meow meow!!!

soso. first tails. a raised up tail like this

shows friendliness and happiness! a cat with a raised tail is relaxed, and pretty happy to see you if it knows you. raised tail is GOOD!

a cat with a twitching tail tip is usually a curious or engaged cat. they might do this when looking out a window at a bird, or playing with a toy!

a lashing [or wagging] tail can mean many things, including but not limited to annoyance/frustration and overstimulation. generally leave a cat be in that case, especially if the rest of its body shows these things.

if the tail puffs up, as shown here

that is an involuntary reaction to surprise, shock, stress, and/or fear. it's intended to make the cat look larger than it really is to scare off whatever's threatening it, but i've seen it on my cats when they're just not expecting something.

those are the general basics of tails!

ears are harder, since cats also just move their ears around when listening to the world around them.

a relaxed cat's ears will appear as normal.

a cat with perked ears, paired with dilated pupils and extra attentiveness, is interested in and/or observing something! it shows engagement, usually in terms of spotting prey or a toy.

let's go back to the cat with the puffed tail for a second. that cat is exhibiting airplane ears, a sign of frustration, anger, or general annoyance with their environment. not to be confused with relaxed ears swiveling around! airplane ears can also mean a variety of other things, but that is not a relaxed and content cat.

fully flattened ears, such as this

indicate fear, uncertainty, and the like. usually paired with a puffed tail and arched back to look larger.