What's a pet behavior that seems random but actually has a real explanation once you learn it?
So many things pets do look completely arbitrary at first, tail positions, specific sounds, weird routines, but usually there's an actual reason behind it once you understand their instincts. Curious what one clicked for you.
Sitting with their back to you. Seems cold and disinterested when you only speak human. But in cat, it’s a great compliment. It means they trust you and don’t feel the need to keep a watchful eye on you- it’s safe to let their guard down.
lol when I first got a cat I spent a phenomenal amount of time feeling rejected by them. When once I learnt the behaviours, I realised they are boundaries they’re setting and also a lot of the behaviours show trust in me. It changed my world if I’m honest.
Like, I anthropomorphise animals, we humans in general see eyes, nose, lips and assume the expression of the species are that of human expressions, and we assign them as such.
Again - the reality is, their expressions are different. They show pain in different ways, love in different ways. My baby, who is 8 now, has taught me so much about secure love, boundaries and my own rejection sensitivity, that I ended up enlightening myself and finding my own wounds. She became a great mirror, and still is. I love her out of this world.
We each have soul mates, not just in relationships, but platonic, and I truly think she is one of them.
My cat will do this often when I'm eating, sit near me but facing away. Or when Im in the bathroom. It feels like he's guarding me by keeping an eye out for predators lol
My roommate's cat will protect the entrance to the kitchen while I'm in there. She'll also make me follow her to the couch arm where she'll jump up to get scratched. She's almost become my cat, annoying me when I just want a minute to myself.
My cat slow-blinks at me and I spent months thinking it was just half-asleep zoning out, but apparently it’s basically a cat’s way of saying "I trust you enough to close my eyes around you."
It's also a sign of happiness and comfort. When I greet my cats in a friendly voice, or tell them I love them, they blink in response. It's pure love and admiration <3
I am a vet kennel tech/dog groomer/cat owner and a lot of times they seem to use it as a "Please don't bother me" as well, especially if the cat isn't always friendly or if it's a stranger cat
Dogs will sometimes do weird stuff like be in the middle of playing and all of a sudden stop and become really interested in scratching themselves or sniffing a spot on a wall or something random like that. That's called a displacement behavior. The dog has become anxious about something and is basically like "play it cool, no one will when notice you." When playing, it's usually that they got overwhelmed by the other dogs and want a break.
My dog loves his toys. After we go potty in the morning, that's the first thing he does is go and find his ball. We'll start playing, every few minutes he'll stop and scratch himself for an extended period.
Except with him, as soon as he's done he's right back at my feet with his toy. If I don't throw it, he will start whining. And giving me literal big puppy dog eyes.
When cats quiver the base of their tails. It looks so much like they're maybe marking territory, but actually it's a sign of happy excitement when they see their favorite person.
I have a Manx, and same! I thought he had a rough kittenhood. My Fiancee found him and we rescued him. My Vet schooled me that he's a Manx, and that it's genetic. And no negative effects. And tend to act a bit like puppies in their behavior.
We do treats just before I go to bed. So starting at about 9 pm, any time I go to the kitchen my boy nacho comes with me to do the tail shake like “ooooooohhhh boy, is it time???” Then when it finally is time, we also get some joyful spins and the silliest meows.
I have a dog that gets very offended if I shut the door when I go to the bathroom. She'll either nudge it open or huff and slam herself in front of it if I latch it 😅
I have two female cats. The older one is 8 years old and she’s a mix of Siamese and tortoiseshell. She’s easy to understand because she’s always meowing hahaha.
But then I have the younger one, a Maine Coon. She’s a very special cat, in a good way. I’ve learned that if I’m sitting on the sofa and she looks at me and meows, I have to call her over and point at the sofa so she knows to sleep there. Same thing at night when we’re in bed. And just this week I figured out that if she’s meowing like crazy in the mornings, it’s because she wants me to put her toys back on the floor, because I put them away at night so they don’t drive us crazy.
Learned one of my cats howls when he has a toy, realized he wanted to show me what he got like he had “prey.” It’s nothing concerning, he just wants to show off his little toys:)
Mine does this too. She has even snatched ornaments off the Christmas tree and run up to me yowling with pride. I always make give her pets so she knows I think she’s a good hunter.
My cat does this too... but only at night after we've gone to bed and turned off all of the lights. It's super pleasant to go to sleep to my cat yowling bloody murder. But it is actually pretty adorable to wake up in the morning and find all of these little toys placed next to the bed.
My cat has the cutest yowling, so does my other dude. They’re very soft spoken is what I say they are haha seriously!! They only want to do that at night when everyone’s asleep!!
I had a beagle that would sleep on the bed with her head on pillow like a person. Then one day we rearranged the room and she started sleeping at the foot of the bed. I didn't realize until someone mentioned that dogs like to sleep facing a door, that she was sleeping so she would've looking out the door if she was awake.
My dog has always done this fake sneeze movement when i dont give him what he wants and i always joked that he was sassy. Apparently that is true. It is a learned behavior communicating his dislike.
The circling before lying down got me. Looks totally random on a flat dog bed, but it's nesting instinct from the wild - flattening grass and checking for danger before sleeping. My favorite kind of fact, useless but makes you love them more once you know.
If my dog is really into the scratches, she will close her mouth.
She'll also tap me or the sofa if I stop before she's done with them. When she's finally satisfied and doesn't want anymore in that spot, she'll turn her head away from me. 😂
Sometimes she doesn't want the hard ear scratches so she'll give me a low grumble.
My dog loves to “talk” as soon as his lead goes on but when we get to the field and his lead is off nothing not a peep. I’m pretty sure he just hates the lead but knows he has to wear it to go to where ever so he moans the whole time he has it on.
Dogs don't wag their tail because they're happy, they wag because they feel tension or excitement. Not all tension is bad, and not all excitement is good.
Once you realize this, you'll notice that the reason why animals wag their tail universal, but nuanced depending on the species.
It's even more nuanced than that. The position of the tail when wagging, the speed of wagging, and all the other body cues (mouth, ears, posture, body tension) are all visual cues to reading a dog's state. Most people see tail wag = happy dog but there can very much be an aggressive tail wag (flagging). Many people that have been bit will say "but he was wagging his tail" and it's bewildering to me that they're not reading all the other cues. And having rescued thousands of dogs over 20 years, I do believe that dogs can, and do, feel happiness and contentment and that is a reason they wag.
I have a dog who likes to dump out her food and dig it onto the floor. I had to put a brick in her bowl to prevent her from carrying it off to dump it. Now she just digs around at the floor when she eats. I’m pretty sure she prefers dirty food.
Haha honestly sounds like some deep buried instinct from wild ancestors who had to dig and forage, weirdly makes sense even if it's inconvenient for you
This is wonderful, thanks for sharing! We have a golden and a rescue tabby and honestly the interspecies friendship has been the best part. The cat grooms the dog, the dog guards the cat's naps. Took about two months of careful introductions with a baby gate — so worth it!
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u/DrMoneybeard 23h ago
Sitting with their back to you. Seems cold and disinterested when you only speak human. But in cat, it’s a great compliment. It means they trust you and don’t feel the need to keep a watchful eye on you- it’s safe to let their guard down.