Contents of Defensive Threat

Lecture Notes

Looking at the defensive threat, usually the ears are pinned very flat, the mouth is open and in a hiss, the pupils are dilated, and the cat can even be crouching. This is a distance-increasing posture, and if you look at the picture below, the body of the cat is down. Usually these cats in a defensive posture are ready to escape or rollover. This is not submission. Usually when they rollover, they'll flip on their back and use their feet to scratch and bite. This is the posture that can also be seen in play as well.