Ep. 74 - Why Is My Cat Putting Her Tail Up? 🐱🐈‍⬛

Have you ever noticed your cat walking toward you with her tail held high in the air?

Many cat moms see this every day but don't realize it's one of the clearest signs of trust, confidence, and affection in cat body language. In today's Diary of a Cat Mom podcast entry, I share what I learned by watching my youngest cat, Hope, and how understanding one simple tail position helped me better understand the cats I love.

What You'll Learn in this Cat Podcast Episode

• Why cats raise their tails when greeting people and other cats
• What a tail with a curved tip can mean
• How cats exchange information through scent
• Why body language should always be viewed as a complete picture
• The difference between a happy raised tail and a stressed raised tail

Timestamps & Chapters

00:00 – Introduction
00:18 – Why I Started Watching My Cats' Body Language
00:55 – The Fascinating Cat Greeting Ritual
01:35 – Hope's Tail Tells a Story
02:20 – What a Raised Tail Really Means
03:00 – The Meaning of the Curved "Question Mark" Tail
03:35 – When a Raised Tail Is Not a Positive Sign
04:00 – Looking at the Whole Cat, Not Just the Tail
04:20 – The Sweet Message Behind a Raised Tail

This is where I’ve gathered everything that supports me and my cats:
https://diaryofacatmom.com/cat-care-resources/

About the Diary of a Cat Mom Podcast

Diary of a Cat Mom is a quiet, personal cat podcast created by Dagmar Gatell, sharing real moments, emotions, and experiences from life with cats.

This space is meant for connection, comfort, and companionship. Everything shared comes from lived experience as a cat mom and is not intended as professional veterinary advice. Every cat is unique, and for health concerns, it’s always best to consult your trusted veterinarian.

Most of all, please remember:
 You’re not alone on this journey. We’re learning, loving, and growing together — one paw print at a time.

Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:00

Diary of a cat mom. Today's diary entry Why is my cat putting her tail up? You're listening to Diary of a Cat Mom. Have you ever noticed your cat walking toward you with her tail held high in the air? Maybe she comes into the room, sees you, lifts her tail like a little flag, and heads straight for your legs. Or maybe two of your cats meet, one raises her tail, and the other immediately starts sniffing. For a long time I didn't really understand what the tail meant. Just thought it's cute. But the more I paid attention to my cats, the more I realized that that tail is constantly communicating. Lately I've been paying much closer attention to my cats' body language because I want to understand them better. One thing I started noticing is that when two of my cats greet each other, one often lifts her tail high while the other begins sniffing underneath the tail. At first I didn't think much about it. But then I learned that this is actually part of how cats exchange information with each other. Like it's kind of a way a natural database they carry around with them. Nature equipped cats with a built-in way to identify friends, gather information, and recognize members of their social group. And I found that totally fascinating. And my youngest cat hope he does it all the time. When he sees me or one of his cat friends, his tail goes straight up with a little curve in the end. So you can really almost see his excitement in this little question mark. And a second later, the kiddies, they're chasing each other or rolling on the floor or they're rubbing against each other. When Hope greets me, he often comes over with that hightail, rubs against my legs, and gives me little cat kisses on my cheeks. And every time I see it, it makes me smile. He's very confident, he looks happy, and he looks completely comfortable in that moment. What I learned is that a raised tail actually is one of the clearest positive signals in a cat's language. Like a tail held straight up usually means I'm friendly, I'm confident, I'm happy to see you, mama. And when the tip has a slight curve, almost like a question mark, it often means your cat is feeling playful, curious, and is open to an interaction. And if the tail is raised quietly with a little shivering, then it's excitement and affection. So when you come home and they're ready to eat, creating your vlog, and then you see the raised up tail of the little excitement. And it's also a sign of trust when they raise up the tail and let somebody else snip them. And it's like they're recognizing familiar friends in this way too. So like body language, like a tail raised with puffin. Fur um, it's not something positive. That means more fear, aggression. But overall, I think the most important is to look at the big picture, not just the tail, to understand the situation better, like the eyes, the body language and everything, what you can identify with them. So when my little hope comes to me with his straight tail and is excited, I don't see the only the tail anymore. I see trust, I see happiness, I see love. And in this way it becomes much bigger understanding what a cat tries to say. So the next time your cat walks toward you with her tail proudly held high, there's a good chance she's not just passing by. She may be saying, Hey, I know you, I trust you, I'm so happy you're here. And as a cat mom, that's one of the sweetest messages we could ever receive. Thank you for being here with me. This is Diary of a Cat Mom. Don't miss the next entry. There's always another little moment, another lesson, another story waiting to be shared. I will talk to you in the next entry. Diary of a cat mom.