in confrontation with another cat, the tail wags as if to say “will I attack or will I run away?” If a cat is stalking prey, their tail will switch from side to side before they pounce: the message is “will I keep moving slowly or will I leap on them now?”. A tail wag can be a prelude to pouncing, or a cat may back away after due consideration.

A lashing or swishing tail is similar to a wagging tail, but with more speed and strength, like a whip. This indicates a higher level of emotion and a prelude to more dramatic action.

It also acts as a warning to other cats (and people) not to come any closer. If a cat lashing their tail is approached, or if other cats (or people) do not back off from a cat that is lashing their tail, the cat is likely to attack. The cat will often use vocalisation to reinforce the lashing tail, with a yowl or a loud meow to add to the warning.

When a cat is crouched with their tail wrapped around themselves, this is like humans standing with their arms folded. The message is “I am contented here by myself, and I don’t need any engagement”.

It’s always upsetting when you notice your cat vomiting, never mind the mess that needs to be cleaned up. But how can you know if your cat’s vomiting is harmless or something to be concerned about?

Vomiting, also called throwing up, is the emptying of a cat’s stomach contents. Cats vomit for many different reasons. Some causes of vomiting are extremely serious, and others are less worrisome. It pays to know a little bit about vomiting in cats, so you know what to do if your cat ever throws up.

Although the two occurrences look similar, vomiting is different from regurgitation. Vomiting empties the stomach, while regurgitation empties the oesophagus (the long tube that delivers food to the stomach).

Regurgitation happens immediately after the cat swallows food. Rather than the heaving and stomach contractions you will see just preceding a vomiting episode, regurgitation happens fast and looks almost effortless.

Vomit may or may not contain pieces of partially digested food or even undigested food. In contrast, with regurgitation, you will always see food, which often comes out in one long tube shape that matches the shape of the cat’s oesophagus. Regurgitation can be caused by congenital factors (something the cat is born with), or it can develop in response to a disease. If you suspect your cat is regurgitating, it’s important to seek out veterinary care.

Any time your cat coughs up a hairball, she is vomiting. However, once the hairball is out, the vomiting should stop. This is not to say that hairballs are never a serious matter.

Sometimes, a cat may vomit repeatedly in an attempt to eliminate a large hairball in the stomach. If the vomiting is not productive and the hairball is not expelled, the hairball can become lodged in the digestive tract, causing potentially life-threatening problems.

Why do cats throw up? Vomiting is a sign that something is upsetting your cat’s digestive system. Some causes of vomiting in cats, like hairballs, are less serious.

But others, like poisoning and pancreatitis (inflammation of the pancreas), can be deadly. Certain health issues may also cause vomiting and other symptoms.
If your cat is vomiting and you suspect she might have eaten something she shouldn’t have, seek urgent care.

Some common causes of poisoning in cats include:

Consuming toxic plants, like lilies
Ingesting rodent poison (including eating a dead rat or mouse that consumed the poison)
Using dog flea and tick preventive products on your cat (these preventatives can contain pyrethrins, which are toxic to cats)
Being exposed to garden chemicals and insecticides
Swallowing antifreeze
Eating human foods that are toxic to cats
Ingestion of  human medications

In addition to finding vomit on the floor, some other signs that your cat is feeling nauseous include drooling, gagging, retching, licking her lips, repeatedly swallowing, and acting uncomfortable or restless.

Your cat might vomit food, or she might vomit liquid or bile. The vomit may be thick or foamy. If you see hair, plant material, or anything else in the vomit, make a note of it and tell your veterinarian—it might be a clue to what is causing the vomiting.

If your cat vomits just once and seems to be acting normal otherwise, it’s possible that it was an isolated occurrence of stomach upset or perhaps a hairball (especially if you find a clump of hair in the vomit).

You can take a wait-and-see approach, watching for more vomiting and taking note of your cat’s demeanour. If the vomiting subsides on its own, and your cat is acting fine, the vomiting may have resolved on its own.

On the other hand, if your cat is experiencing repeated vomiting, if you see blood in the vomit, or if your cat is acting very sick, she should be seen by your veterinarian as soon as possible.

Continuous vomiting in and of itself can cause life-threatening dehydration and imbalances of electrolytes like sodium and potassium, so frequent vomiting requires immediate veterinary care.

Consider the following when your cat is vomiting:
Frequency of vomiting: Persistent vomiting (more than once or twice in 24 hours) requires veterinary attention. Vomiting that continues longer than a day or two, even if it’s only once or twice in 24 hours, should also be investigated.

Cat’s demeanor: If your cat is vomiting and also acting very ill (lying around, not wanting to eat or play, vocalizing excessively, having accidents outside the litter box), or if your cat is experiencing diarrhea or constipation along with the vomiting, bring her in for an exam as soon as you can.

Appearance of blood: Vomiting blood is called hematemesis. Blood in cat vomit might look bright red, or it might look dark brown or black, like coffee grounds. Hematemesis indicates that the cat may be experiencing internal bleeding, a medical emergency. Any time a cat is vomiting blood, she should be examined by a veterinary professional.

There are two types of vomiting: acute vomiting and chronic vomiting. Acute vomiting is vomiting that comes on all of a sudden. You might see acute vomiting in cases of cats that have been poisoned, cats that eat spoiled food (food poisoning), and sudden-onset illness.

Chronic vomiting occurs occasionally and somewhat regularly over time. Some cat owners become used to their cat throwing up, but frequent vomiting is not something to write off as something the cat just “does.”

Although it can be normal for a cat to vomit every once in a while, if your cat is throwing up more than once or twice a month, it could mean something is going on that requires intervention. Persistent occasional vomiting doesn’t necessarily have to result in weight loss to be problematic. In the case of chronic vomiting, a visit to the veterinarian is in order.

Treatment for vomiting depends on what is making your cat throw up. For instance, if your cat has ingested something toxic, treatment will be aimed at eliminating the poison and providing supportive care.

If your cat has swallowed a foreign object that is lodged in its intestinal tract, surgery might be necessary to resolve the blockage. If your cat has a medical condition like diabetes, pancreatitis, or IBD, the vet will initiate treatment to address the underlying disease as well as the vomiting.

When you bring your cat to your veterinarian to be examined, the veterinarian will examine your cat and ask you questions about how she’s been acting and whether or not she might have gotten into something like spoiled food or poisonous plants.

The vet might also recommend some tests like blood work, urinalysis, a faecal exam to look for intestinal parasites, or abdominal X-rays or ultrasound. Once the underlying cause of the vomiting has been determined, treatment can be initiated. Sometimes, no cause can be determined.

It’s not uncommon for a cat’s digestive tract to become upset and need a little help settling down.

General treatment of vomiting may include one or more of the following:

Antiemetic (anti-vomiting) medication: An antiemetic drug will calm your cat’s nausea and stop the vomiting.

Fluids: If your cat is dehydrated from repeated vomiting, fluids will be given. Depending on how dehydrated your cat is, fluid therapy may be administered either under the skin (subcutaneous) or intravenously via an IV catheter.

Bland diet: After a vomiting episode, your cat’s digestive system will be very unsettled, so your veterinarian might recommend feeding a bland, easily digestible diet for a few days.

Your vet might send you home with a prescription diet that’s very gentle on the stomach, recommend another type of cat food, or even suggest a home-cooked diet to feed until your cat’s stomach has settled down.

If your cat is vomiting only occasionally, your vet might suggest withholding food for 24 hours to give your cat’s digestive tract a little time to rest.

When your cat is vomiting, don’t wait too long to seek veterinary care. Some causes of vomiting are serious, even life-threatening. Also, the longer you wait, the sicker your cat will become, which can make it more difficult to treat your cat’s condition and lead to more costly treatment.

It’s so maddening, isn’t it? You have that one cat who is just so fussy about food. They either reject most new foods you offer them, or even turn their nose up suddenly at a food they have loved for months or years. Why does your cat do this?

Cats may be, or become, finicky about food for a variety of reasons. Here are seven of them.

A medical condition. If a cat that was usually pretty easygoing with food preferences suddenly becomes finicky, the most likely reason is an illness, like kidney disease or dental disease. If your cat is showing other signs of illness along with a loss of appetite, make a veterinarian appointment ASAP.

Natural instincts. Your cat’s picky nature may stem from their wild ancestors, who hunted small, frequent meals, and fresh prey was warm and moist. Maybe your cat would do better with smaller, more frequent meals and warmed-up wet food.

Learned preference. A mother cat’s diet can influence the types of foods her kittens prefer. If you get your cat as a kitten, feeding them a variety of foods–with different flavours, textures, and shapes–can help set the stage for an adult cat that is less likely to be finicky.

Negative associations. Just like we may lose our appetite for a certain food if it is associated with a bad memory, like hospital food, cats may start avoiding foods associated with a time of illness or stress.

Cleanliness/location. Cats will not like eating out of a dirty bowl or near a litter tray. Washing bowls frequently and moving them far away from the cat’s litter tray can fix the problem.

Enabling/too much choice. If you give your cat treats when they refuse dinner, they learn that they may get a tasty reward when they’re being picky.

Pickiness about flavour. Just like we have our favourite foods and flavours, some cats don’t like certain types of food. Some love chicken but turn their noses up at lamb. Some cats love fish. Experiment with different foods of a certain flavour to see which works best.

There is a substantial body of evidence that, although domestic cats are solitary animals and capable of living alone, they also form social bonds. Whether in high-density colonies or in groups of related individuals, cats maintain coherence by creating a group odour via allogrooming/allorubbing.

Moreover, affiliated cats are less likely to exhibit overt aggression toward each other if sufficient environmental resources exist.

Likewise, cats socialised together during their formative kitten years may develop affiliative relationships with each other, which will be maintained into adulthood. Such cats, therefore, form a more harmonious multi-feline household.

It is imperative to note that social relationships between cats can shift throughout life.

Play is important for all cats. Whether young or old, play has a positive impact on a cat’s emotional state while providing stimulation from boredom and helping to develop and maintain social bonds. Unlike dogs, who use play as a form of social interaction, the motivation for play in both kittens and adult cats is centred around predatory behaviour. Play fighting among cats is normal and healthy behaviour.

Sibling cats commonly indulge in play sessions that include stalking, chasing, as well as pouncing. At times, these play sessions seem like fights. Some play sessions can lead to an individual cat becoming over-stimulated and boisterous, which can be stressful for a cat that is not as excitable. Keep a close eye on these situations when they arise, and diffuse tension to avoid escalation when one or both cats display signs of aggression.

Cats are prone to indulge in social play in the right type of environment. A play space could be full of fun obstacles, hiding holes, cat trees, activity centres, and boxes with entry/exit holes, to name a few examples.

Cats communicate through body language and, to a lesser extent, through vocalisation. The overall social relationship between cats should be considered when determining if they are displaying playing or fighting behaviour, since these expressions can also be individual.

Kittens are very social and have a high play drive from an early age. They are taught skills such as grooming, feeding, and hunting by the queen and rely on collaborations with littermates to learn social skills.

Inter-cat social play peaks around 8-10 weeks of age, then object play becomes prevalent. Toys present an outlet for natural predatory sequences as part of play, which prevents play biting.

Cats can be playful into old age; however, cat interactions and social play may decline with maturity.

The following are indicators that your cats are playing:

They remain calm and happy during the interaction.
The ears are in a normal or forward position (not pinned back).
The body stance is forward, facing one another.
The fur is flat (no puffed-up tail or piloerection).
They play bite only.
They wrestle and chase each other.

Jovial cats will not claw, hiss, swat, or growl at each other.
There will be a sense of balance in which both cats engage in chasing and roughhousing.

In certain social groups, male cats can often engage in extra play fights in comparison to females, who are generally less interested in rowdiness after social maturity (around three years of age).

As a resourceful species, cats generally avoid physical disputes. Overt fighting can cause injury, incapacity for hunting, and even death.

Active aggression (fighting) will occur if the cat feels threatened, and avoidance prospects or escape are limited or absent.

Certain cats resort to fighting for a variety of reasons. Most cats will defend their territory (within the home or beyond) against invaders. Some cats turn to active aggression faster than others, dependent on individual genetics, sex, and early life experiences.

The following are signs that your cats are fighting:

Their eyes are wide open, and their pupils are dilated with confrontational stares.
The ears are up and flattened back against the cat’s head.
The whiskers are forward and spread out.
The mouth is open with teeth bared.
There is vocalisation through growling or hissing.
Piloerection of tail and body (puffed up, looking twice the size)
Tense, sideways body posture rather than facing one another.
The claws are out during swatting or striking.
The tail is vertical with the tip down or raised, or lashing back and forth or twitching.

Due to limited social communication skills, cats cannot diffuse an aggressive situation, so it is up to cat owners to help resolve it. Once aggression intensifies, it can take a couple of hours for a cat to calm down. Once separated, leave the cats alone, each in a quiet room, until they have fully relaxed.

So, why do some cats fight more than others? Each cat is different, but there is a long list of factors that contribute to aggression in cats. Every situation requires a thoughtful approach to resolve while considering the individual cat’s unique circumstances. Here are the common reasons some cats fight more than others.

1. A Lack of Early-Life Socialisation
The socialisation period (2 – 9 weeks) is crucial for kittens. Hand-raised kittens that have not been socialised with other cats during this critical period are anecdotally at risk of developing problem behaviours such as nervousness, aggression, and reduced coping mechanisms during environmental changes.

2. New Household Members
In a 2017 study conducted with 2,492 owners of multiple cats, 73.3% noted aggression signs during the initial introduction phase of another cat. The addition of a new cat to the home correlated with the frequency of disputes, and more cats in one household added recurrent tension signs.

3. Food and Resource Scarcity
Food aggression causes strife when cats from different social groups are fed in proximity and when food is scarce. Competition for resources or human attention also causes inter-cat friction.

4. Territorial Disputes
We often hear free-roaming felines fight due to a territorial disagreement, particularly at night. Cats place significant reliance on securing their territory, more so than on connections to people or other cats. Many problematic cat behaviours come from perceived threats to this security, often due to disputes with other felines.

5. Illness
Inter-cat conflict due to illness commonly presents as sudden attacks without previous disagreement between the involved cats. If this occurs at your home, take your cat to the veterinarian to make sure they are healthy and thriving.

6. Protecting Kittens
Households with breeding females may also encounter episodes of aggression, especially when queens are safeguarding their kittens.

7. Genetics
Problematic cat behaviour is also affected by several genes. One of them is the oxytocin receptor, which has been identified as contributing to irritability,y signifying that genetic testing may become an important tool in the veterinary behaviourist field.

Inter-cat conflicts cause a lot of stress to both the resident cat(s) and their owner. When a fight occurs, do NOT place your hand or any body parts between fighting cats. Doing so can cause a major injury requiring urgent medical attention, because cat bite wounds tend to be deep, and cats harbour bacteria and other pathogens in their mouths.

The use of noise deterrents, spray bottles, and water guns are common ways that cat owners break up catfights. This, however, may be frightening for your cats and can have negative effects on an anxious cat. Never punish or touch a cat during these times, as it may cause the cat to become fearful of people.

Instead, throw a towel or small blanket on both cats to break up the fight. The goal is to distract and divert the cats’ attention.

Barrier separation, such as baby gates, cardboard, wood, or plastic boards, are also useful tools to block the view of each cat.

When tensions have cooled, encourage contact through positive reinforcement. This can be achieved through separation, confinement, and gradual reintroductions.

The best way to minimise fighting in a multi-cat household is to provide plenty of resources and enrichment opportunities to meet the needs of each cat. Environmental enrichment and multiple resources distributed around the house, such as litter trays, beds, scratching posts, bowls, hiding spots, and perches, will help to reduce stress and increase your cats’ ability to cope with disruptions.

Toys, puzzle feeders, foraging opportunities, and supervised outside time should be provided to all cats, even if they have outdoor access. Extra enrichment should be offered to indoor cats, who can become bored and unhappy without the opportunity to indulge in hunting and exploration instincts that come with an outside environment.

Interactive personal play with each cat should be tailored to suit the individual cat. Play mimics predatory behaviour for cats, so it helps to minimise play aggression.

Feliway may also help reduce inter-cat tension and habituation to a new home when used in combination with other anxiolytic products.

Neutering your cats will help address certain aggressive behaviours, particularly in intact males.

Finally, reinforcing friendly, playful interactions and taking steps to reduce aggressive behaviour are dependent on the correct integration of a new cat and being aware of cat groups’ social dynamics in multi-cat homes.

If you are still unsure if your cats are playing or fighting, record their interaction and post it in the comments below, or show the video to your veterinarian or cat behaviourist.