Martius Has a Unique Feature

Each cat I get has a unique feature. Just like people, you get a surprise package with cats. Martius surprised us when he got home. The first and every subsequent time he gets either scared or nervous, he gets a bottle brush tale. This does not happen to his back or anything. The degree of unsettling equals the degree of his tale fluff. I've never had a cat that had an instant brush on his tale like that.

It is really quite attractive. He looks like a wildcat. When I was shopping for catfood at the time, there was a food with a lynx on it with ear tips coming to a point and a fluffy tale. That is exactly what he looks like. One ought to be worried when your cat's tale fluffs for this reason, but he is so cute I sort of like it when he gets scared.

We have learned to use his tale as a means of knowing how he is feeling. If I want to calm him down, I run my hand along he tale and unfluff it and reassure him. He responds to speech pretty well. Often though, Cat Dad picks him up to inspect whatever it is that made him upset. As soon has he sees the practical reason for what just happened, he settles down.

He is almost a guard dog. If he hears a sound, his tale fluffs. It is helpful to have his tale to tell us to look around. More or less, he is comfortable in our home, so I don't have to take this trait too seriously. It is just immensely cute and one I would not trade in for anything.