I have noticed that my two cats communicate silently with each other. As an example, Blondie was sleeping on my lap and she suddenly jumped up and had a frightened look on her face with wide opened eyes. I looked over to the entrance of the room and Grace was there peeking in at us some 20 feet away. She entered the room and Blondie jumped down from my lap as if she had done something wrong. A tumbling match ensued. The TV was on and I heard nothing from Grace. This is not the first time she has sent psychic messages to Blondie and made her move away from me. How could Blondie have herald Grace's silent signals over the TV? They rarely make sounds with open mouths. They are almost always moans or whines through closed lips (unless I take them to the vet and then they become opera stars).

Absolutely -- cats can communicate telepathically. So can people!

When I was having issues with my two, I learnt a lot about how cats communicate. I suspect that Blondie heard Grace long before she appeared at the entrance to the room and was discretely checking out Grace's body language. My two act as my alert that the other one is around, long before I can hear the approach, their hearing is way more acute. Grace could then simply make a slight eye or ear movement, adjust her whisker position slightly, and Blondie would have been very aware she was in trouble for napping on the human without Grace's permission!

I can generally spot when Hendrix is in a mood with Jagger now, his eyes narrow and tail flicks, and I step in straight away to keep things calm. It's usually when Jagger has been having a cuddle and he gets jealous. I always step between them and break an eye lock too - staring is terribly rude in cat speak lol and a very definite sign of aggression.

Right now, things are a bit delicate again due to a fox invasion of our garden. Both are a bit anxious and I had to break up a fight the other night. I will be very glad when the fox cubs have moved on now as its making me anxious too, they are bolder than ever! If I could find out who is feeding them I'd tell them exactly what I think about it! Every morning there is something for me to remove from the lawn - I didn't appreciate the carrier bag with used baby wipes in that someone obviously stuck outside their door without putting in the bin and was ripped open and strewn over the garden - literally made me heave. It made the huge marrowbones they were fighting over under my bedroom window every night seem not so bad!

Last night, Jagger was sat on the step where they come in and out of their cat flap debating whether it was time to come in for the night or not. Hendrix was on the conservatory table chilling and then Jagger started to look worried and a fox cub was stood just a foot away from him. This happened the other night as well, Jagger was cornered on the windowsill and the fox cub was by the cat flap. However, I know they love each other really as Hendrix launched himself at the cat flap, hissing and growling - no attempt made to go through it (he's not stupid!) but slammed his front paws on the top and glowered at the fox. Normally, he just growls and doesn't try to scare them off. And bearing in mind the night before I'd been running around the garden trying to chase the fox cub away and it didn't careless, I was impressed!

So yes, (back to the point) their communication is generally silent but I doubt its telepathic lol

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Clare
Hendrix and Jagger, Brown Marble Boys (born 18 August 2013)
Hampshire, UK

I think you are right Clare. They make whistles, whines, moans and chirps with their mouth closed. If I imitate the ones i can hear they come right to me. I suspect they make ones I cannot hear or detect because suddenly Grace will be flying through the air full throttle at Blondie and she races away with Grace in hot pursuit. I can't detect what caused the reaction but there must be something going on between them. Blondie is usually on edge and Grace is usually on patrol.

We have several raccoons in our walled community that are prowling around the lake in the evenings. It's hard to get the cats in at night even though with the heat index the temperature is 100 degrees. The screen keeps them out and I recently had a rodent of some sort nesting in one of my gutters so I had a service seal up all the openings in the gutters and on the roof. It cost a bundle but hopefully nothing can get in now.

I have been purging furniture in the house and tonight someone is picking up a larger modular lounger and teak bar I had on the patio. Grace used to nap on the lounger under the cover and now that will be gone. Plus I got rid of a big sofa in the living room where she also liked to sleep. It will be great once all the clutter is gone, but I know how cats like things to be in the same place…I ordered an outdoor cat tree that is arriving later today so I will assemble that and put it out on the patio for them and hopefully they will like that even better. Soon I will catify myself right out of the house. It's all about them.

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Clare
Hendrix and Jagger, Brown Marble Boys (born 18 August 2013)
Hampshire, UK

Our house backs up to a very large wooded area. We have deer, fox, squirrels, raccoons, skunks, rats, mice, etc. back there. Long Legs loves to hunt the mice and rats and will play with them before devouring them. I found a dead squirrel in the side yard that something eventually ate everything but the head and tail. I finally had to dispose of it. YUK! Raiden is quite the hunter and will go after anything that comes into his enclosure. He has caught birds, squirrels, mice -- loves bringing them into the house alive! Ugh!

Jill, I hope you and the kitties love the outdoor cat tree. Can't wait to see a picture of them on it.

Clare, I would be worried about the foxes as well! It's a shame all wildlife can't get along with our kitties. A mother protecting her young can get truly violent. Be careful.

Clare that baby wipe/dead rodent situation would put me over the edge! I had one little roof rat and I called in Rat Busters who shot him out with a hose and he got away. Their theory is to seal up the house and let the rodents live elsewhere. There is a lake and a canal in the development, so they are part of the eco system so to speak. I don't have a lot of vegetation around my house so there are much more attractive homes for them to move to.

Sherry this comic is for Long Legs!

Sherry, I get very little rest in the evenings right now because of the foxes and being on guard duty lol. I have sat down now as both my boys are in (the foxes showed up and they came in pretty much straight away) but it remains to be seen if I'll be allowed sleep! If the foxes fight over food outside my window, their ungodly shrieks wake me up, and if they're round the back, it wakes jagger up who then comes to wake me up!

The council actually provide free pest control for rats here if they are on your property. I am very much live and let live generally, but rats carry diseases so I draw the line there!

I did go over the edge that day! I had been grumbling to myself every morning about shoes, socks and god knows what else I was having to pick up that would appear on the lawn, or put the hose away again, as it's been dragged up the garden. But that is preferable to my findings that day! It has all happened since Jon went away, I sent him a very unhappy email, he initially felt sorry for me and then laughed!

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Clare
Hendrix and Jagger, Brown Marble Boys (born 18 August 2013)
Hampshire, UK

Long Legs' mom came over one afternoon and we were sitting on our deck when Legs came through the fence with something in his mouth. It appeared to be grass or a weed. But he proceeded to bat the little mouse around, throw it up in the air. It was so comical and amusing to watch. When he'd had enough, he laid down and munched on it until it was gone! YUK! He gets fed throughout the day. No reason to eat these animals. Then, I was talking to a neighbor who said Legs was in her back yard playing with a mouse a few weeks ago.

I also forgot to mention we do have coyotes in the woods behind us. We can hear them at times and hopefully they stay in the back. The property has many fences there and I hope that keeps them contained. I'm a live and let live type of person, too and as long as they all stay off my property and back in the woods, I'm happy. I did have a beautiful red fox come through my back yard years ago! I thought it was a dog until I saw the snout and that gorgeous tail.

My nerves are frayed!

Poor Hendrix, the fox appeared from nowhere as I was watching Hendrix to see if he was going to start using the pot as a litter tray like his brother. He's fine though, I dashed out, but the fox couldn't have cared less, he thought I was playing when I tried to chase him off. I grabbed Hendrix and spotted Jagger on the post by the gate and got him in through the kitchen window.

As you can see, the cubs are pretty much full grown now. I don't think it meant any harm, just incredibly curious. But Hendrix was not a happy boy!

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Clare
Hendrix and Jagger, Brown Marble Boys (born 18 August 2013)
Hampshire, UK

Woah! That's up close and personal. I would have been as scared as the cats. Wow, what can you do about foxes? Is there a service that will remove and relocate them? He is very pretty but I imagine they can do damage to a cat if they fight.

Clare ... cute fox, but dangerous animal when it comes to kitties. I wish there were a way you could contain your garden area so your kitties don't get OUT and foxes don't get IN. That's really close for a fox to be.

Heard coyotes near our house last night. Worried about Legs but he was on the neighbor's front steps. Later he came around to eat and I didn't hear them. This morning, a dear was at our back fence. Had a tree in the way and went out to grab a picture and the deer ran. Really ... too much wildlife for me.

When I saw that picture all I could think of was how wonderful it is that Hendrix was actually in his garden and not still lost Makes me feel ill to think how differently his adventure could have ended.

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Melissa

UK
Oscar - Rescue (Rascal!!!) Bengal

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Clare
Hendrix and Jagger, Brown Marble Boys (born 18 August 2013)
Hampshire, UK