When my cat is awake, her tail seems to signal her mood more effectively than any other part of her. Can a cat consciously control its tail or does it have a mind of its own? When she is asleep, she often holds her tail down with a hind leg as if to stop it from keeping her awake. If I say out loud “What idle baggage you are”, her tail will thrash while the rest of her appears to sleep. Do the cerebral connections from auditory centres to tail motor cortex have a lower threshold for sensory (in this case insult) stimulation than the rest of her brain?
Duncan Watson, Cockermouth, Cumbria, UK