The magic of a cat's tail can be truly a wonder to any cat owner. Last night I tried to settle down my thoughts for the night. Having been given bad news early in the day, I was finding it difficult to quiet my mind and actually close my eyes. After unsuccessful attempts to lay down quietly, I resolved that this would be one of those restless nights. I heated up some sleepy tea, crawled back under the covers and slowly enjoyed the beverage. That is when the magic started, Snoopy jumped onto the bed.

Before expressing the meaning of this moment, let me give a little background information. My husband and I have four cats. One senior, two middle-aged and a two year old terror. Similar to most pet owners, these four cats are our children. There isn't a time that while I am in any room of the house that a cat or multiple cats are not in the room with me. I get the privilege of seeing their personalities and other feline traits throughout the day. But a trait that I marvel at is how they appear to be laid back, but are watching me or my husband at all time, whether it is with the flick of their ears when they hear either of us move around the room, or the "let's barely open an eye" to visually track us. Should I leave the room, it won't be long before the four paws of one hits the floor and follows. This bring me back to last night.

With a mind full of thoughts and emotions running in all directions, it startled me when Snoopy, one of the middle-aged cats jumped onto the bed. She looked directly at me, walked up real close, sniffed my nose, stared at me for another 10 seconds and then turned around and laid down. She brought her back feet to her body and curled her tail around towards her head. Some time later, I finished my tea, put it down on the dresser and snuggled deeper into the covers. I turned my head toward Snoopy, who was by now facing my feet. Without warning she swished her tail. Not in a sporadic and powerful way, but in a what I like to describe as "searching using the cane method". I define this as the methodical and deliberate positioning of the tail in search of the object in question movement. That’s when her tail found my head. She slowly moved it over hair then over my face until she felt my cheek. There it stayed for about 3 minutes. Every once in a while the very tip of her tail would move back and forth. When Snoopy finally removed her tail from my face and curled it back toward her body, I turned out the lights and closed my eyes.

Now, I know there are many articles out there on the scientific explanations of a cat's control over their tail or even a cat's sense of smell, however, to experience this action while emotions are high brings a profound moment of wonder with it.

Although, those heavy thoughts didn't disappear with the touch of her tail, the moment was enough to bring temporary peace. Have you experienced such a moment?