Why Does My Cat Slap Me With His Tail? Tail Movements and Their Meanings

If you have owned your cat for a really long time, you may know a lot of his behaviors and the precedent reasons behind them. No matter how tuned in you are with your cat, it is not impossible for you to misapprehend what he is trying to say, and his actions may sometimes come off as a curveball to you. This curveball can come in the form of random tail movements and tail slaps, which could give you an indirect hint to his moods.

So any cat parent might think, “why does my cat slap me with his tail?” Your cat may slap you with his to attract your attention towards himself, be it from irritation or hunger or even anxiety. The tail slap can be an angry one or one that demands immediate love in the form of petting from you, it all depends on the situation. In every way, this is a way of communication between yourself and the cat.

In this article, you will read about the 5 biggest reasons why your cat could be showing this behavior towards you.

Why does my cat slap me with his tail?

Your cat could be slapping you with his tail out of curiosity, affection, fear, hunger, or the need to seek attention.

These have been discussed in detail below:

Curiosity

Cats are curious pets by nature and hence you would find them investigating a lot around the house without the need to do such a thing all the time. 

Suppose, when you put out groceries on the tabletop after you come home or when you are folding freshly washed laundry, your cat wants to be a part of the task and appears more interested than it is required of him in exploring these activities. 

When you try to ward them off in the middle of not-so-daily tasks, you will find that they do not want to leave the spot and may slap you with their tail or curl it around your legs to let them stay there and observe (read: disturb) you while you are at it.

Affection

Slapping his tail on or towards your direction may be a sign of affection from your cat. In the middle of watching television or enjoying a movie, when your cat comes close to you, purrs, and slaps you with his tail, it simply wants to be petted. 

This might also happen when you are chatting with one of the housemates or friends, only to find your cat flicking his tail on you to show you to let the cat be a part of the conversation affectionately.

Fear

If your cat is annoyed or fearsome of something, he is going to slap his tail vehemently towards or on you. If you find him looking out of the window and vigorously flicking his tail, there might be something out there that the cat sees that he wants you to see too, and it can only happen when the cat draws your attention towards himself by slapping his tail on you.

Also, when you enter a new room and find your cat wrapping his tail around you it might be scared as it does not know what to expect inside the room. So it is natural for the tail slapping to happen at this time.

Anger

Angry cats are always knocking things off. But they also like to slap their tails when they are angry, besides the violent behavior of breaking stuff. A similar sign of frustration is seen when a cat in the house wants to play with the other and the latter doesn’t want to engage in play, the former will show anger by slapping his tail around you or the other cat.

Attention

When you find your cat waking you up early in the morning, your cat might be wanting to be let out to do his business if his litterbox is outdoors. He may also want to be fed; and in either case, tail slapping could be his way to communicate it to you.

How can you tell if a cat has imprinted on you?

You can tell if your cat has imprinted on you if it shows you signs that it has accepted you like family, rubs against you, and is comfortable around you.

The following are good signs of a cat imprinting you:

1. When your cat blinks slowly while looking at you when you are petting him, this is a sign that he loves you. 
2. Headbutting is a way for cats to show affection to you. And besides the head, if the cat rubs his body, teeth, or legs on you, your cat can identify you as a friend.
3. If your cat grooms you as it grooms itself, your cat may be imprinting you. This grooming can come in the form of a lick or a peck from your cat.
4. Instead of slapping his tail, if you find your cat keeping his long swishy tail erect around you, it means that your pet cat is happy in the environment and is confident with you, which shows trust and friendship between you two.
5. If your cat shows his belly to you to let you rub it and pet it so that the can purr away, your cat is comfortable with you.
6. If your cat is bringing you dead mice and socks or other around-the-house things as gifts to you, he shares a bond with you.

Do cats feel love when you kiss them?

Some cats will tolerate your kisses when you kiss them while others don’t. This tolerance does not necessarily mean that they love it, but they will bear it as this is a form of affection shown for them by the owners.

However, if you find your cat purring and rubbing against you when you kiss it, chances are your cat may like the kissing and petting. But if you find him reacting badly with the ears stretched backward and tail whipping with occasional hisses, it is time to stop kissing and let the cat be.

Do cats get jealous?

No. Cats can behave in a way where it shows that they want to establish their social dominance in the territory, as animal behaviorists would say. While humans perceive this behavior as jealousy, this is not the right word to explain their behavior. It is more anger or frustration that cats show when they are excluded from a comfortable environment. 

Some cat behavior that may be perceived as jealousy includes:

• Coming between you and the other object which took its place or removed it from the environment.
• Swatting the new element in the environment
• Hissing and growling towards it
• Scratching surrounding furniture
• Biting you or the new element 
• Randomly urinating and marking his territory.

What does it mean when a kitten follows you?

A kitten can follow you simply out of curiosity or maybe because it likes to be present in your company where it feels the most comfortable.

Cats can follow you if they want your attention. They may also like your companionship and the following could be a sign of comfort.

If you walk around the house during mealtime and you find your cat lurking around you, it may be asking you to be fed. Also, if certain areas of the house are only accessible to the cat only when you walk in or get into a room, he may follow you to get access to the abyss where the cat is restricted from entering.

What do cats think when we meow at them?

Cats do not think anything when we meow at them, as it is not in the same frequency as theirs so it holds no meaning to them.

Our meows do not sound like real cat meows. So when we make that sound, it is as if we were saying something in English, or our native languages, to them. They see it as another word in our dictionary while the sound itself does not mean anything to the cats. 

Similarly, cats also develop meows sounds that are only directed to their owners, and this is not the meow he uses on other cats to communicate with them.

Why do cats raise their butts when you pet them?

Cats raise their butts when you pet them because they have scent glands in their anal sacs, they want you to swap scents as a member of their family.

As cats invite other cats to smell them, they may also invite you to understand them using their scent glands for which they raise their butts.

Why do cats not like their back legs touched?

Cats do not like to have their back legs touched as it bears the balance of their entire bodies and they do not like to be attacked from behind when they can’t see what might happen to them.

Cats can get irritated when their back legs are touched. This is because they maintain body balance from the hind legs and your touch could potentially ruin that. 

They also hate when you touch the paw pads as these have a larger concentration of nerve receptors in them, making them feel the unnecessary texture, vibration, and pressure for nothing significant to them.