I've seen a few threads recently about cat vocalizations and meowing at the humans. We have two very vocal cats in our house, and they meow for reasons both known and unknown.
But have you every had a conversation with a cat in which you knew exactly what they were saying? It sounds like the epitome of crazy cat lady, but bear with me...
Gohan was so upset when we brought Olive in and introduced them, and the chasing had lasted months. Every time he saw her, he chased. Guaranteed. We tried play, food, treats, and petting/attention and nothing was deterring it. In fact, he was so overstimulated/wound up that even lightly touching his head caused a chase.
Now, Gohan was always a talkative cat, mostly meowing loudly at walls and in fun echo-y rooms. And my BF, who raised him from a 5 week old feral kitten, could call his name and he would come right away almost every time.
One day he tried to call him and talk instead of the other distractions we would use. And I remember this so clearly: Olive was peeking around the kitchen island and Gohan was about to chase her from about 8 feet away. And BF called his name, and Gohan looked at him and chattered back (different from his normal meows). The angst he was feeling was almost palpable, and BF replied with phrases like "I know, you want to chase her, but she is here to stay". And it felt like Gohan was pouring out his soul, telling us how much he wanted to chase her, how much he wanted to listen to BF, and how tortuous this experience was for him. It almost made me cry. I wish I had a video of it or something.
And that was the first time Gohan did not chase Olive. It was kind of magical. I know I am probably projecting my own story into his head, but it really felt like in that one instant, I knew exactly what a cat was saying to me. Anyone else have this type of epiphany?
But have you every had a conversation with a cat in which you knew exactly what they were saying? It sounds like the epitome of crazy cat lady, but bear with me...
Gohan was so upset when we brought Olive in and introduced them, and the chasing had lasted months. Every time he saw her, he chased. Guaranteed. We tried play, food, treats, and petting/attention and nothing was deterring it. In fact, he was so overstimulated/wound up that even lightly touching his head caused a chase.
Now, Gohan was always a talkative cat, mostly meowing loudly at walls and in fun echo-y rooms. And my BF, who raised him from a 5 week old feral kitten, could call his name and he would come right away almost every time.
One day he tried to call him and talk instead of the other distractions we would use. And I remember this so clearly: Olive was peeking around the kitchen island and Gohan was about to chase her from about 8 feet away. And BF called his name, and Gohan looked at him and chattered back (different from his normal meows). The angst he was feeling was almost palpable, and BF replied with phrases like "I know, you want to chase her, but she is here to stay". And it felt like Gohan was pouring out his soul, telling us how much he wanted to chase her, how much he wanted to listen to BF, and how tortuous this experience was for him. It almost made me cry. I wish I had a video of it or something.
And that was the first time Gohan did not chase Olive. It was kind of magical. I know I am probably projecting my own story into his head, but it really felt like in that one instant, I knew exactly what a cat was saying to me. Anyone else have this type of epiphany?
