An ancient belief tells that the wise King Solomon lived in the world, and he had a magic ring that gave him power over all animals. He knew how to understand their habits and communicate in animal language.

Is it hard to believe? And I really want to be in Solomon’s place!

The idea of ​​pets and the place they occupy in people's lives has a long history.

The domestic cat is one of the oldest animals domesticated by humans. Archaeologists have found cat figurines in Egypt. They were made in 2000 BC. In almost all countries, a cat turns out to be a constant companion of a person. According to rough estimates, there are now about 500 million domestic cats in the world. Different countries treated these pets differently. In Egypt, the cat was idolized and given all sorts of honors. In Europe they persecuted her, they believed that she was a witch, that the devil had settled in her. All this, of course, is fiction. The cat is not a goddess or a witch, but an ordinary animal, albeit with extraordinary qualities.

Our perceptions and attitudes towards animals continue to change. Our pets have shared our shelter for thousands of years. And yet we understand them poorly. In recent years, we have learned a lot more about the lives of animals and are trying to achieve mutual understanding with them. After all, some 20-30 years ago it was believed that animals could only be trained using force. These days, animal psychologists and animal behaviorists study behavioral problems in pets and help their owners cope with nervous, fearful or aggressive cats.

A cat is a solitary animal. She doesn't particularly need to be around other animals. Nothing will force a cat to fix it if it doesn't enjoy it.

It seems to a person that animals perceive the world the same way as he does. But a cat, although living in the same environment as us, sees the world completely differently and, thanks to its heightened sense of hearing, smell and touch, reacts to what we barely notice.

I have a cat, Smokey (he is in the photo.) He is five years old. He appeared in the family when he was four months old. We didn't plan for his appearance at all, but it was a very pleasant surprise. At first, Smokey was very active and playful. Over time, he began to move less, but showed more affection and friendliness. Now Smokey lies quietly on the sofa all day, and demands attention and affection.

I watched Smokey as he got acquainted with a new object for him or sneaked up on an unfamiliar thing. First, he carefully touches the object with his paw, then repeats the same movement, but more confidently, then moves it towards himself, closer to his nose. The paw pads are very sensitive to touch.

The nose and upper lip of cats are very sensitive to temperature. They use them to determine the temperature of everything around them. The animal’s body itself is almost insensitive to heat and cold, so my Smokey, like other cats, lies calmly on a hot radiator. From the literature I learned that they feel great at temperatures up to +52 (a person can barely withstand temperatures rising to +44).

Cats have special eyes. The world for them is painted in dull shades of blue and green. The boundaries of objects are blurred. A cat sees best at a distance of 2 to 6 meters. For her, the concept of darkness does not exist, since the pupil of a cat’s eye is capable of opening up to 1 cm in diameter at this time. The shiny layer of cells located behind the retina helps to “catch” the picture in conditions of invisibility. A cat sees perfectly when the amount of light is 6 times less than what a person needs. You can tell a cat's mood by looking at its eyes. Dilated pupils can indicate fear or excitement. If the cat is in a calm state, then the pupils are dilated or constricted depending on the lighting and interest

A cat sees not only with its eyes. Cat whiskers (whiskers) - help the cat “see through touch.” I looked at my Smokey in profile and saw more than ten whiskers growing in rows on his upper lip, under his eyes and on his chin. It turns out that thanks to these organs, cats feel even the faintest breeze.

Cats are the best “listeners” among pets. They hear better than dogs, and humans hear 3 times worse than cats. I observed how cat ears can move independently of each other, turning 180 degrees. The cat is dozing, and its ears are rotating, watching for danger and prey. By the position of the ears, whiskers, eyes, and tail, you can judge the mood of the cat.

The tail curved in an inverted "U" shape can be observed in cats during play. Tail raised up is a greeting pose.

Once I saw a cat raise its head, slightly lifting its upper lip, and suck in air. I wondered why he was doing this. It turns out that this is a flemin reaction when air enters a special organ of smell - taste, located in a cat’s upper palate. When a cat can taste aromas and accurately distinguish types of meat by taste.

Smell is perhaps the main sense for cats, and smells are a means of communication. I often watched Smokey rubbing himself against all sorts of objects. He does this not only to satisfy the need for physical contact, but also to leave a secret fragrant message, marking his territory. Scratching is not easy sharpening of claws.

The glands between the pads allow Smokey to scent the objects he scrapes with his scent. New carpets and furniture smell so strong to him that he tries to return things “to normal” by giving them his scent.

Observing Smokey’s behavior allowed me to draw the following conclusions:

• he perceives a gaze as a threat;
• dilated pupils are a sign of fear, in this case you need to move slowly and quietly;
• to attract Smokey's attention you need to speak in a high-pitched voice;
• if you scratch your cat’s chin, cheeks and base of the tail, where it meets the back, he will respond with gratitude;
• twitching of ears and tail is a sign of anxiety;
• raised tail is a sign of greeting;
• there is no need to impose your company on Smokey, to chase him, because he will simply run away and hide;
• and if he is looking for friendly communication, you cannot push him away, because he will be offended for a long time;
• Smoky loves when people talk to him, tell him about their secrets, worries, he perfectly senses my mood.

Since time immemorial, people began to talk about the amazing ability of cats to anticipate natural disasters or weather changes. Most often we are talking about the unusual behavior of cats before storms, storms, volcanic eruptions, and earthquakes. Cats can also predict man-made disasters. Before an earthquake, cats begin to rush around. Mother cats carry their kittens to a safe place. We observed that before rain or snow, cats are excited, but if the weather is frosty, they sleep. Premonitions of earthquakes and other physical phenomena can be explained with the help of modern science. But how can we explain the fact that cats somehow “know” that their owners have returned after a long absence? There are many fairy-tale-like stories about cats traveling hundreds of kilometers to get home. Scientists who study the lives of cats call this phenomenon the “sixth sense.” My Smokey also has a “sixth sense”

On the eve of the earthquake (he was one year old at the time), he rushed from corner to corner, scratching the walls and meowing loudly. I had a feeling that Smokey wanted to run away.

Nowadays they often talk and write about cat therapy, i.e. about the treatment of certain human diseases using animal energy. If you pick up a cat and start stroking its soft fur, the headache goes away. Why? Because blood pressure normalizes. A cat can take away negative energy. It is worth noting that only benevolent animals can “treat”.

Smoky always spends a lot of time with someone who is sick or unwell. After talking with him, things feel good. One day I was a little sick, Smokey came and lay down next to me, and when I stroked him, my soul felt lighter and more cheerful.

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