How far can and do we go when communicating with our cat?
- There are 23 different cat sounds, it is thought38 (this does not, on the face of it, concur with the Sunquists39).There are three cat sound types: murmurs (purring, chirp), vowels and high intensity sounds (usually reserved for communicating with another cat).
- It is also said that a cat’s questions and demands all include vowels40. We can understand the different meaning of the various types of meow through the experience of living with our cat.
- Cat crying is a sign of pain, insistent night time demands for attention or the sounds of a cat in estrous.
- When we stroke our cat it is mimicking the behavior of mother cat licking her young. We should be aware of that to make sure that we stroke in the right place and gently.
Social behavior
- Cats are essentially social loners despite the fact that for the sake of survival or because of what we do, they are adaptable.
- A cat’s social behavior is governed by food and territory and these are linked41. See table below this section.
- It is also governed by the cat’s degree of socialisation.
- Cats socialised to other animals such as dogs and humans between 2 and 7 weeks of age get on with these animals throughout their life. It seems that 40 minutes or longer is required each day42.
- A cat socialised to a single person within the 2-7 week period develop a preference for that person.
- A cat’s behavior towards its human caretaker is somewhat dependent on the number of cats and people in the home43:
Situation Effect44 One or two people in home Cats are more affectionate towards human caretakers than if there are more than two people. Single cat homes Cats interact more with the people of the house Cats kept exclusively indoors Cats are more active and interact more with human caretakers. But they head butt and scent exchange less with humans.
- There is no significant difference between neutered females and males in their behavior towards their human caretakers.
- There is no significant difference between cats of different age in their behavior towards their human caretakers, except for kittens.
- In new introductions between cat and human, research indicates the following:
Situation Effect45 Cat initiates interaction with human Cat shows no preference to male of female person Human initiates interaction with cat Cat prefers adult women who sat and greeted cat. Cat liked less child who approached directly.
