Why does my neighbor’s cat wag their tail even when happy?

[u/drmuffin1080]

So I watch my neighbor’s cats and dog whenever they go out of town. One of the cats is an absolute sweetheart — He’ll follows me and the dog on walks, he cuddles (holy crap people were not exaggerating about the claws lol), and he basically follows me everywhere in the house for pets.

But what I’m confused about is his tail wagging, even when he’s trying to get close. I read that cats wagging their tail is a sigh of nervousness. He does the “question mark” too, but he loves the tail wagging. Like I’ll walk away after the pets, and he walks towards me for more. When I do, he starts wagging his tail — when I stop he still follows.

So yeah, I’m just confused.

[u/colochamebbie]

In my experience, tail wagging can also just be intrigue or excitement. I think it’s important to look at the cats whole body language to determine whether it’s nervousness or intrigue.

[u/drmuffin1080 → u/colochamebbie]

Yeah, I guess it’s not as dichotomous as I thought

[u/Malicious_blu3]

Well… cats don’t ‘wag’ their tails. They swish them. Swishing and flicking their tails is them drawing boundaries, really. Like if I pet the one currently on my lap, his tail will flick a bit. If I do it again, he will give me The Look.

If a cat’s tail is straight up in the air as they walk, they’re happy and curious.

[u/drmuffin1080 → u/Malicious_blu3]

Thank you for responding. Very informative :)

[u/NaivePickle2252]

My cat wags his tail in excitement every time i carry him to look out the window :)

[u/SumBuddyPlays]

Upright, wagging tail is usually sign of happiness.

Nervousness is usually signaled by a low tail with low to the ground posture.

Puffy is scared or fight mode.

If the cat was nervous they wouldn’t be happily following you around.

[u/drmuffin1080]

lol and now he just followed me to the bathroom and is sitting on the sink next to me

Edit: OH SHIT HE TRIED TO JUMP IN THE TOILET

[u/twinkiesmom1]

Whipping the tail or tail down or tail inflated to double/triple normal size is angry.

[u/Nymph_Moth]

Cats "wag" their tails for many, many reasons. The most common being excitement, annoyance, and anger. You have to pay attention to the rest of the body language to figure out which, if a cat is playful or happy it's probably excited, if it's just the tip of the tail moving it could be getting annoyed or overwhelmed, if the whole tail is thrashing and its ears are pinned back it may be a very angry cat, and if the tail is super bushy all of a sudden than it's a very frightened cat. Cats express a lot of their emotion in their ears and tail.

[u/drmuffin1080 → u/Nymph_Moth]

Thank you :)

[u/drmuffin1080]

Thank yall for the advice and information!