Published by: Ingrid King. Last Updated on: February 1, 2023 by Crystal Uys
When I first saw that tomorrow is National Answer Your Cat’s Question Day, I chuckled, and thought it was a joke. But sure enough, the folks at PetCentric have designated January 22 as a “holiday of feline understanding.”
And the premise is actually a wonderful idea. According to PetCentric, “the proper way to participate in National Answer Your Cat’s Questions Day is to be aware of your cat on a more conscious level, and notice when your cat is trying to ask you something. Your job is to stop what you’re doing and try to figure out what your cat is asking, and do your best to answer the question.” You can read the rest of PetCentric’s description of the holiday here.
How many times are we mystified by something our feline companions do? How many times do we wish that they could speak human, or we could be better at understanding feline? Cats’ behavior may not make sense to us, but it always makes purrfect sense to them. The more we try to understand why they do the things they do, the better our relationship will be for both cat and human.
And part of understanding our cats is to take the time to listen to them. Cats express themselves in a variety of ways, through body language, vocalization (you’ll be familiar with this aspect especially if you are owned by a tortoiseshell cat!), and habits. In order to truly understand them, we have to try and think like a cat.
PetCentric offers a number of examples of cat’s questions, from the cat’s point of view, along with the human’s answer and the cat’s rebuttal (you knew there’d be a rebuttal, didn’t you?), such as:
“Cat’s Question: Why do you bring strangers into our home? Person’s Answer: They’re my friends. And they love cats. There’s no need to hide when they come over. Cat’s Rebuttal: Oh yeah? I didn’t invite them over! They scare me. They always want to pick me up. If they’d just leave me alone and let me sneak up and investigate them, I could decide if they are my friends too, and then I might be ok with them petting me.”
For more cat Q&A, click here.
What are some of the questions your cats will be asking you, and what will your answers be?
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About the author
Ingrid King is an award-winning author, former veterinary hospital manager, and veterinary journalist who is passionate about cats.
I love this. I try and stay in tune my my cats’ questions, but sometimes things get so busy and I am not truly present (with them or my human family). This is a great everyday reminder to remain present. Thank you for posting this, Ingrid!
It’s easy to forget to remain present, whether it’s with our cats, or with humans. It’s a good thing we have our cats to remind us!
Every day is “answer your cat’s question day” at my house. I am a big believer in talking to cats to let them know what’s going on and listening to what they have to say. Sometimes it’s subtle, sometimes in your face. Now, they’re going to want to know if they can ask extra questions tomorrow.
I guess you’ll be busy tomorrow 🙂
Generally I’m pretty good at answering my cats’ questions when they come up. But today I’m going to do a special “memorial service” for one of my cats who died several years ago. It recently occurred to me that I’d never done one because she disappeared and in my efforts to find her and then accept that she wasn’t coming back, I never did a ceremony to honor her life. So I’m making it right on this snowy day.
I’m so sorry about your special kitty, Janea. Sounds like she “nudged” you to have a ceremony for her – perhaps it’s her way of asking her question 🙂
It was really an amazing experience. I sat on my bed with a fleece blanket on my lap and a “cat angel” doll of Sinéad that a friend made me many years ago curled up in the fleece, and I did just what I’d hoped to do: sit there with her in my lap, lovingly saying goodbye and sending her Reiki to ease her on her journey. As my ceremony drew to a close, I felt waves of energy moving from my heart all through my body like a radiant sunrise….and now I feel much more at peace with the fact that she is no longer with me in body. I know, however, that she’ll be around in spirit and I believe she’ll be with me again one day.
What a beautiful way to honor Sinead. Thank you for sharing your experience here, Janea.
That is such a good idea. I spend my entire day listening to what all these cats want or need. Most of the time it is just food. The next most popular is to go out or come in., I know just about know each cat’s different meow. It is fun trying to figure out what they are saying to us. I am sure they have tons of questions to ask us.
I would imagine that food is probably the most popular thing our cats ask for, Marg.
I’m sure there are lots of questions going on over here with HH’s new kitties getting into new situations everyday. A week ago, they lived in a little room at the SPCA. This week they have a whole condo to call their own. We will do some thinking about National Answer Your Cat’s Question Day. Bugsy and Knuckles must have lots of questions by now.
pawhugs, Max
Congratulations on your new nephews, Max! I’m glad they have you to watch over them.