Cat Language

I am learning the difference between "toss the milk cap" and "I want a hug."

When I'm working at my desk, Dewey Kitty often taps his front paw on my thigh. When he was a kitty, that always meant he wanted a hug.

I'd pick him up and hold him tight against me. After five seconds, he'd hop down and proceed to torment Louie.

Now two, Dewey still likes his hugs. They're still usually short. Though sometimes, if I've been gone a lot or it's cold, he may want one that lasts a minute.

But in the past week, he's taken up a new game: fetch.

He brings a milk cap to me and taps my thigh. I toss the cap. He hunts it and brings it back to me. The game requires more attention on my part.

I must learn to look for the cap. This weekend, I mistook the tap as "I want a hug." He squealed and squirmed. Once I put him down, he tapped me again.

I spotted the cap and tossed it.

A tap and a milk cap means fetch. A tap and no milk cap means hug.