Cat tail language

How to read it

International Cat Care calls the tail-up position, the tail held vertically at a right angle to the ground, a signal of friendly intent when a cat approaches another cat, an animal or a person. Most of the other positions in the chart below show fear, stress or frustration. Blue Cross says a tail has to be read in context: the situation, and what the rest of the body is doing, often the ears. Holding the tail up at all is particular to house cats: Cats Protection says domestic cats are the only cats that can walk with the tail straight up, and that lions and tigers carry theirs horizontal or between their legs.

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Cat tail chart

Why do cats wag their tails?

Cats wag their tails when they are about to pounce, when they are frustrated and when they are angry, and the speed of the wag tells these apart. Cats Protection reads a tail slowly wagging from side to side as a cat that is indecisive or getting ready to pounce, and a quick wag as a cat that is angry or upset. Blue Cross describes the slow sway as the tail seen just before a cat jumps on a toy or while it is hunting, and the ASPCA describes a cat at a window twitching the end of its tail and chattering when it has spotted prey outside. International Cat Care reads a tail held out and moving slowly across the body as possible frustration.

A tail that moves rapidly back and forth shows, in Blue Cross’s words, a cat that is very emotionally stimulated and may become aggressive; cats often do it in disputes with each other over territory. Cornell Feline Health Center lists tail lashing, with dilated pupils and ears turned back, among the signs a cat gives before it turns on someone stroking it. A tail that only twitches or flicks is, for Blue Cross, conflict or agitation, and when it starts during stroking it is an early sign the cat is not enjoying it. International Cat Care describes a cat crouching and thumping its tail on the ground as a classic defensive posture.

Cats Protection says rapid or unusual tail movements can also mean a cat is frustrated or in pain or discomfort. If this is new or comes with other changes, check with your vet.

A tail that stands up and quivers

Cats Protection and Blue Cross both read a high tail that quivers a little as a cat very excited to see you. The same upright, quivering tail is part of spraying urine. The RSPCA describes a spraying cat standing with its tail upright and quivering, usually treading with its hind legs, most often close to a door or window, and Cats Protection says a cat that does this when spraying, or when only going through the motions (“fake spraying”), is stressed.

A tail wrapped round you

Cats Protection calls a tail wrapped round a person or another cat a hug, which cats give only to people and cats they like, as a friendly greeting. Blue Cross says cats with a close relationship often do it to each other, and International Cat Care describes cats that intertwine their tails as a form of social bonding.

Cats with short tails or none

Blue Cross notes that some breeds naturally carry their tails lower than others. The Manx, from the Isle of Man, is the only breed with a mutation that makes it tailless, and bobtail breeds have very short tails; Cats Protection says these cats show their mood in other ways, through the rest of their body and their voice.