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I haven't seen it since, but I was reminded this morning of an incident that happened involving a cat my family owned when I was a child.

Patches was a mean, old, fixed, calico cat that I obviously named when I got her, about at the age of 5. She was a kitten when we adopted her, maybe 9 months old. When i was around the age of 7 or 8 (I think closer to 8) my family got home late one night to find a large group of cats, maybe 15 to 20 cats, sitting around in a circle in front of our home, Patches included. Patches was normally very mean and VERY territorial. Sometimes she would chase my own mother out of the backyard and was known to bite and scratch anyone who wasn't me. But she wasn't fighting with the cats in the front yard. She was sitting around in a peaceful circle with them, like they were having a meeting or a cat conference. It was pretty spooky.

Years later, when I was a teenager, we moved out to a small country town. One night my boyfriend drove me home from a date, and there, in our driveway, was Patches, sitting in the middle of a large group of cats, maybe 8 to 10 cats total. The cats again, weren't fighting, just peacefully hanging out in the driveway. They scattered when we pulled up, but the scene spooked both of us.

Has anyone else ever noticed this behavior in cats? This meeting behavior? This morning, I saw something similar in the parking lot of a curio shop on my way into work. But those cats may have been feral. If you do know about it, what are the cats doing? They seemed to be communicating somehow, but the scene was pretty quiet every time I've experienced this. Please let me know if you have any input, even "you're bonkers".

Thanks

This is interesting. My mother noted this behavior in her cats, but I've never seen it...except...

Every now and then we come home and the cat is sitting on the couch looking at the dog and the dog is lying on the floor looking at the cat. Sort of mutual silence type thing...
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Smile, it will make them wonder what you are up to!

A girlfriend took a class in animal communication a number of years ago and they taught her that orange tabbies have a special link - like a radar net. They can communciate anytime, anywhere with one another.

She has been managing a feral colony for several years now. Once when she had been defeated for days in her efforts to capture an injured cat, she called me from her truck almost in tears telling me she just called upon the orange tabby network to help her out because nothing else had worked. She caught the cat with no fuss, no problems the next day.

So who knows? Animals talk all the time, just because we don't know the language....maybe Patches was so rough on her humans because in her real life she was the the grand dame of the neighborhood. I'd like to think her underlings were just coming to pay homage and silly humans just stumbled upon the ceremony.

Purrs,
Elizabeth

I've seen that many times..cats when they aren't roaming or hunting will just sit with their friends and share the moment. Don't know what they are thinking, probably not much. Suddenly one will take off galloping and other will chase him, sort of a relaxing game.
I've seen that with the ferals and also outdoor pets. We've two semi-ferals that act like that. They sit by the cat pen where our indoor cat is and just stare at each other. Don't do that when the weather is inclement of course but specially at dusk in summer and early in the morning..just part of a kitty's life

Very interesting - sounds like you are very observant and in tune with your feline friends. Thanks for posting!

>>I've seen that many times..cats when they aren't roaming or hunting will just sit with their friends and share the moment. Don't know what they are thinking, probably not much. Suddenly one will take off galloping and other will chase him, sort of a relaxing game.
>>I've seen that with the ferals and also outdoor pets. We've two semi-ferals that act like that. They sit by the cat pen where our indoor cat is and just stare at each other. Don't do that when the weather is inclement of course but specially at dusk in summer and early in the morning..just part of a kitty's life
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Smile, it will make them wonder what you are up to!

Thanks, guys!

That's very interesting, weird, and neat about the Tabby Network. I've never heard of that. I have two cats now, and they talk to each other and with me all the time in looks and gestures and meows. I can't be absolutely sure what they're communicating, but when you have a little furball slitting his eyes and kneeding your tummy and pushing his face against yours, it's pretty obvious.