Herd your cats here

[sprout]

"Despite all of what's going on in the world...there are cats." 

Amen.

x2,000

[clean]

Here Kitty Kitty!!

Tell us a tale of tail chasing?  (it can be your own tail, the tail of a 'playful' critter you 'just want to be friends with' or the tail of one of your regal subjects).

[onehappyunicorn]

I know most of us likely had yesterday off but here's a start of the week cat post:
https://imgur.com/gallery/XQXn0jV

[mamselle]

I know most of us likely had yesterday off but here's a start of the week cat post:
https://imgur.com/gallery/XQXn0jV

My first kitty looked exactly like Poe. She also had an affinity for holiday decorations: she was the reason I had to guy-wire the tree to the windowsill (mentioned above) because she kept wanting to climb it...

They're great!

Thanks for sharing.

M.

[Volhiker78]

Here Kitty Kitty!!

Tell us a tale of tail chasing?  (it can be your own tail, the tail of a 'playful' critter you 'just want to be friends with' or the tail of one of your regal subjects).

Not tail chasing but I have a tail question.  Do all cats possess the ability to make their tail look gigantic when they are excited?  Our tuxedo, Booboo, can nearly double the size of her tail when she is chasing our tabby, Lilil.  But I've never seen Lilil's tail expand.  Both cats' fur are short too so I don't think its the fur size that makes a difference.  So, do some cats just have the ability to blow up their tail whereas others do not?  Or is Booboo just extremely excitable? 

[the_geneticist]

Here Kitty Kitty!!

Tell us a tale of tail chasing?  (it can be your own tail, the tail of a 'playful' critter you 'just want to be friends with' or the tail of one of your regal subjects).

Not tail chasing but I have a tail question.  Do all cats possess the ability to make their tail look gigantic when they are excited?  Our tuxedo, Booboo, can nearly double the size of her tail when she is chasing our tabby, Lilil.  But I've never seen Lilil's tail expand.  Both cats' fur are short too so I don't think its the fur size that makes a difference.  So, do some cats just have the ability to blow up their tail whereas others do not?  Or is Booboo just extremely excitable?

I think that all cats can go "puffy tail", but some are more excitable than others.  Lady Jane and Sir Puck will only go "full puff" if they are really scared, but will get "half puffy" when they are annoyed and play fighting.  Jane will also get a raised ridge of fur along her spine when annoyed.
I've never seen Izzy go puffy and she's so fluffy already that she'd turn into a sphere.

[AmLitHist]

Little Cat has been spending days with me and the space heater in my office.  After today's class, she exploded--well, actually a big sneeze, but I've never heard such a big cat sneeze! I think it scared her:  she sat dead still and looked around for a few seconds, wondering what had just happened!

[mamselle]

...and then I bet she started washing her face as if to say, "Who, me? I didn't make that noise. You must have...."

  (Kitty control must prevail...)

M.

[Puget]

Here Kitty Kitty!!

Tell us a tale of tail chasing?  (it can be your own tail, the tail of a 'playful' critter you 'just want to be friends with' or the tail of one of your regal subjects).

Not tail chasing but I have a tail question.  Do all cats possess the ability to make their tail look gigantic when they are excited?  Our tuxedo, Booboo, can nearly double the size of her tail when she is chasing our tabby, Lilil.  But I've never seen Lilil's tail expand.  Both cats' fur are short too so I don't think its the fur size that makes a difference.  So, do some cats just have the ability to blow up their tail whereas others do not?  Or is Booboo just extremely excitable?

I think that all cats can go "puffy tail", but some are more excitable than others.  Lady Jane and Sir Puck will only go "full puff" if they are really scared, but will get "half puffy" when they are annoyed and play fighting.  Jane will also get a raised ridge of fur along her spine when annoyed.
I've never seen Izzy go puffy and she's so fluffy already that she'd turn into a sphere.

Mine have only done it a few times when really startled by something (hilariously on one occasion when I dropped a flower stem and panther boy reacted like it was a snake, complete with jumping backward and full tail puff). They never do it when play chasing and wrestling each other, but do a lot of tail swishing.

[evil_physics_witchcraft]

Here Kitty Kitty!!

Tell us a tale of tail chasing?  (it can be your own tail, the tail of a 'playful' critter you 'just want to be friends with' or the tail of one of your regal subjects).

Not tail chasing but I have a tail question.  Do all cats possess the ability to make their tail look gigantic when they are excited?  Our tuxedo, Booboo, can nearly double the size of her tail when she is chasing our tabby, Lilil.  But I've never seen Lilil's tail expand.  Both cats' fur are short too so I don't think its the fur size that makes a difference.  So, do some cats just have the ability to blow up their tail whereas others do not?  Or is Booboo just extremely excitable?

Youngest evil cat poofs her tail up so much that it resembles a fox tail.

[evil_physics_witchcraft]

Double post.

Someone was snoring and it wasn't me! It was Youngest evil cat!

[statsgeek]

FosterFail girl had the biggest tail puff we've seen to date from her the other day, in response to something she saw outside the office window.  She carried that bottle brush around for a good 30 minutes! 

My favorite recent tail story, though, comes from not so little anymore Yin of the unusually long tail.  He spent quite some time a couple weeks ago stalking this annoying black, furry thing that wouldn't leave him alone.  Just as he finally caught it, something grabbed his tail!  He jumped a good foot straight up in the air.  Of course, I then had the gall to laugh at him. 

[smallcleanrat]

Maestro had an almost stubby tail early in life (the vet commented on it being unusually short in proportion to the rest of him). As he grew, the tail lengthened to the point where it now looks abnormally long (the legs did the same, giving him the appearance of a cat on stilts until the rest of his body caught up). As the tail became long enough to enter his peripheral vision while sitting or lying down, it would often startle him. He'd take a defensive posture and eye the tail, like in some sort of Western showdown, and then...attack! Glad we got some good videos of this because he eventually made peace with his tail and no longer duels with it.

He doesn't puff up nearly as much as he used to when everything in the world was new and he was so tiny. I wish I had video of the time he spotted his shadow on the wall and instantly puffed up and arched his back. When shadow kitten did the same, Maestro attempted to arch and puff even more. When he saw shadow kitty was able to match that too the little Maestro backed down and ran.

And a tail puff incident that I've only ever seen once: he brushed past a rolled up yoga mat standing on its end. It took a few moments for the mat finish wobbling and then fall. Maestro seemed uncertain as to whether this event was alarming or no. So instead of the usual, near-instantaneous puff, his tail puffed up gradually, like a sponge soaking up water and expanding. It reached full puff when the mat finally landed on its side. Then he bolted from the scene of the crime.

Does anyone else feel just a smidge of pride when they can un-puff the cat with some gentle words and petting? Like...I just helped my cat feel safe and calm...and this is a critter who once jumped a foot in the air at the sight of a dropped sock.

[mamselle]

Awwww.....I wants me a Maestro....he sounds so sweet and goofy and cuddly.

M.

[smallcleanrat]

Awwww.....I wants me a Maestro....he sounds so sweet and goofy and cuddly.

M.

He is all those things, but he has his feisty, defiant side too.

When he was little and scolded away from forbidden places like the kitchen counters (or inside the fridge!) he would back off but not without a whining meow remarkably similar in tone to a five year old saying, "But Daaaaaaad, I wanna go up there!" When he hit adolescence, it changed to more of a sassy, sulky, lower-pitched meow that sounded more like a teenager saying "Geez, would you get off my case already?" Nowadays he mixes it up. Observing the evolution of his vocal repertoire has been quite an experience.

He is intensely sweet and cuddly, but on his own schedule. He will duck away from petting (or block your hand with a paw) if it's zoomie time and he is being the mighty hunter, bane of toy mice and jingly balls. Mighty hunters don't snuggle.

He is a goofball 24/7.