PIXIE : I am a chatterbox, Claire, Momo, and Zorro all agree on this point. I often express myself by mewing, in particular if I want to play.
Grown-up cats rarely communicate among themselves by mewing ; kittens, them, use much more the mewing to indicate to their momcat that they have a problem or that they need something.
The verbal communication among grown-up cats occurs most of the time in situation of conflict, but we cannot really speak about worldly conversation : they are rather growls and hostile hisses !
However, Zorro explained me that the humans were not generally very talented for nonverbal communication : they know how to interpret the movements of tail or the position of ears, but decipher with more difficulty subtle expressions, visual marking, or olfactive signal. On the other hand, humans are particularly susceptible in the mewings and learn quickly, because to make noise is the main way of communication of their species.
The mewing of the grown-up cat is thus favored to address a human. And as I said it, it works very well ! A well-trained human can recognize about ten different mewings : hello, play with me, give me food, cuddle me, leave me alone, I am bored, I want to go out, I am going to vomit, I bring you an alive present, I bring you a dead present, I am afraid of the vacuum cleaner…
The more the human quickly reacts, the better he’s trained, and the more a cat as me is encouraged in the fact to mew to express her needs.
An excessive mewing can however indicate a medical problem, or a beginning of senility by an old cat. It’s the moment to go for a checking at the vet !
A cat can also mew because he’s bored, in particular during the night. A good play session followed by a meal (for the cat!) just before the extinction of the lights should be enough to insure a quiet and restful night to your human.
Finally, certain breeds like Siameses for example are more talkative than others : it’s necessary to expect that these cats share in detail all that they do during the day !
And you, how do you communicate with your human ?
We counted 52 comments, which means that we’ll give 52 CHF to the Haut-Léman shelter, and we’re delighted too to announce that Connie from Tails From The Foster Kittens is the lucky winner of our giveaway ! Thanks for celebrating with us !
