A Cat’s Meow: For Humans?
Photo courtesy gadgetgirl
If you ever thought that you did a great job training your cat to talk to you, think again. In fact, she very well may have trained you!
While kittens and cats in heat usually do mew or yowl, most adult cats living in your home will meow for one reason: To communicate with people. They meow at us for many different reasons, and if you’re familiar with and responsive to your cat’s meows and requests, then she most likely succeeds in getting whatever she’s asking for.
Some believe that the communication a cat has with a human is an extension of the mews they learned to communicate to their mother cat as a kitten. Since a cat remains dependent on her pet parent throughout life, she remains a “kitten” and continues to communicate her needs that way.
Photo courtesy richeck
So why don’t cats meow to one another as much as they meow to people? Frankly, they don’t have to.
While adult cats may yowl (while in heat) or growl and hiss (while angry), they usually communicate to one another through body language and scent. (More on this in a future post!) Since most humans don’t pick up on these subtle communication methods (or even if they do), your cat has learned that meowing at you is usually the best way to get a response.
Here are six of the most common reasons house cats meow:
- To greet you when you come home
- When you speak to her
- To request attention (affection or playtime)
- When it’s meal time
- If she needs you to do something (open a door for her, move something out of her favorite sleeping spot, etc.)
- If she’s elderly (meowing may be a sign of mental confusion or disorientation)
Is your cat a big meower? Have you picked up on her language, or is it still a mystery to you? Does she have different words for her different needs? Please share your thoughts in the comments!
2 of my 3 are BIG talkers, and not just to me! Shadow trills at Linus all the time (he is the non-talker of the bunch) and she has all sorts of inflections to let me know what she wants..Buster, our little CH kitty, is also very vocal..he has a whole language of cries for “feed me; I want treats; I want to be put here: I fell in my poop”,,etc etc…Pretty funny that they have me so well-trained I consider myself proficient in “cat”!
My Riley is definitely a big talker, but my step-mom and I joke that he “cries like a girl” lol. He has the most pitiful meows sometimes that you would think he was actually crying or sad. But don’t think he is because that’s the tone he uses for most of his meows. He’s so funny sometimes. I have him “trained” to know when he’s getting his canned food. First I grab the can out of the closet, then I walk into the kitchen and put the can on the counter. I get a new plate out of the cabinet and put it on the counter. If all of this hasn’t gotten his attention (he’s a very ADD cat who will get distracted by ANYTHING) then the moment he hears the can open, he runs to kitchen and begins meowing and rubbing against my legs. It’s so funny because if, in his mind, I take too long to actually complete the process and put the plate of food down, his meows get more drawn out and more “come on. what’s taking so long?” sounding.