Do cats care if you speak to them?

[wafflesnomnom]

Sorry for all the questions! In your experience do cats care if you speak to them? I'm not the type of person that can just talk to my pet, I feel weird talking out loud by myself, and sometimes I just play with Waffles or hang out with him without talking to him. Do you think he would like it better if I talked to him more? Do cats respond to tone of voice or what you say? 

 

[mollyblue]

My cats, even my deaf cat, enjoy conversing with me... but if it makes you feel uncomfortable, your cat will probably pick up on that.  However, there are many kinds of communication that are nonverbal, and you may be communicating with your cat more than you are aware.  If you want to experiment with it and see how your cat reacts, you can start small like before you feed him (her) you can ask, are you hungry?  Or when you are getting ready to watch tv, you can ask the cat if they want to watch whatever show you are putting on.  From there it may progress to you asking the cat what it thinks of the weather, or telling the cat why you are happy or sad or angry or whatever you might be feeling.  You can see for yourself how your cat responds, and how it makes you feel as you get used to it.  Animals become our best friends for many reasons, one of them being they are very good listeners!

 

[wafflesnomnom]

I talk to him when my fiancee is home, I just feel weird talking out loud when I'm the only human in the room. I always tell him that he has to grow up and solve ISIS and global warming and become a nuclear physicist though XD

 

[mollyblue]

Well, those are some pretty big demands - you might be scaring the poor thing!  Sometimes I will ask my cats if I should wear this shirt of that one and sometimes they will point out which one they think is best... but they don't have the greatest taste in clothes so I don't always listen.  they don't enjoy jokes very much, but they understand what eat, and outside mean.  I can ask Tati if she wants to go for her walk, and even if I don't get up off my lazy but to take her, she will go sit by the door for a few minutes.  If I still don't get up, she will come back where I am but when I do get up, she runs to the door, so she not only understands, but remembers.  Just start small. If the Waffles shows you signs she is getting what you are saying, you will enjoy talking to her more.

 

[rickr]

 
My cats, even my deaf cat, enjoy conversing with me... but if it makes you feel uncomfortable, your cat will probably pick up on that.  <snip>

Agree.  I believe cats are quite sensitive to human feelings and emotions.  My cats know when I'm stressed or sick, happy or sad; they respond in telling and appropriate ways.  

I talk to my cats throughout the day.  Sometimes I make up silly songs to sing to them.  Even though I can't carry a tune, they seem to enjoy my vocals.  I suspect that my cats respond to the mental images and emotions I project when I speak to them.  And like MollyBlue, my cats have developed a fairly good vocabulary. I try to always use the same words to describe actions and behaviors that I want them to perform.  However, we're still working on "NO."

 

[artiemom]

I talk to Artie. I started with just a few words: num-num(food), want to eat? NO, out, open. Want to get brushed? brushy? ...and then it went to me trying to imitate his meows. He will answer me. 

Now, I just have a comment or so, thrown at him during the day. He enjoys it!

He does answer me. We do seem to understand each other.

Do not feel silly or uncomfortable. Cats love hearing the sound of our voices. They enjoy our company. It makes them feel loved. 

I mean, they try to communicate to us, so why not try communicating to them?

 

[rpandcat]

Like @RickR, I like to sing songs to my cat. I have a terrible voice, but there's several cat songs--I tend to make up new ones occasionally, and stop old ones. (The dog also has a few songs too--they are animal specific). Sometimes the songs are "for" an action, sometimes they are in reaction to an action... such as the "Kitty Complainer" song (she's a big complainer).

I'm always telling my cat, "Life is Tough!!"--especially when I have to move her, and she starts whining at me.

I'm wondering if the talking thing has more to do with the people in one's life--I notice my mom is always doing silly things like talking to the plants--and just talking to herself. I imagine that if it's not something that's part of a personal culture, then it seems more awkward. But I don't think it's in any way necessary--I think we are all communicating in so many ways without actually speaking (like I wish I would actually talk *less* to the dog, as I think I'm confusing him).

 

[dennis47]

Oh absolutely. Midnight wasn't a happy kitty if I didn't say "Good morning sweetheart." to her , or say "I love you '  at least 20 times a day to her. She'd coo, purr ad mew in return. I loved it immensely, and miss it to this day.

 

[artiemom]

 
Like @RickR, I like to sing songs to my cat. I have a terrible voice, but there's several cat songs--I tend to make up new ones occasionally, and stop old ones. (The dog also has a few songs too--they are animal specific). Sometimes the songs are "for" an action, sometimes they are in reaction to an action... such as the "Kitty Complainer" song (she's a big complainer).

So funny! Every time I sing---cannot carry a tune; Artie looks at me and his ears go back, and he runs away!!!

I have to stop!! He is such a critic!!

I even tried singing a lullaby to him! In a soft voice; got the same reaction! He ran away! could not get out of my arms fast enough...

I am always talking to him. He loves it. I love it also.. That is part of 'our' companionship

 

[wafflesnomnom]

 
Oh absolutely. Midnight wasn't a happy kitty if I didn't say "Good morning sweetheart." to her , or say "I love you '  at least 20 times a day to her. She'd coo, purr ad mew in return. I loved it immensely, and miss it to this day.

Omg that is so cute!!! Usually waffles ignores me but I just put my face near his to touch noses and we both slow blinked at the same time!!! I've only had him for 1.5 months, I have days where I feel like we're bonding really well and we're on the same page, but other days it feels like he wants nothing to do with me or I don't know what to do with him or what he wants. 

 

[wafflesnomnom]

 
Well, those are some pretty big demands - you might be scaring the poor thing!  

Hey! He has to earn his keep somehow! No one lives for free here Seriously though, every day I'm working and I see him just relaxing and sleeping and napping I just want to swap places. Someone adopt me as a human cat please. 

 

[pompy]

I never feel weird speaking to Felix because he's quite vocal and he'll respond when you talk to him. Usually it ends up being mushy baby talk though, like me just telling him how much I love him. 

 

[mollyblue]

 
Hey! He has to earn his keep somehow! No one lives for free here Seriously though, every day I'm working and I see him just relaxing and sleeping and napping I just want to swap places. Someone adopt me as a human cat please.

Me and the cats visit this topic a lot too... despite my pleas, they refuse to go to work and support me. LOL.

 

[rubysmama]

 
Sorry for all the questions! In your experience do cats care if you speak to them? I'm not the type of person that can just talk to my pet, I feel weird talking out loud by myself, and sometimes I just play with Waffles or hang out with him without talking to him. Do you think he would like it better if I talked to him more? Do cats respond to tone of voice or what you say? 

I'm always talking to my cat, Ruby.  When I first got her, I would say her name all the time, just so she'd learn her new name.  And before long, she would turn her head when I said "Ruby". 

Now she comes when I say "do you want a treat?".  And she meow replies when I ask if she's hungry.  

And then I just automatically say things like "what are you doing?", "where are you?",  "good girl".  And of course, "stop that", "no".

So I think Waffles would be thrilled if you talked to him more.  And don't ever feel weird when you talk to an animal, because you're talking to the animal, not yourself.

 

[DreamerRose]

I talk to Mingo all the time, in English, not baby talk. He responds to his name by coming to me, and he understands a lot of other things. And he imitates the tone of my voice - high pitched for a question, and so on. The most interesting thing he responds to is "It's OK."  He's a very scaredy cat, maybe he was abused, but when he startles and I say, "It's OK," he immediately relaxes. When he's showering me with cupboard love and I ignore him, he runs for the kitchen as soon as I say "OK." It's obvious he knows what OK means, and in different situations.

 

[ruaryx]

My speculation is that they probably don't care if you don't speak to them, as long as you're interacting with them in some way (playing, petting, etc).  In the wild, cats don't really meow to each other.  They usually rely on body language to communicate with each other.  The reason that they meow so much with humans is because they learn that humans are vocal creatures.  Just my guess though.  

 

[eck1kaylie]

I'm always talking to my cat, Ruby.  When I first got her, I would say her name all the time, just so she'd learn her new name.  And before long, she would turn her head when I said "Ruby". 

Now she comes when I say "do you want a treat?".  And she meow replies when I ask if she's hungry.  

And then I just automatically say things like "what are you doing?", "where are you?",  "good girl".  And of course, "stop that", "no". :lol3:

So I think Waffles would be thrilled if you talked to him more.  And don't ever feel weird when you talk to an animal, because you're talking to the animal, not yourself.

Ahh, my kitty's name is Ruby too!
She comes running when we call her name, and (usually) jumps into our laps when we tell her to "come snuggle with mama/daddy"
She knows "kisses" and "snack" too ^-^

I grew up taking to my cats. I think I was in high school before I realized that not everybody did it. XD

 

[dennis47]

Cats have an amazing capacity to learn what we are saying. Maybe not so much the actual verbage, but most certainly the meaning. Midnight certainly knew the meaning of "bathtime", "dinnertime" and "Bedtime".

 

[misterwhiskers]

It's just my opinion, but I think it's important that you speak to your cat, or at least a few words. My cat knows "Mr. Brushy", "yum yums", "sleepy", and "bed", and I'm sure a whole lot more.

Cats aren't stupid, they know you can speak, they may not speak per se but they *comprehend* communication (feral cats don't vocalize but pet cats do--that says a lot!)(and cats whine when frustrated, something they must pick up from us!) and seriously, your cat may be a little offended if you don't speak to him. That said, you can always try singing! Make it the same song, the same circumstances. My voice could crack granite, but when I warble "I love you, I honestly love you" as I snuggle him right when I come home from work, I'd like to think my cat understands the sentiment.

 

[bengalcatman]

We talk to our Bengal Makena and he talks back to us. He understands some things very well, like "walk," "snack" and "pond" (one of his favorite spots to go to.) For things/word he is unfamiliar with, I suppose he generally gets the idea of what we are saying by the tone of our voice. He is often easy to understand in the same manner: the tone of his reply.

Here he is making the case to go for an early walk. Weather permitting, he gets out with us pretty much every day..


In the video his first response is a short happy meow, which he does when asked a question and he is happy and comfortable - a long whiny drawn out reply means hungry/cold/pet me etc. He somehow figured out that statements ending with a rising inflection are questions. Also note how he quickly looks at me and responds at the mention of a "walk." The rest of his verbalization's are just contented excitement. If he is unhappy or anxious, the tone will be drawn out and loud meows. Obviously, he is not going to discuss which presidential candidate he is rooting for, but simple concepts like "do you want a snack?" he understands fairly well.