Do Cats Know When You’re Talking to Them?
Most people talk to their pets. And when they do, they use a particular kind of tone that is similar to the one used when talking to young children. Unlike speech directed towards other adults, speech directed towards pets and kids usually consists of shorter utterances, more repetitions, elevated pitch, and hyperarticulated sounds.
Speaking “Cat”
In the first study, de Mouzon and colleagues compared speech from men and women directed to cats and speech directed to adult humans. They confirmed that people adapt the way they talk when addressing cats, similar to the way they adapt their speech to address dogs and small children.
The next question was how cats perceive and react to this “cat-directed speech.”
“It had been shown that dogs will react more to this kind of speech,” says de Mouzon. “Previous research had also shown that cats react to their owner’s voice. We combined these questions to ask if cats would react differently to the voice of their owner when it was directed at them versus directed at another adult human.”
“Interestingly, the cats did react to cat-directed speech when it was from their owner, but they did not show a great reaction to cat-directed speech when it was uttered by a stranger,” says de Mouzon. “This surprised us because dogs have been shown to react to anyone who talks to them in dog-directed speech.”
Cat Communication
Finally, although these experiments did not directly address it, the findings reinforce other recent studies regarding the ability of cats to form strong bonds with their humans. Cats, often stereotyped as aloof and independent, are in fact very capable of creating attachment bonds with humans, says de Mouzon—and our behavior towards them can foster these bonds.
“Some humans may be embarrassed by talking to their cats like babies,” she says. “Our results could reassure them that it’s okay because other people do it, too, and it helps to reinforce a good relationship with your cat. They understand when you talk to them like that, and they might be keener on coming to you.”
Feline Friends
An understanding of cats’ sociocognitive abilities, including communication, is essential for improving the quality of our relationships with these animals, as well as pet cat welfare.
“Cat communication can be subtle, and humans are sometimes not very attentive,” she says. “I think cats are better at understanding humans than humans are at understanding cats.”
Source: https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/animal-minds/202210/do-cats-know-when-you-re-talking-them
How do you communicate with you pets?
#Pets #Psychology #Behavior
I have two cats: a young black cat with white on his chest and paws and an old female cat that is a grey tabby. I got them both from different animal shelters. I do the typical baby talk with them sometimes, but I also talk normally to them too. My girl cat has always come when I do my certain sound call for her, but the boy cat seems to not respond to that. They are both able to somehow know when I am feeling down or about to have an anxiety attack. When they sense that, they come up to me and snuggle into me. The female cat is more in tune with me though, but that's probably because I have had her longer.
@calmDew1576
Thank you for this post! I loved it!! Incredibly interesting info, I love learning more facts 😸Cats are the best! 🐈
I've watched a couple of documentaries on cats which go over similar themes of communication with them, and it is fascinating.
I talk to my cat all the time, and the best thing is he will often meow back, so it's like a little conversation, and I find that very fun. He's a very talkative cat, lots of meows. He's very good at purposefully ignoring me too, I know he's listening because his ears move towards the sound, but if he's sulking he won't give me the attention lol. He seems to respond to certain words too, like 'treats' or 'hoover' (his arch-nemesis)
I really enjoyed this post 😸
@calmDew1576 I have both a cat and a dog. I find I use dog-directed communication more than cat-directed. However, the cat does respond to my voice either way.
@calmDew1576 I have both a cat and a dog, and while I use dog-directed communication more than cat directed, the cat responds to me either way.
