What affects us affects cats
On paper leopard cats make a range of sounds which are similiar to those of domestic cats such as the purr, meow, spit, hiss and growl. But here is the thing: their versions of these sounds are not the same. The nice camera trap video below illustrates the point. Leopard cats growl. Domestic cats …
You can work out the real reason why domestic cats purr by observing when they do it. There was a time when people believed that the purr simply meant that their cat was contented. But there’s more to it than that. Thanks to the repeated observation of domestic cat behaviour we know that cats …
A video went viral on Tik Tok a video-sharing social networking service. It purporedly shows a black domestic cat saying ‘hello are you coming?’ to her human companion. He is astonished. It is nice and charming but it is not a cat speaking in human English 🙂 . Let’s get that clear. Domestic cats …
A group of scientists led by Katherine Young of King’s College London have come to the conclusion that the whining of distressed dogs are more emotionally affecting to humans than the pitiful meows of distressed cats. They recruited more than 500 participants who were divided into three groups: dog owners, cat owners and non-owners. …
At one time, in the long distant past, there was a theory that the cat’s voicebox had nothing whatsoever to do with purring. Experts argued that it was to do with the cat’s blood flowing through her veins into the heart creating turbulence. The diaphragm amplified the vibrations it was thought. The theory seems …
WARNING: Turn your computer volume controls down a click or two before playing this video! Some people are tempted into thinking that they’d like to keep a small wild cat species such as a margay, sand cat or Pallas cat (manul) as a pet. They love the exotic wild appearance and the kittens look …
Rashed Al Qamzi, who I believe is a supervisor at Al Ain Wildlife Park and Resort (believed to be in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia), says that sand cats do purr but in a slightly different and more subtle way to domestic cats. I will presume that he has first-hand experience of listening to the sand …
Bradshaw in his book The Domestic Cat: The Biology of Its Behaviour makes the point that the vacalisations of the adult cat are developments “through some combination of culture and genetics” of the kitten mew (meow) which is used to solicit mother’s attention. Therefore the adult cat has retained some kitten behaviors when communicating …
