Who said that cats cry like babies to get our attention? We know it. Research indicates that domestic cats have developed a baby cry to tweak our maternal and paternal instincts. And this sweet-looking cat demonstrates that ability to perfection. I’ve included an audio file of a baby crying just to make a comparison. I think you will see the similarity. Of course, it depends upon the individual cat. Not every cat has such a melodious baby cry like this one. It’s a really beautiful sound. It’s far nicer than the baby crying. Babies crying irritate me. That’s why I could never be a mother. I can’t stand the sound of babies crying! But I can certainly stand the sound of this cat meowing. It’s not really a meow in the classic sense. The video also tells us that the meow is a very flexible sound. It covers a wide range of sounds actually depending upon the individual making it and the circumstances under which it is made.
Here is the sound of a baby crying:
Mothers have a natural and very strong impulse to go towards a baby who is crying in order to satisfy the needs of the child. It is a deeply ingrained part of the human psyche both for the baby crying and the response by the mother. The clever domestic cat, over 10,000 years of domestication, appears to have learned through observation of mothers and babies how to get attention.
RELATED: Cat sounds like a baby – the evolved meow
And you can’t blame them. It’s funny in a way because the domestic cat is seen as being independent. This means they are left alone. But the domestic cat often doesn’t want to be left alone which is why they cry like babies. Does that mean that they are not independent? Definitely, yes. It is a myth that domestic cats are independent. They rely upon the human caregiver for everything they have. And in a proper cat-friendly home there is a great bond between human and cat which needs to be constantly reinforced and satisfied like any other good relationship.
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It isn’t just the meow which has been modified by domestic cats to improve their relationship with their human caregiver. They have also modified the purr sometimes to give it a hint of baby crying. And you know, when a human ignores their cat, they are twice as likely to meow than when interacting with their cat. And when they’re interacting with their cat they purr and the nicer it is for the cat the more likely it is that they will introduce that tiny little baby like sound to encourage their human to pet them more.
Below are some more articles on cat sounds.
When to know your cat is asking for food you don’t have
Cat’s meow is a reflection of the kitten-to-surrogate mother relationship we have with them
Kitten’s cry versus baby’s cry
Language is the biggest communication barrier between human and cat, not the cat’s intelligence
The cat’s meow and talkative cat breeds
Do caracals hiss to communicate?
Note: sources for news articles are carefully selected but the news is often not independently verified.