I have been asked by everyone (including my publisher) if I will be authoring a cat body language book. My answer is: I would love to! BUT… I have a lot to learn before I feel ready for this project!
We all know about cat body language in terms of the ‘bigger’ body postures, ear positions, tail positions etc but I hadn’t heard of the Feline Grimace Scale until recently via a webinar by Dr. Mikel Delgado.
More info on the felinegrimacescale.com website. I took the quiz - it was not easy!
I can see when Shimmy's whiskers are loosely curved (when she is just chilling out) and when they are spiky (when she is high on silvervine) but I don't know when they would be a "1" score. Muzzle changes are even harder to see. I cannot tell the difference. What's more, Shimmy's ears MOVE ALL THE TIME.
I suppose these distinctions would make the most sense if you knew the individual cat and what their "baseline" was, but even so...
I guess I am now becoming extra paranoid - scrutinizing my cats close-up - Is anyone in pain?
Some sketches as I was going through the website:
