Cats controlling humans

I’ve often heard the quote “Dogs have owners, cats have staff”.  A recent study shows that this may not just be a humorous observation on the behavior of cats.

Karen McComb, who studies vocal communication in mammals at the University of Sussex, recently completed research on a type of meow exhibited by house cats.    The meow is a mix between a purr and a cry, which comes out as a high-pitched noise that drives some humans crazy.

In the study, 10 cats were recorded making this noise and other sounds.  The tapes were played back for 50 humans, many who were not cat owners.  The majority of the humans, cat owners and non-cat owners, felt that the cats were asking for food when they made this sound.

This purr-cry is a manipulative purr, I think because the cat knows it’s annoying, and their human will give them a treat or feed them just to get them to stop making that noise.  Both of my cats make this sound.  And they do make it mostly when they are hungry, or think it’s feeding time.

This sound is one of four types of meows common in cats.  If you listen closely, you’ll be able to recognize the different meows your cat makes.  They each have their own special tones and nuances.   There’s the high-pitched purr/cry for when they are hungry, a meow for when they want attention, one that means they want to go out, and a distress meow.

The ‘feed me’ purr/cry is the only meow that sounds the same from both of my cats.  For the others, they each have their own brand of meows.  Max, for example, has a squeaky meow when he wants attention, while Buddy has a loud, sharp meow that sounds strangely like ‘NOW”.

While the study makes some good points, I’ve always known that cats control the humans.   There’s another quote by an unknown author that states “It’s the cat’s house.  We just pay the mortgage.”  So true.

July 17th, 2009 by Beth VanHoose | Posted in Cat Behavior | (1)