Domestic cats can lift your spirits and make you smile

This cat has a charming way of responding to their caregiver's loving greeting. Take a look:

So, what can we say about domestic cats lifting your spirits? It happens all the time. Just their presence lifts the spirit by preventing loneliness creeping in if you live alone as I do.

And many other people living alone rely on their cat to help balance their lives. It is very easy to become despondent when you live alone if you don't have a wide circle of friends and acquaintances. 

Interacting with your cat is vital. This charming cat responds in a way that I have not seen before. So charming. Both her body language and her sweet voice.

You can see that I have decided that she is female. She has female written all over her as far as I am concerned.

Here are some more thoughts about how a domestic cat can prevent despondency and lift your spirits

Companionship

I mention this above but let me add a few pointers. Domestic cats can be incredibly affectionate as we see in the video. People who don't know cats should understand that they are sentient beings with emotions and their own personalities. Once again, I refer to the video. This charming female cat responds to a loving greeting in her particular and very special way. And just having her there, nearby, can bring a sense of comfort and connection. She made me smile. Cats can do that.

Emotional support

Cats do have a calming presence and they can sometimes sense when their owner is feeling down or stressed. They may come up to you under those circumstances and sit on your lap and start interacting with you. You'll see videos of that on the Internet too. And simply stroking a cat can lift your mood because it can release endorphins in your brain to which you can add the purring sound of your cat which is known to be beneficial to one's health.

It's about the resonance and the frequencies of the cat purr which can help to heal a person.

Playfulness and entertainment

Cats are curious and playful. You can play with your cat. You can occupy yourself in this nice pastime. Both of you will like it. It's cool way to distract one away from any despondency or loneliness that you might be suffering from. And cats entertain their owners when they play because they can be quite funny.

Mindfulness and relaxation.

Simply watching your cat grooming themselves or jumping up onto their cat tree can be calming and a mindful experience. Looking at your cat being relaxed and comfortable can make you feel better as well. That's because you created the environment in which your cat can feel like this. You can pat yourself on the back.

Unconditional love

A lot has been spoken of the domestic cat's unconditional love. It is quite distinct from human love in this respect. They don't expect anything in return. There are no games. There are no conditions. It's a very simple, raw and fundamental connection which is quite special. This could have a positive impact on your emotional well-being. And they have a non-judgemental nature which can be great to create a safe and comforting environment.

Can cats have regional accents like humans!?

The brilliant Ben the Vet on TikTok tells us in one of his inimitable videos that domestic cats do not have regional accents. Is he correct? 

He was querying why a cat appeared to have a scouse accent (an accent from a person from Liverpool or environs in the UK). He researched the topic and I feel happy to rely on his research. Also, it seems like common sense to me. But once again I ask if this conclusion is correct.

The cat you hear in the video just happens to meow with a scouse accent. There is nothing in it Ben would say. It's just the way this individual cutey cat is meowing.

What does it tell us that domestic cats can't develop accents like humans? It takes a culture or society or if you like a race of people to develop an accent over a very long time of evolution. English has been spoken in the UK for 1500 years. These English accents evolved gradually.

They probably start with a few people saying things in a certain way because of their anatomy which is linked to their ethnicity and it spreads and then becomes a regional accent as the population in that area grows. Babies are like sponges and pick up the accent.

The accent will be part of their culture. Cats don't have this kind of sophisticated society and culture. And therefore, they don't have accents. If we hear one it is a coincidence. That's my argument but is it true?

Counter argument

The video below, however, states that some animals can have regional accents! We have a discussion on our hands. Perhaps cats do have regional accents by copying the accent of their caregiver? I don't know. It seems possible but unlikely. If animals do have regional accents, they will probably exist by copying humans and if that it true the cat's regional accent is not a genuine one.

Pug meowed which confused cat companion

The caption states: "Occurred on May 17, 2021 - Australia: The video is of my little pug puppy, Layla. She is fascinated by the cat Oscar. She was barking at him and getting no response, she then meowed at him and Oscar quickly turned to look at him like wtf?"

Screenshot.

Comment: the pug does not meow! It is just the tailing-off sound of a bark. It seems the dog is almost yawning at the same time which modifies the vocalisation. And the cat is not responding to the sound but the presence of their dog companion. I think they are friends to a certain extent but the cat does not look that pleased! It is nice little vignette of life between dog and cat though.

Note: these sorts of video stop working over time because they are deleted on the website where they are held which is not this website. I can't control this. If it has disappeared, sorry.

Is your cat meowing too much?

An author on the website Catster.com asks whether your cat is meowing too much. My first thought was that a domestic cat cannot meow too much. It's impossible to envisage that situation. For a start off, domestic cats are not, in general terms, that vocal. Some cat breeds such as the Siamese are more vocal in others. The Siamese' rather raucous and harsh voice may grate sometimes but when you adopt a Siamese cat you know what you're getting. You are adopting a loyal, vocal creature and you like it. So no complaints. Cats start to meow at around 4 months normally. And they only meow at humans. Feral cats don't meow at each other.

The only time that a cat can meow too much is not when they're meowing but when they're howling at night at midnight in the morning! Yes, cats can be too vocal but it will be when they are vocal at times which are undesirable from a human's perspective.

Image: PoC

The reason why this should happen is because cats are essentially nocturnal hunters. Or to be more precise they are crepuscular creatures. They like to be active when we like to be inactive and fast asleep. The vocalisation aspect of this behavioural trait is an adjunct to the more important behavioural trait as described.

Howling at night, can be caused by a cat who is elderly and who may suffer from early-stage dementia and is therefore confused. The howl is a call for company. The response should be to provide them with company even if it is highly inconvenient. If you're awake because of the howling then it is not much of an added burden to get up and deal with it. We should be very sympathetic and sensitive to our cat's emotional problems.

However, if your cat wants to wake you up at four in the morning by meowing and you don't like it, the classic treatment is to ignore it. For the immediate future your cat will try harder and then eventually she will give up. That is the argument. The argument is to ignore demands that you don't want to meet because if you respond to demands you feed them and encourage more. Personally, I don't subscribe to ignoring requests from my cat. Maybe that's just me but if he is asking for something there's good reason for it and I feel duty bound as his caregiver to do something about it.

The cat's meow may irritate some people some time. This is because it is a demand or polite request depending upon your viewpoint for food. And sometimes cats can linger around your feet as you walk around the kitchen meowing at you and rubbing their bodies against you. They can get in the way. Cats are persistent and they will go on until they get what they are asking for. As I said, this may irritate some people if they are not in the mood to respond. The best response is to respond! Cats get their way. It's an example of the cat training the human rather than vice versa.

Caterwauling is rarely heard in my opinion. It is described as "an aggressive, threatening sound made by sexual or territorial rivals.... It may be heard at any time when two or more cats are fighting and may, on occasion, have nothing to do with sexual encounters". I am quoting Desmond Morris.

The author on Catster says that an indoor cat when seeing an outdoor cat may vocalise their frustration or excitement. My experience tells me that under these circumstances the indoor cat is normally quite silent. They may look intently and wish to get out side and do something about it. If they are allowed outside they will go but this is more about action rather than vocalisation. It's like the hunt: cats are silent when in pursuit.

If a cat owner is going to complain about meowing it will normally be because their cat is not meowing enough. And on this subject, some cats produce silent meows. If a person wants to adopt a cat and wants that cat to be relatively quiet then they should consider seeking out a cat who likes to meow silently. This happens when the cat opened their mouths as if to meow but no sound comes out.

My conclusion is that domestic cats can never meow too much. They can never vocalise too much and if you are irritated and consider their noise-making too much then I think you should look at yourself and ask whether you might be unreasonable.

Cutest Kitten Voice You Heard

We know about cute kitten faces but what about kitten voices? They certainly push the button; the maternal button. This kitten is like a baby but with a voice that is much better than a baby! I think this kitten has one of the cutest voices around. The voice almost sounds like a piece of finely tuned machinery especially at the end of each meow.

Cat Meow Learned Response To Get Human Attention

The cat meow might be a learned response to attract the cat's human caretaker's attention.  In other words, the domestic cat learned to meow within the domestic environment as a means to get something.  It was found to be effective which furthered the self-training of this feline vocalisation (this is the "learned response').   The domestic cat meow is not designed to specify a reaction in humans but to provoke the human into action.

You might already know that the cat meow is very rarely heard in cat-cat interactions.  It is far more commonly heard in cat-human interactions.  In a study (Farley 1992) it was found to be possible to train a cat to meow 2 times per minute for a period of 2 hours or more when the cat was food-deprived.  The cat's meow varies in frequency, duration and form quite substantially.  The cat's meow is also modified by other feline sounds such as trills and clicks.

Dr Bradshaw¹ says that the cat's capacity to learn that the meow is an effective way to get human attention indicates that it is a product of domestication but he makes the point that the sound itself is not the product of domestication.  I am not sure what he means by that but perhaps it is this. That the domestic cat has the innate capacity to vocalise the meow but learned to use it in the human environment to get attention.

Apparently, the use of meowing as human directed vocalisation is also supported by the fact that domestic cats produce a higher pitched and shorter meow in comparison to feral cats and the wild cat ancestor, the Near Eastern Wildcat. Also the "solicitation" meow is more urgent and less pleasant. I guess it is more demanding.

Listeners rate the domestic cat meow as much more pleasant than the meow of the near Eastern Wildcat. Does this further support the argument that the domestic cat miaow is designed to be directed at people?

1. The author of The Domestic Cat; The Biology of its Behavior

This post written by Michael Broad

Can tigers purr?

No, so says the best source of information¹ on the wildcats. What I mean is that this book¹ does not mention purring as a vocalization made by the tiger. Is this incorrect? These are the sounds the tiger makes:

• main call
• prusten (short range vocalization)
• grunts (short range vocalization)
• growl
• snarl
• moan (subdued roar) - close range vocalization
• meow (this is a domestic cat vocalization, tiger style!)
• spit
• hiss (the spit and hiss are also made by the domestic cat)
• roar (although one expert says that technically tigers don't roar)  - long range call.

As you can see the purr is not included, so by default the tiger can't purr. Perhaps the experts are wrong. There is still a lot about the wildcats that we don't know.

If you can can get close enough to a tiger to touch his throat, you might feel a purr if he is content! In this video, a tiger called "Freedom" (he is caged) moans and purrs when petted. You have to listen carefully.



Associated page: Cat Sounds.

Note: 1. Wild Cats of the World, page 356. ISBN-13: 978-0-226-77999-7

Are Bengal cats loud?

Bengal cat - photo copyright Helmi Flick

No, Bengal cats are as loud as the standard domestic cat and less loud than the Siamese cat. In fact some F1 (first filial) wild cat hybrids are relatively quiet. They might have small voices.

Bengal cats might vocalize in a slightly different way to your average random bred cat but the sound is no louder in my experience.

There is one cat breed that has a noticeably loud voice and that breed is the Siamese and associated breeds (Oriental SH etc.).

However we should factor in individual cat personalities and physical attributes. Some Bengal cats might be loud compared to others.

The photo on this page is protected by copyright ©. Violations of copyright are reported to Google.com (DMCA).

Silencing the noisy Siamese cat

The title is a bit brutal. Personally, I am fine with a vocal cat unless it is three in the morning. But for some cat caretakers it might grate a bit from time to time. Also cats ask for food and a lot of us, most of us, respond by giving it. If we don't our cat asks again and again...If your cat is a Siamese cat the ask might sound like a shout!

Linda P Case in her book The Cat, Its Behavior, Nuitrition & Health, says that for cats that are very vocal, and the Siamese heads that list, the cat can be silenced eventually when meowing excessively for food, by "withdrawing all interactions whenever a cat meows...".

This leads to "extinction" of the meowing under those circumstances. Perhaps a balance is needed. I feel that a complete withdrawal of response it not good on the basis that it is a failure to interact and we keep cats to interact with them.

Siamese Cat Vocalisations

We know the Siamese is vocal. Apparently show judges recognize this. Cat show judges are people who have a unique perspective on the purebred cats with veterinarians. No other person sees, talks to and handles more breeds of cat. They can make comparisons.

The cat show judge confirms that the Siamese cat vocalizations are similar to talking (meaning a variety of types of meow and other vocalizations) and the Siamese is the most outgoing with strangers and the most demanding of attention. To get attention the Siamese will use that well known voice. The voice can have a specific Siamese tone to it as well.

At the opposite end of the spectrum the Russian Blue is shy and withdrawn. The Persian is also considered diametrically opposite to the Siamese in terms of activity and vocalization demands.

In a survey veterinarians also reported that the Siamese cat was the most active and vocal of the mainstream cat breeds.

Remember though that the wildcat hybrids will have similar or greater activity levels. The Siamese voice, however, is very much his or her own.

Of all the cat breeds the Siamese cat talks most to his or her human companion. This will be a meow demand for attention and interaction (play, stroking, feeding etc.), I suspect.

This fits in well with the other Siamese cat trait that is well known; their liking of being around, with and on their human companion! You need to be ready and willing to interact with your Siamese cat.

See more at Cat Sounds - includes some audio files of Siamese cats.