this feels true but sometimes my cat makes such sad meows and I run over and go “oh my poor baby what’s wrong who hurt you”
Iirc, interpersonal communication between cats is done at a frequency that humans can’t hear, which is part of why they yell at us.
We have one cat with likely brain damage (he got super sick as a kitten) who tries to communicate with us on that frequency, so it looks like he’s silently meowing.
Yeah, I’d like to see a source for this. There have been many proposed theories for why cats vocalize to humans, especially because “meowing” is not common between cats except for kittens. How do we know that it isn’t a request for food or attention?
As a cat person, I find most explanations of cat behaviour generalised and ingomplete; scientific or not. My Siamese cat yells at me when I have not met my side of our obligations.
Consistency is important for children and animals.
- We get up at sunrise, so he will nuzzle or meow to be let in if he’s locked out of my room.
- We get wet food at 7am, and if I’m late he will not be impressed and yell until we are in the kitchen. However, if I’m on time, he will sit on the counter and say a quick meow to let me know he’s ready and a good boy.
- He will bring his toys to me when it’s time to play, if I don’t notice he’ll let me know.
- When there’s something outside and I come watch he’ll look at me and do a little chirp, approving my presence and proud of what he’s found
- And when we get home he greets us with the back and forward calling and a nuzzle.
There’s much more nonverbal communication than verbal. Everyone knows when their cat is scared or excited, but with a good relationship you can tell when they’re anxious or in pain. Cat’s know human non-verbal communicotion; they know when you’re sad, it just depends on the cat if they’ll cuddle or knock you’re nick-nacks off a shelf.
It can be both. I think it really depends on the specific cat and person. My cat “barks” for needs, “whines” when he loses us, and meows for attention or to get vocalization back. I think attentive cat owners probably know their cat and because it’s adaptive behavior it’s not the same across the board.
Don’t think so. When my cat says meow she means “bring on the food pronto”
Yeah… My oldest cat makes different noises for different requests. Yowling near door to go outside, chirping near bowls for dinner, and little mews while following you around to be picked up. And I’m not really sure it’s an outlier case as the other two younger cats are starting to learn to do the same.
Why does this keep appearing? Cats most definitely do communicate by meowing too. I’d really love it if our village cats didn’t chose the street out my widow a midnight as their debate grounds, shit’s loud af and I always have to climb out the window to break up the fight.
Yeah, you’re gonna wanna eat some catfood, chug a beer and huff some glue. It’ll make you feel really sick and then put you right out.
