--- title: Cat body language and cat myths: milk, nine lives and landing on their feet — a lesson of Mova's school · trees and pragmatics description: «Cat body language and cat myths: milk, nine lives and landing on their feet», a lesson of the biology course of Mova's primary school, sentence by sentence with dependency trees and pragmatics. It begins: Cats are quieter than dogs, but they talk all the time with their tails, ears, eyes and paws, --- [Mova](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/) · [this page in HTML](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/biology/199-cat-body-language-and-cat-myths-milk-nine-lives-and-landing-on-their-feet/) [home](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/) / [corpora](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/) / [school](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/) / [Biology](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/biology/) / Cat body language and cat myths: milk,… # Cat body language and cat myths: milk, nine lives and landing on their feet Lesson 199 of the biology course of Mova's primary school: 15 sentences, each with its syntax tree and pragmatics. The lessons are written for Mova, and their agreed trees are part of Mova corpus 0.4 (CC BY-SA 4.0). How Mova does on its tests: [the lesson at school](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/school-run/biology/199-cat-body-language-and-cat-myths-milk-nine-lives-and-landing-on-their-feet/). - [0](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/biology/199-cat-body-language-and-cat-myths-milk-nine-lives-and-landing-on-their-feet/0/) — Cats are quieter than dogs, but they talk all the time with their tails, ears, eyes and paws, and once you learn the signs you can read a cat's mood across the room. - [1](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/biology/199-cat-body-language-and-cat-myths-milk-nine-lives-and-landing-on-their-feet/1/) — A cat that trots in with its tail straight up like a flagpole is saying a happy hello; the same cat swishing its tail hard from side to side is saying «enough, I'm cross». - [2](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/biology/199-cat-body-language-and-cat-myths-milk-nine-lives-and-landing-on-their-feet/2/) — Cats also carry a lot of myths: the cartoon saucer of milk, the nine lives and the unlucky black cat are stories, not science. - [3](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/biology/199-cat-body-language-and-cat-myths-milk-nine-lives-and-landing-on-their-feet/3/) — Some legends hide a real fact: cats really do twist in the air to land on their feet, but they can still be badly hurt in a fall. - [4](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/biology/199-cat-body-language-and-cat-myths-milk-nine-lives-and-landing-on-their-feet/4/) — A cat with its tail held straight up is friendly and greeting you, the way kittens greet their mother. - [5](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/biology/199-cat-body-language-and-cat-myths-milk-nine-lives-and-landing-on-their-feet/5/) — A tail swishing or lashing quickly from side to side means the cat is annoyed or very excited; if it does this while being stroked, stop stroking. - [6](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/biology/199-cat-body-language-and-cat-myths-milk-nine-lives-and-landing-on-their-feet/6/) — A slow blink from a cat is a friendly signal, and if you blink slowly back, many cats blink again. - [7](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/biology/199-cat-body-language-and-cat-myths-milk-nine-lives-and-landing-on-their-feet/7/) — A cat lying belly up is often relaxed and trusting, but it does not always want a tummy rub; touching the tummy can set off a grab-and-kick reaction. - [8](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/biology/199-cat-body-language-and-cat-myths-milk-nine-lives-and-landing-on-their-feet/8/) — Kneading, pushing the paws in and out on a blanket like making dough, starts with kittens feeding from their mother, and it also leaves scent from glands in the paws. - [9](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/biology/199-cat-body-language-and-cat-myths-milk-nine-lives-and-landing-on-their-feet/9/) — Cats have a righting reflex: when they fall they twist head first, then the body, to land on their feet, but falls from balconies and high windows can still badly hurt them. - [10](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/biology/199-cat-body-language-and-cat-myths-milk-nine-lives-and-landing-on-their-feet/10/) — Most adult cats cannot digest (break down in the tummy) cow's milk well and it can upset their tummies, so water is the best drink for a cat, despite the cartoon saucer of milk. - [11](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/biology/199-cat-body-language-and-cat-myths-milk-nine-lives-and-landing-on-their-feet/11/) — Cats have only one life; nine lives is a saying, and in some countries the saying is seven or six lives. - [12](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/biology/199-cat-body-language-and-cat-myths-milk-nine-lives-and-landing-on-their-feet/12/) — A black cat crossing the road brings no bad luck; in some countries black cats are even thought lucky, and in shelters black cats are sometimes adopted less often because of the myth. - [13](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/biology/199-cat-body-language-and-cat-myths-milk-nine-lives-and-landing-on-their-feet/13/) — A cat hissing with its ears flat is frightened and warning you away, and the right thing is to leave it alone so it can calm down. - [14](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/biology/199-cat-body-language-and-cat-myths-milk-nine-lives-and-landing-on-their-feet/14/) — When a cat turns its bottom towards your face it is being friendly; cats sniff each other there to say hello, so it is the cat version of a handshake. - ← previous: [Cats as hunters: presents on the doormat and why Tom never catches Jerry](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/biology/198-cats-as-hunters-presents-on-the-doormat-and-why-tom-never-catches-jerry/) - next →: [Rabbits: hay not carrots, binkies and teeth that never stop growing](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/biology/200-rabbits-hay-not-carrots-binkies-and-teeth-that-never-stop-growing/) - ↑ back to [Biology](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/biology/)