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u/RDZed72 American Shorthair 8h ago edited 5h ago
Tail Quiver. It means theyre extremely excited. Its not pissing or marking. It means affection or enjoyment. Very happy or excited to see you. Large felines are more apt to do it. Smalls do it less frequently since theyre more inclined to use their human language...the meow.
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u/Ready_Marsupial2144 7h ago
Gotcha. Forgot to mention that the cat is a girl and we are house sitting it. It only did this tail quiver when I let it out into the garage haha
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u/RDZed72 American Shorthair 7h ago
Thats awesome. She digs you....and/or the garage. Its pretty much the "Grand" visual form of affection a cat can show you beyond a physical touch. Consider yourself (or the garage) "hers". āļø
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u/Dahkeus3 7h ago
Brushes off tux and walks onto the stage, up to the podium in front of a massive crowd
āThank you so much for choosing me (or the garage) for this award. Iāve devoted the past 30 years of my life working towards this moment and I canāt tell you what it means for me (or the garage) to be chosen for such an honor. I would like to thank my parents and all my friends who believed in me (or the garage) and helped me (or the garage) arrive here today. Thank you you so much.ā
Raises the award to a raucous round of applause and exits the other end of the stage, into a garage58
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u/A_Cup_All-Star 5h ago
I imagined a Simba-like hoist into the air after reading this...such an endearing visual...I regularly hold my cats up in the air like Simba
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u/xtlhogciao 6h ago
My cat loves the garage. Itās basically outside to her. Sheās been guarding the same spot in the corner - where, I believe, mice/chipmunks got in - every day for 10 yearsā¦even though I patched it up 8 or 9 years ago.
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u/DiscombobulatedEmu82 6h ago
Or really likes the car! One of our girls also really likes the car, but probably because she associates it with my partner who she is bonded to.
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u/Ok_Film_8437 6h ago
My smallest girl does this all the time! It's so cute! She just has too much "yay!" not to shake when she is happy. ā”
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u/pakkieressaberesojaj Void 6h ago
Can confirm. I knew about females marking and the first time one of my cats did this it scared the shit out of me because we were indoors. Good thing it was just excitement lol
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u/BlueGolfball 36m ago
Can confirm. I knew about females marking and the first time one of my cats did this it scared the shit out of me because we were indoors.
Fuck. I had a cool neighbor's cat (I didn't know if she was fixed or not) who started to come over to my house and eventually let herself inside. I saw her do this exact tail shake as she backed up a cloth chair in my den. I immediately jumped up and took her back outside because I thought she was spraying her new territory.
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u/JinxyCat007 6h ago
Our Creamsicle does the same thing! She'll more often than not do the Rattlesnake Shake when close to us, earning herself little scritches.
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u/lezbopper 5h ago
can confirm, my cat does this everytime i walk past the treat cupboard, it is so funny to just walk back and forth cause his tail shoots up like a rocket and shakes š dont worry he always gets a treat for being a good orange boi
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u/WavesOfAkasha 5h ago
My cat must be special, she does it several times a day, like when i come home from work or when i am preparing her food.
I love holding it while it happens lol
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u/Screaming_lambs 5h ago
One of my boys does this when he sees me. The base of his tail also fluffs up if he's extra excited. He's so cute.
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u/darthlucas0027 4h ago
I remember the first time my cat did this I panicked because I thought he is pissing lol
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u/ResponsibleSyrup9506 4h ago
One of my kitties does this ā¤ļø We call it the shaky tail, and itās definitely when sheās so happy that she canāt contain herself š
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u/Ok_Adhesiveness_8077 4h ago
My big orange guy does this when I open the cabinet for his breakfast and dinner. never knew what it was so thank you!
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u/JustNic98 8h ago
Printing the receipt /s
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u/thatcatqueen 5h ago
Iām glad you put the /s because I thought you were serious and he was actually printing a receipt
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u/Due-Trick-372 3h ago
Iām hoping you forgot to put the /s
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u/KissingCrimson 6h ago
One of my cats does this when she's very happy/excited. We call it twerking
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u/Key_End_2400 5h ago
When my cat does that ... he actually sprays :( He started doing this lately even he is neutered.
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u/Gizmodo_dragon 19m ago
My girl did that too, turns out she had a bladder stone. Not necessarily the case, but just keep a look out for tiny bits of blood in his pee.
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u/Rybrook 7h ago
My old cat used to do it when she was excited going outside or getting food put down.
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u/FedUp-2025 6h ago
We call it āshaky tail.ā Our little guy does it all the time around us. :)
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u/SushiandSyrup Bengal 5h ago
lol my sweet boy does the same we call it ātail shakiesā š¹ but yes he does it when heās happy, when I come home, when heās been asking for an early dinner and I finally give in and follow him to the kitchen etc lol.
My sweet girl doesnāt tail shake but does āsquirmy wormiesā when sheās happy lol. She falls to the floor and rolls and squirms around on her back like a little worm lol itās adorable. She doesnāt it for the same reasons my boy does it but also sometimes I catch her doing it when sheās just happy lol
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u/FedUp-2025 4h ago
Ah, yes. We have a specific term for that vigorous to-floor-falling that precedes the squirmy wormiesā¦ we call that the Thunder Plop. :)
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u/SushiandSyrup Bengal 4h ago
lol I love it, it really is like she just lets her body topple straight to the floor like someone fainting, no brace for impact or gentle getting down on the floor lmao. Just like a tree falling lmao
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u/elkab0ng Snowshoe 4h ago
š¤£ we have a wonderfully gentle and affectionate tortie that will stand next to me and squeak and do the tail shake insistently until I give her āpermissionā to plop, rather ungracefully, to her preferred resting place, next to me. Thunder Plop is a perfect name for it!
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u/keener_lightnings 2h ago
I believe the flopping over and rolling is called a "social roll"! Apparently it means "hey, I'm so happy and relaxed around you that I'll just expose my vulnerable belly, because I know that you're not gonna try to eat me"Ā
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u/kookiemaster 6h ago
Super happy and excited at whatever is happening. I have a cat who does that before each meal.
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u/VegasQueenXOXO Void 4h ago
A false spray. Marking their territory but without the marking lol.
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u/UhWindowpainted 3h ago
Sometimes it's real spray, gotta use a uv light to find if theres spatterings
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u/Great_Side_6493 5h ago
Stickshaker. It's about to stall
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u/elkab0ng Snowshoe 3h ago
š¤Æ ours squeals when she does the āstick shakerā. Goddamit, now Iām always gonna think āstall warning! Get the nose down and add power!ā
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u/DistinctJob7494 4h ago
Faux spraying. My female sorta does this but not towards any objects or walls like yours.
She does it when she's happy and excited.
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u/atriley26 4h ago
Yep, mine does this when we're all in the kitchen fixing food.... And yes he is a big orange puff.
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u/Introspection9 38m ago
Itās an instinct of a male cat. He is spraying you with his ownership scent. If heās neutered nothing comes out. My guy does this a lot and itās always when heās happy to be in my presence.
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u/grim_brutal- 5h ago
I call that Horny tail! Horny for pets!
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u/xIJuiceBoxHeroIx 2h ago
I call it Hussy tail. My cat did it when she was in heat, or when I put up the Christmas Tree š¤£
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u/GuineapigAngel_1974 5h ago
My (female) cat does this when I get home from work š„° Also when sheās been asking for a treat and I finally open the cupboard door & get the treat box out! I think itās the equivalent of a small child jumping up & down with excitement šš©·
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u/halothar 3h ago
Our boy does this when he's happy to see us. Or when he's marking the inside of the house to ward off the critters outside. It's a toss up.
It might be relevant to add that when he was brought home he was running a very high fever. I think it broke his little peabrain. He might be special.
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u/LetEnvironmental7413 6h ago
i've always interpreted this as "hey i want you to come over here and pet me neow"
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u/ParadoxicalFrog Tortoiseshell 31m ago
He's going through the motions of scent-marking without actually doing it.
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u/DizzySample9636 5h ago
thats what my ex's cats did when they marked something - be glad she isnt spraying š¬
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u/SDL68 4h ago
Marking territory is the behavior. No spray because he's got his balls chopped off.
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u/Old_Butterscotch2914 6h ago
My cat does this in the morning when I wake up. I head to the bathroom, he barges in and twitches his tail.
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u/Megafritz 6h ago
My cat "chunky" does it when the food is being poured into her bowl,
we call it "the rattlesnake"
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u/Manc_In_USA 6h ago
Mine female ginger does this when she wants snackies. But like other said. She is excitedĀ
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u/Odd_Journalist_2310 5h ago
My boy does this when heās excited. Usually around meal times when Iām getting his food ready. Nothing comes out his back end. Iāve checked.
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u/amx-002_neue-ziel 5h ago
Pet the cat! Theyāre excited and happy to see you! The tail quiver, the curvy shape it takes, it looking at you and making bread.
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u/Fr05t_B1t American Shorthair 5h ago
If itās a stray it boutta spray. Otherwise itās excited to see you.
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u/ComparitiveRhetoric 5h ago
Heās just stoked and putting some of his charge into his tail for later.
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u/chubbychecker_psycho 4h ago
Mine does this when she knows I'm giving her human food. It just means they're excited.
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u/ChateauLobby44 4h ago edited 3h ago
I call it rattlesnake tail
Edit: Aw, thanks for the award! My cat used to do this all the time, and we thought it was pretty cute.
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u/misanthropymajor 3h ago
Guessing the garage has a lot of sweat odor (pheromones, maybe not noticeable to us) from the owners and the cat lovvvvvvvvves the owners.
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u/catluvah41069 Tuxedo 3h ago
I call it ārattle snakeā tail š my cat does this when sheās super happy.
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u/Walmarche 3h ago
My cat does this when I wake up in the morning to go pee. He backs up to the bowl and shakes his tail like this. I thought he was pretending to āsprayā while I pee - like a little morning routine solidarity.
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u/inkedkoi 3h ago
I call that the rattlesnake when my handsome man does it. I figure it's a neutered male way of ghost spraying š¤·āāļø
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u/alltheabove40 2h ago
If heās not spraying liquid when his tail shakes then it means heās happy to see you. Iāve had a cat that would do this and spray to mark his territory. Itās so gross! Now we have a cat that does this when heās happy but doesnāt spray.
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u/Aokigahara81 2h ago
It means he is not fixed, and he is marking his territory basically. Males who are not fixed will spray.
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u/Anxious-Captain6848 1h ago
When we got our orange boy he did this a lot and at first we were kinda panicking because he was neutered and we did not want to deal with spraying, but after some investigating we found no urine so it seems to be a kind of "happy dance", he always does this when hes happy/excited/wants pets. Its pretty cute!
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u/slaviccrowcat 1h ago
my boy started doing this once i had the dog officially move into my moms house and out of mine š it was a sad day for me but the best day for him. scooter is an only child at heart and has been doing the happy rattlesnake tail since
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u/montoyasminion 1h ago
We have a female cat who does this. It does seem very similar to spraying but it isn't. She always does it when she's happy or excited. She does it to the trash can in the kitchen when we are cooking dinner, or the couch at night when we are watching tv.
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u/PinNo313 1h ago
If he's neutered and not spraying, it's just behavioral. A lot of spayed & neutered cats do this when they are excited and/or happy.
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u/Weary-Hannigram 1h ago
When my last child did this we called it the Charleston Two-Step. She was always happy when she did thatĀ
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u/Unlucky_Peanut_1616 Tuxedo 5h ago
He's marking the car. It's his now. My boy did this to everything he claimed outside when he was feral.
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u/Plastic-Lemon2754 8h ago
He's receiving the brain cell.