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Cat Talk: The Language of Cat Sounds
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Cat Talk: The Language of Cat Sounds

Est. read time: 6 min.

Chances are, if you’re a cat parent, you’ve been known to let out a meow on occasion—or many occasions. The deep desire to communicate with our feline friends is in all of us cat lovers. What is my cat thinking? What is he saying to me? Does my cat really love me? Are these cat sounds good or bad?

One thing that is clear—they’re definitely saying something. They know what they want, when they want it, and they won’t take no for an answer. It’s why we love them—and probably also what drives us crazy about them.

What is my cat saying?

Despite all those meows you’ve traded back and forth, a cat’s main source of communication isn't vocal; it's visual. It’s the slight curve of the tail, the droop of the eyelids, the arch of the back, the rubbing of the face, that really shares what they're thinking. And knowingly or not, you’ve probably learned to decipher many of the unique ways your cat “talks” to you.

When it comes to cat sounds, however, there remains a good amount of mystery around cat-to-human communication. There’s no universal cat language or glossary to help decipher what your cat is saying, but folks are working on it. In fact, researchers in Sweden are in the midst of a five-year study, Meowsic, aimed “at understanding how cats and humans use melody and other prosodic features when they communicate with each other.”

Luckily, we don’t have to wait until they’re done to learn a little something.

Cats meow for their humans, not other cats

Kittens meow at their mothers to get the care and attention they need. As they get older, cats gradually stop meowing at their mothers (and all other cats), but domestic cats will continue to meow for human attention. They've learned that humans—unlike other types of animals that rely on scent and body positioning—respond best to vocalizations.

Cats don’t generally communicate aloud to other cats. Cats communicate with other felines through deeply ingrained patterns of posture, scent, and grooming behavior. For cats that cohabitate, for example, one kitty might not be allowed to use another kitty's scratching post, which is communicated through scent markings that send a "no trespassing" message. To break tension or assert dominance, the cats may engage in social grooming, where one cat plays a motherly role in caring for the cleanliness of another. The same goes for big cats like lions, tigers, jaguars, and leopards.

The cat sounds we do hear from our domesticated felines often include variations of the meow, purr, howl, chirp and hiss, all signifying degrees of happiness, dissatisfaction and excitement.

Purring

There’s nothing like the sweet sound and soft vibration of a happy cat. Purring is usually a sign of warm, fuzzy feelings. You'll often notice it when you're petting or cuddling your cat. Occasionally, cats will purr to self-soothe as it releases endorphins, which reduce stress and pain. Added bonus: the lulling murmur of the purr blocks out distressing sounds and allows kitty to zone out. 

Trilling

Trilling is developed during kittenhood and is often described as cooing or hooting. Some cats use trills as their preferred form of communication, and will meow only when they urgently want you to pay attention. Cats who trill frequently are usually affectionate and good-natured.

Chattering

Rooted in a cat's predatory instincts, cats sometimes chatter when a prey animal is nearby. If kitty is inside watching a bird from the windowsill, for example, its rapid mouth movements accompanied by soft, short squawks likely indicate an urge to take chase.

Negative vocalizations

Vocalizations like yowls, hisses, and shrieks are also common in kitty vernacular. They convey to both other cats and to you generally negative feelings like discontent, fear, surprise, pain, or illness.

Your cat may be manipulating you with sound

If you’ve ever suspected your cat of training you—and not the other way around—you’re onto something. Multiple studies, including one from Cornell University, have examined how cats use our innate nurturing tendencies to their advantage.

Domesticated cats have evolved alongside humans long enough know certain cat sounds and tones will get us to do as they please. Cats will communicate with different meows to get us to feed them, comfort them, and even adopt them. Depending on the context, we assign meaning to those various meows, and do their bidding. We’ve all heard a nice, pleasant meow turn into a shriek at feeding time—especially if you still happen to be under the covers.

Through trial and error, your cat has determined which sounds most effectively get you to turn away from another human (or look up from your screen), and do their bidding. Cats consciously select a meow when trying to engage you, manipulating the length, tone, and octave to more specifically communicate what they want from you. They even know which kind of meows you'll heed most urgently.

Those meows aren't generic, either. Research demonstrates that your kitty has developed special sounds for you—ones that you can interpret better than people who don't know your cat. Without a universal kitty language, a meow that seems so obviously to mean "feed me" to you, may sound meaningless (like a foreign language) to someone else who has cats.

You (and only you) know how to talk to your cat best

In the end, there are similarities in the sounds all cats make. But in that communication, there is a unique language (dialect, perhaps), shared by only you and your cats and that others can’t quite decipher. (Yes, it’s OK to feel great about this.)

Does your cat make any funny or unique cat sounds? Do you feel like you know what they’re saying? Bravo!

For the rest of you, keep practicing those meows.

 

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