Tips for Communicating With Your Cat

I wanted to do a post about communicating with someone you’re dating, but as a #foreveralone, cat lady, I didn’t exactly feel qualified. So instead, here are some tips for communicating with a different temperamental creature in your life! Some of these might seem like tips you could use with humans, but proceed with caution.

1. Eye Contact
   This is very important. Long, deep, soul-searching stares are a must if you wish to connect with each other. If you’re lucky, you’ll get a slow blink back, which means they love you. Note that I’m pretty sure the last bit is only true for cats.
2. Body Language
   This one might be obvious to a lot of people. To be honest, I don’t really know how you teach someone to understand body language…you’re kind of in a hard place if you’re not intuitively able to understand it. I’d try working on other forms of communication and coming back to this one last. I will say though, that usually a (fluffy) tail high in the air is a good sign. For cats.
3. Don’t be Afraid to Voice Your Opinion
   If it’s 3am and you’re lonely, go ahead and say so. Now, you might not get the response you’re looking for. The point, however, isn’t to illicit a reaction but rather to get your feelings off your chest. Maybe you won’t get extra snacks at 3am and your opinion will just get you a spray of water to the face, but maybe the two of you will decide to compromise with a few extra snacks before bed, instead.
4. Make Sure You Dedicate Some Time to Play
   Who doesn’t love to be a couch potato? Still, time spent relaxing together can get boring and nothing interferes with a relationship more than feeling like it’s becoming bland. Keep things from getting stale but doing activities that you both enjoy! Try spicing things up with a rousing game of “danger paw” or “chase that ribbon”. Or like, hiking, or something.
5. Respect Each Other’s Choices
   As long as it doesn’t interfere with your own life and choices, let your differences be. You don’t really have to understand what your partner does and why they do it; you just need to know that it makes them happy. Sure, it’s a little weird that they enjoy staring blankly into space and then suddenly jumping at an invisible target on the wall. But hey, to each their own. It’s part of their unique charm.

There you have it folks. Expert tips on communicating with your cat from your resident cat-lady-in-training (it doesn’t count if you only have one, Mom!).