Should i meow back at my cat

Surprisingly enough, the answer is no — cats do not meow at each other. Rather, they communicate through scent markings and body language.

Cats have scent glands located on their foreheads, cheeks, and chins, and will often exchange scents this way. In terms of body language, cats do a lot of communicating purely through their tail. A curved tail, for example, often represents a playful mood. A tucked tail may signal fear, a raised tail often signals confidence, and a low tail can signal aggression. Aggression can also be signaled by a whipping of the tail, while a little sway can show that your cat is concentrating on something.

And this is how cats communicate their feelings with other cats — not through meowing. With that being said, there is one exception to this rule. Mothers and kittens will communicate through a meow.

Cats can meow for a variety of different reasons, whether it be to say a simple hello, to signal that they are hungry, or to signal that they are in distress. If meowing becomes excessive, this could be your cat engaging in attention-seeking behavior, but could also be a sign of distress.

Take them to the veterinarian if meowing does not subside. But what does it mean if your cat is meowing excessively? In some other cases, your cat may be ill or hurt. Meowing is not an instinctive behavior, it is a learned behavior.

Kittens learn meowing as a form of inter-species communication from their mother when they are young. Cats are not that genetically different from the wild cats they originated from and were not tamed in the same way as dogs. Some researchers believe that cats tamed themselves by choosing to live close to humans. If the e of the meow is stressed, it can signal physical discomfort, such as that the cat is hungry or cold.

The longer the ah-sound, the more insistent the demand. Then you know the cat really wants something from you. She is now well underway on a five-year project researching cat language with two colleagues. They have filmed and recorded the sounds of 70 cats and their owners in many different situations. If you listen to their inflection, or melody, you may understand the cat a little better. The researchers have found that in positive situations, such as when the cat is anticipates being fed or wants to play, the pitch of the meow rises at the end.

According to Braastad, many people, and especially women, use a higher voice or baby talk when addressing cats. Cats are more trusting of higher voices and find deep voices threatening. Men are much scarier, with a darker voice that seems more threatening. Men also use higher tones when talking to cats. What is even more exciting, I think, is that the cats sometimes use slightly higher tones when talking to humans.

Many animal species seem to use these patterns to communicate, she says while lowering her voice. Then we sound a little friendlier. We say, "Come here kitty-kitty, where are you? Or if the cat is hungry and wants you to give it food, then it may use slightly higher tones. If the cat finds that certain sounds are more effective then they may use them again. Having said that, there are some sounds that tend to be quite standard.

You might find this little guide a helpful way to interpret some of what your cat is trying to tell you:. But is there any way of communicating with your cat on her own terms?

Well, yes — but unfortunately, most parts of cat language that we can easily master are a bit on the negative side! Sadly, positive cat sounds like purring is pretty much impossible for humans to replicate. You might not want to try these on your own darling pet, as she could take them the wrong way. Want a cat to back off? If you want to start a fight with a cat, then you can do that, too. Using short puffs, blow air towards them.

This mimics the sound a cat makes before initiating a fight.