For the past two weeks, my two young kids and I have been visiting my parents in Michigan. My parents have an elderly cat named Jasmine, who typically runs away and hides the entire time we visit.
This time, before we left on our trip, I talked to my kids at length about how to read a cat’s body language. I gave them the very basics: A frightened or anxious cat will have her ears back, tail wrapped around her body (or it could be twitching) and she might growl or hiss - leave this cat alone. A content cat will be sitting or lying down with a still tail, ears forward and purring – go ahead and pet this cat - gently.
My kids took my words to heart and we noticed Jasmine was much more welcoming to all of us. She has been letting the kids pet her and she has even been coming to them to initiate contact. I’m so glad my kids paid attention to my advice about how to read a cat’s body language.