Cats are often thought of as mysterious, elusive and a bit moody. The Kate Moss’ of the pet world.
However, maybe we have got it wrong as it turns out, your kitty cat isn’t purring merely to pass the time or because it feels like it - your kitty cat IS actually trying to talk to you.
Research specialists in cat-human communication (yep, that’s a real thing) recently did a study, which showed participants were better at recognising the sound of a cat that they had lived with, as opposed to a cat that they hadn’t. This suggest that cat’s meow in a specific tone depending on which human they are talking to.
John Bradshaw, a University of Bristol anthrozoologist and renowned author of all books cat-related explains ‘They haven’t got a good way of asking for help, it’s not in their language, so they do the next best thing - they do the purring thing,”
The study also concludes that the main purpose of the cat’s meows is to ‘attract attention from humans.’ Which makes sense really, because cats rarely meow when alone with other cats and wild cats are known to be mostly silent.
Suddenly, growing old with a zillion cats doesn’t seem that crazy.
But what are they telling us science?! Science is still not sure on that one. Are they telling us they are bored with their felix beef pouch and would much rather a tuna steak? Maybe they think their new fluffy mouse toy is lame? Or maybe they just want to update us about the going-ons of their day? The only thing we do know is that our conversations with are cats are gonna involve a lot of guess-work.
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This article originally appeared on The Debrief.