A cat swishing its tail widely is usually irritated, not happy
#0051 Animals & plants
Fact rank
B
That wide swishing signals irritation in cats is confirmed by a veterinary school (secondary); the comparison with dogs comes only from an article quoting experts (tertiary), so B
Wow rank
A
Reading a cat like a dog gets it backwards
Usefulness
A
Lets you stop before the cat gets annoyed
Verification: Supported by evidence
AI verification reports the evidence it found; it does not guarantee that a claim is true.
A cat's tail shows its mood, but some movements mean the opposite of a dog's. The main one is wide swishing: in dogs it usually means happiness, in cats it usually means irritation or arousal.
Why
Cats and dogs evolved separately, and so did their tail signals, so the same movement need not mean the same thing.Evidence
Secondary Cornell Feline Health Center. Before aggression, cats show dilated pupils, tail lashing and ears moved backward link
Tertiary Gizmodo article quoting experts (2018). Professor Emeritus Dodman of Tufts University: actual dog-like wagging is usually a sign of extreme agitation link
Notes and limits
Cats may also swish lightly when called, or when excited by play or hunting; the meaning depends on how and when. Specific tail movements are covered in the branches below this fact. Japanese Wikipedia's "Cat" (ネコ) article also says that reading side-to-side swishing as happiness, by analogy with dogs, is a misunderstanding.
Derivations