When cats meow, they are trying to communicate with you

Huh.

There's a human there filming them, r1.

They are clearly talking to each other, not a human.

Does this mean we have to call bitchy DLers muumuu frau cat ladies instead of muumuu frau poodle owners?

Kittens use meows to call out to their mother, the mother responds with meows to reassure them she is nearby.

It’s all ME! OW!

[quote] They are clearly talking to each other, not a human.

No.

They're looking mostly at him.

The only time I've heard cats makes audible noises at each other are: 1) that unearthly howling sound they make when they are about to fight; 2) a mother calling her kittens; 3) when two cats are play-fighting one will yelp that it's gotten out of control- time out!; and 4) a female in heat meowing and rolling around, I guess calling out for a male.

Communicate? No, command.

R8 and the noise your cat made when you tried to finger it’s kitty hole.

R9 is right and they know that their owner understands every different type of meow. They know exactly how to train humans.

[quote]They're looking mostly at him.

Him could be a tripod.

Cats are fucking disgusting. They cannot be trusted, and they’ll destroy your entire fucking house unless you do A through Z. They’re not loyal, they don’t show love, and they fucking run and hide when company comes.

Fuck cats.

Not unless the tripod can float around, r12.

R13 has never met a well-socialized cat

We had a male stray who would meow to our other cats and not to humans. It's possible he was lost as a kitten (he was not neutered when we caught him at about age 2) and maybe the meowing was a holdover from kittenhood. The other cats just ignored him so eventually he gave up. Since he's now the only cat in the house, he's started vocalizing more towards humans.

My cat is an angel.

[quote] Once you learn this, you will have a closer and better relationship with your cat.

We’re getting married.

Blink your eyes. The best way to communicate with a cat. Cats love eye contact.

^The happiest of wedding wishes to you!

R18 I thought animals saw it as a sign of aggression when you look them in the eyes

Dogs r20, not cats

Thanks R21

Long, slow blinks are like hugs to a cat. When they do this to you, do it back.

Cats meow to each other all the time.

They also hiss, growl, mew and yowl at each other.

Cats only talk to humans when they want something. It's no mystery. Pets have nothing to do with their lives but watch humans and observe. When they do something and it gets a response they learn quickly to repeat it. Both dogs and cats and other pets do this.

[R13] has apparently never met a cat. Full stop. (just as well; most of the cats wouldn't be interested in meeting a stupid human).

R13 is either Luke Magnotta or an idiot.

I have Bengals, which are like dogs. They know the commands sit, turn in R or L circle, and sit pretty, run on a cat wheel, can walk on leash, and follow me to wherever I am. If it's cooler than 65 degrees, they'll sleep with me. All 3 will tell me if they want to play, eat, if they caught their prey toy, or if they're going to take a crap (don't know why they need to announce that). Little fuckers are too smart though- I have to install baby locks on the cabinets, they know how to open tupperware, and can open the toaster oven.

What are they trying to do when they leave a shit in your bed?

Start by cleaning the box.

R13 Well, fuck you too

28. They're mad at you, or really stressed out about something.

[QUOTE]I have Bengals, which are like dogs. They know the commands sit, turn in R or L circle, and sit pretty, run on a cat wheel, can walk on leash, and follow me to wherever I am.

any cat will do that if you spend the five minutes a day training him/her.

What box?

[quote]When cats meow, they are trying to communicate with you

Is there any cat owner (living or dead) that did not already know this?

I mean try, just try to ignore the little fuckers when they are making noise.

Helen Keller? R34?

They bit her ankles r36.

r32, nah...2 of my moggies couldn't get it . RIP sweet dummies.

My cats have communication down pat. They are very effective in annoying the fuck out of you with their meows when they want something. My cats are indoor only and luckily we live in a small apartment building. The building foyer is only used by two other units so it's safe for me to let my cats "out" there. One of my cats has developed the annoying habit of sitting in front of our door after her late night dinner and screeching until she gets to visit the foyer. I tried ignoring her and she just ratchets up the volume and intensity. This is usually just before my bedtime so I prefer she didn't go out but she won't shut up and I'm afraid of my neighbors being bothered. So yeah, she knows she can whine loudly and she gets to lounge in the foyer after dinner.

Apart from that aural terrorism, my cats' meowing tend to be on the amusing side. Sure the chirping to be fed about an hour early before every meal/snack time can be exasperating at times. But it's also reassuring--routine means the cats are okay. My favorite meow is the announcement of bowel movement deposited and ready for disposal. They don't do it for #1 so it's definitely intentional and delineated. They also don't announce when I'm sleeping. So very thoughtful--I love them.

R28 happened to my cat. It was stress in his case.

Share some pics please R27, they sound adorable

For the record, my little angel has NOT shit in my bed.

Good R42. Mine only did it once. He was stressed and scared. New surroundings.

As far as I know . . .

Here you go, r41. The marbles are rescues from a breeder hoarding situation, the black/melanistic Bengal was my Dad's that I took after he couldn't take care of him anymore.

Beautiful R45! Look at those furs, they look radiant!

Thank you, r46, that's the infamous Bengal glitter.

I have a cat who only says “Ow!” very loudly in an annoying voice. That’s the only way he communicates. Some people have cats who trill, or make little meows and big meows. Not him. “OW!” He alway sounds aggrieved. I should’ve called him Trump.

My cats never have that lush coat look. They always have scroungy looking fur. They are indoor cats

My cat sometimes makes a little growl when I put down her food. I think it helps her pretend she killed it.

I love the trilling when they see birds. It's not just the sound, it's the way their entire body works to trill.

That’s called chittering

Why do cats meow when they are in empty rooms? It's annoying and it makes no sense.

r49, mine are indoor as well, as my street has become the Waze shortcut to the main streets and almost everyone has a dog. My guys get either fish based or rabbit wet food with a bit of Wild Trax Feline Supplement and Bone Calcium powder (but you can buy crushed egg shell powder too).

They think a human might be around somewhere to keep them company and they are sensitive to energies

R53 meant for you

I want a gigantic Maine Coon Cat.

r57, YES. That particular one is a Russian. They're magnificent beasts. Although I can't imagine how much hair you'll have to clean up every day.

It's like having a mini lion.

r51

That is something a real cat would never do. They don't advertise to their prey. But house cats get so excited they can't control themselves.

Cats do meow to each other OP!

I want a very un cat-like cat. I heard that Devons are more like owning dogs plus they don’t have an undercoat app their naturally short hair is almost like velvet. One thing I would never tolerate is a cat on my countertops or dinner table, I wouldn’t want their paws on food preparation surfaces knowing they buried their shit in the little box. I don’t care what any of you cat people say, then licking their paws clean isn’t the same as soap and water and anyway I don’t want them on my counters. I’d TOTALLY be the guy with the squirting bottle of water zapping them until they learn.

R62 Don't ever get a cat then, dickhead

R62 you have to raise them but I doubt you can completely prevent it. Get them out of the kitchen and close the door when preparing and eating food. Turkish Angoras and Bengals are more dog like cats.

R28 Amber Heard

Bengals are VERY food driven, so, maybe it's best not to get that breed. I can't leave the groceries alone for a minute- they'll dig through it to find something to eat. Weird stuff like bread and ripe avocados, in addition to the usual culprits of cheese and any meat/fish/poultry products. Hence the baby locks on cabinets as mentioned previously. 2 will stay off the counter, but the youngest (and previously the most feral) one will suss out the counter after I have prepared food. I cannot leave the table with any food on it if I am alone.

[quote]Always cleaning my damn counters.

You wouldn't bother if you had no cats?

r67 Not 3x a day or more. It blows.

However, I did get my cats used, so maybe you can train them from kittenhood.

My cats meow at each other, and at my dog, all the time and whether or not any people are around.

My last two cats loved olives.

Oh dear. Used cats.

My cat was accidentally left alone in an empty house before I got her. She nearly starved to death.

Now, every once in a while, she lets out a meow that’s like a submarine pinging the depths to see what’s out there. When she meows, that means she wants me to make a noise back so she knows I’m still in the house. I get those several times a day.

Sometimes she makes these really dramatic howls that sounds like she’s horribly injured or dying in the middle of the night. I finally figured out, that means, “I have a toy in my mouth and I have conquered it.” The next day, a toy will be removed from the toy basket and in the middle of the floor.

Other than that, she just talks all the time. I’m not sure what it means.

It means she's a blabbermouth r72.

It’s weird to me, R73, because she was a feral kitten. How could a tiny kitten make all that noise and not get eaten up? There are coyotes around here.

R1 is right, mama cats talk to their kittens all the time.

It's cute that your cat takes one (1) toy out at a time, R72. My cats would knock over their toy basket, occasionally rip something to shreds, and inevitably bring several toys up onto the bed and play with them to wake me up at 4AM because their bowls were only 92.7% full and therefore they were seconds away from starving.

r72, one of my guys does the victory howling thing for at least 20 minutes- I have a time between 6-8 pm where he's allowed his screaming toy. Since I live in a fishbowl apartment, people walking by will comment that either I'm torturing my cat, or a baby is screaming. I've had to hold him up with the toy in his mouth to show to a police officer (there was a guy that they were chasing) because of the sound.

My brother's cat was possibly the only mean-tempered Maine Coon. He once attacked the cable guy and my brother was sued.

R13, why don't you go for a hike in Orange County, California?

There are a few mountain lions who'd like to see you.

R78 Suing someone for being attacked by a house cat? How big of a wuss was the guy? He should have just hand over his balls instead. And did he actually won? What judge would look at that case and instead laughing their ass off, ruled in the dude's favor?

To those of you who find that their cats want to help unpack groceries or raid your pantry - I sympathize. My mother often made the pronouncement: "If you want to keep something away from a cat, you either have to hang it from the ceiling or stick it up your arse."

Don't you people take control? My cat wouldn't dare go through the groceries because I will not allow it, he's been trained, he knows not to do it. The first time I was in my current place, he jumped on the counter. I gave him the dissatisfied EYE, snapped my fingers and said get down. Five years later, he's never jumped on the counter. That is, he's never jumped on the counter when I'm home. Cats can live perfectly productive cat lives with rules and regulations..

SIEG Heil!!! SIEG Heil!!! SIEG Heil!!! I'm sorry, I'm truly not trying to make fun of anyone, but after reading the above post I suddenly saw Basil Fawlty goose-stepping around in the Fawlty Towers segment called "The Germans."

Cosmo does that chattering thing. Believe it or not, it sometimes make the birds come closer to him. He's an indoor cat but I open the balcony door in the morning so he can watch the birds feed. Occasionally, a bird or two will perch on the balcony railing so they can see him (IMO) and he can see them.

As for the counter thing, I don't really care if he jumps up on it. I don't prepare anything directly on my counters. I use a cutting board or plate. The counter gets wiped off immediately after I've cooked or prepped. He's an indoor cat so him jumping from the floor to the counter to the top of the fridge to the top of the cabinets is exercise.

He will go into the kitchen and yell. I'll yell back and he'll then eat a little dry food. He hates when I talk to my sister on the phone. 10 minutes in and he's yelling at me or trying to knock the phone out of my hand.

Cos is naturally curious so he will look into the food bags. He loves the sound of the bag rustling and will occasionally chew on the bags. I make sure to put them away immediately. As a baby, he got his head stuck in the handle of plastic shopping bag. I tried not to laugh while chasing him around the condo to get it off but it was funny. My sister's cat once got a post-it stuck to the bottom of his paw. She nearly peed herself laughing while running after him.

He's learned to slide the shower door open in the 2nd bathroom as well at the closets.

I love the little shit!

There is a squirrel that does its morning rounds that my Bengals are fascinated with. They also will run if they hear the neighbor walking down with his dogs. They run TO the dogs and stare at them through the window. The dogs will stop and stare back, and they're literally face to face. It's quite odd- I'm sure the dogs are thinking, "Tasty morsels". I have no idea what the cats are thinking.

Speaking of squirrels, Dax escaped this evening as we were going outside to water plants. Fortunately, my partner grabbed him before he got too far. A squirrel in the apple tree started chittering at him, so my partner took Dax over to the tree to see the squirrel. The squirrel was extremely bold - I find that the ones around our yard are quite tame. Dax was so excited he started to shiver and began to knead my partner's arm with his paws. He'll probably dream about the squirrel tonight.

"I have no idea what the cats are thinking."

And your excuse is?

Ha, well done. They're not vocalizing, so I can't extrapolate from that. They obviously aren't scared-not hissing, or raised hackles. Dogs are rather large, happy, wagging their tails when they see the cats.

Squirrels and crows are shit disturbers that seem to know enough to excite indoor cats. Of course other outdoor cats are worse. We had one that would run by the sliding glass doors as if to say "nyeh neh neh nyeh nyeh" and our 2 male cats who hated each other would become allies. My mom had a huge old short haired tabby named Herc (Hercules), probably part Maine Coon. Her then husband would let him out onto the roof of the lower flat and the crows would try to entice him to run toward them at the edge, he would fall, they fly away. Old Herc was too lazy or too smart to fall for it.

He was great at catching mice though. My mom, " I'm so proud of my cat, he caught a mouse!" a few minutes later, "oh good lord! He's crunching on the mouse's head! No Herc, STOP!"

[quote] I have no idea what the cats are thinking.

No offense, but what you don't know could fill the Library of Congress.

What do they sound like when they're saying "You might want to sleep with one eye open tonight"?