The cat code

It is important to learn what your cat prefers, so want to decipher the cat code? The key is in the body language of your feline friend!

Relaxed and happy: Ears at normal position, tail relaxed or upright, whiskers standing straight out from face, purring.

Aggressive: Narrow pupils, ears flat and rotated backwards, tail swishes or thumps the ground, hair on tail bristles, hissing or screeching.

Frightened: Eyes and pupils wide open, hair on tail and back standing up, ears pulled back against head.

Annoyed: Tip of tail twitches, whiskers pulled back tightly against face, ears flat against head.

Sick: Eyes in half-closed position, tail between legs, whiskers and ears remain in abnormal position for extended period of time, may purr loudly when comforted.

Cat vocabulary

Learn the nuances of your cat’s vocabulary so you can detect the difference between a plea for dinner and an urgent cry for help. For instance:

• Purring usually signals contentment and may also be a comfort-seeking behaviour when the cat is recovering from illness or close to death.

• High-pitched gurgling or chatting indicates friendliness.

• Growling, hissing, or spitting are emphatic warnings to stay away — at least until the cat has calmed down.

• Caterwauling is a very loud, guttural sound that cats (especially males that have not been neutered) make when threatened by other cats. This sound is common in deaf cats.

World’s longest eyelash

Recently, a Chinese woman led the headlines around the world for holding an amazing record of having the longest eyelash at whopping 8-inches long.

You Jianxia, who originally set the record in June 2016, when her longest lash was 4.88 inches long, said doctors are unsure of why her eyelashes grow to be so long.

“I first realised that my eyelashes were growing in 2015. They continue to grow slowly, becoming longer and longer,” Jianxia told Guinness World Records. “I tried to find scientific reasons such as genes or something else.

However, none of my family have long eyelashes like me, so it can’t be explained,” she said. Jianxia’s longest lash, located on the upper eyelid of her left eye, was officially measured at 8 inches, setting a new record.

Published in Dawn, Young World, June 26th, 2021