Talking To Cats...

[sargon]

As many people know , Freya is a very vocal cat who wants to talk to my fiancee and me, and has thus larned several words (currently "hello", "hi", "no", "ow", "Oohrah" and "rat") to help us understand what she wants. She also sometimes will try and mimic our words ( the best what when I said "I love you" and she meowed back "I love!"...

Communication is two way, however, and we also teach our cats to understand words ( a study said that average cats an dogs can learn to understand a number of words(with cats generally learning to say more different sounds and dogs generally learning to understand more, but both did more of each than most people thought). nearly every cat alive understands what we mean when we say "No!" (it means that they better hurry up and finish what they are doing before we stop them... ), but most of us teach them at least few more.

What are some of the fun or interesting phrases or words that you have taught your cats?

For the curious, here are some of the more interesting/entertaining ones that, I've taught Freya:

"Are we biting?" ,which means calm down and please stop biting me...

"Where's my kitty?" , to which she'll pop out of hiding and meow to me so that I can find her.

"can I have this kitty?" which is my warning phrase that I am about to pick her up (she generally likes it, but sometimes she'll shout no or skitter of or use really defensive body language to let me know that, no I can't have this kitty right then.

"Would you like a treat?" , which means "if you are good I'll give you a treat.."

"Such a good girl...", which I only mention, because sometimes when I'm especially effusive with my praise she'll sometimes do a cute little dance to show how happy she is that I am giving her positive attention.

"Don't do it kitty! Don't do it!", which is a warning that she's about to do something that she wont' like the result of (generally not punishment related, more like when she jumps on an unstable pile of clutter and promptly slides back off of a counter and onto her little kitty butt...

"would you like to be brushed?", which is an offer to brush her (she loves being brushed, now that I've found the right kind of brush)

"I have to pee kitty, I'll be right back", the meaning of which is self evident, I expect..

 

[dahli6]

I speak English, Korean, and Chinese to my animals.

 

[Letta]

Wow that's a huge variety of sentences and words. I don't think we have such a vocabulary with my cat. I talk to her a lot but also often use more hand signals.
She understands:
-no
-"where are you?" will she come to me or meow to tell me where she is
-"pickagoo" that's what I say when we are playing hide and seek and I found her
-All her nicknames and to be honest there is a lot
-"sorry" when I do something she does not like (often by accident), or at least I hope she understands that one

Other than that she understand a lot of hand gestures:
-When I am somewhere an move the toy a few times on the floor it means: Do you want to play fetch
-When do I do on the wall it means: Do you want me to throw it in the air instant?
-When I lightly tap the flooe with my fingers in a place she can't see me it means let's play hide and seek follow by hide and seek
-If I tap my hip lightly and look at her it means: come with me
-When I tap a food cntainer it mean:foooooood

She also nows when i am about to leave, go to sleep, or take a shower.

She is also quite vocal with me even if I am not always sure I undertsand all the variation of her meows.
She has some for:
-Time to play
-Miss you so much today
-hello
-i am changing curling up position
- I am moving to another room
-I am hungry
-Want a hug

 

[susanm9006]

Willow gets very scared and upset at the word “no”, so it’s “Should you be doing that?” That stops her in her tracks.
Of course I tell her she is a pretty girl and the best cat in the world a dozen times a day. She loves when I talk sweet talk to her.

 

[Letta]

haha yes they totally seem to understand when we are talking sweet, sometimes when Luna grabs a toy in a very impressive way while playing I would tell her she is the best hunter out there, usually she would look up at me and say a small meow like a "really?" (I might be a bit reading too much in the situation/ )

 

[Summercats]

Wow, we are still deciding on my little guys name and it has been two weeks, I think he understands more by tone than words at this point, I usually call him kitty.

 

[puddykat]

I speak English, Korean, and Chinese to my animals.

If you can speak all those languages - should be no problem to learn how to speak "cat".

 

[danteshuman]

"go to your room!" = go to my bedroom now!

"bed" or "go to bed" = please make your way upstairs for petting & possible treats or wet food

"knock it off!" = I will so find the squirt bottle and soak your behind if you do not leave each other alone NOW!

"who's the best? Oh Dante's the best!" (Or Salem depending on who I'm playing with) = Play, play, fun, your turn with the toy, play (Dante was so naughty when he was a kitten I had to invent a chant using his name in a positive way )

"No mas" = No more treats, "Ready,Ready" = Feather torpedo/rubber band launching in 3,2,1

"All done" = I'm done annoying you with the pill/brush/nail clippers , here is a treat for your trouble

"Wanna play?" "outside" "inside" "dinner" "water" = let me turn the faucet on for you

"Bud" = "Hey Dante I love you , "BabyBear" = Hey Salem I love you, let me pet you some more just the way you like. "BabyCat" = Yes Dante you punk I love you to pieces, let me scratch your chin

 

[vince]

Mine don't know their names, but they do respond to some words:

"Hungry"--Let's go eat.
"Down"--Get off the counter.
"Drink"--I'll turn the bathroom faucet on for you.
"Rolling"--Turn over and I'll scratch your belly.
"Where's your brother"--Find the other kitty.

One of them isn't all that secure and will call with his "Where are you?" call. I meow at him and that reassures him. Then he's quiet.

 

[Cataria]

All my cats know "treats" and "can."

Henna apparently knows the word "toy" -- if the others know it, they don't seem to get as riled up about it as she does!

Shade knows "mouse," which pretty much means "fetch." She taught me how to play fetch with her using her mouse toy (I sure didn't teach it to her, LOL), and it turned out to be easier to call anything I want her to play fetch with a "mouse."

I'm not sure if my cats know their names, but at least some of them get the idea that when the names are called, they are going to get attention. Shade and Meko in particular will respond to any of the other cats' names, not just their own, haha.

 

[puddykat]

Symba has an incredible vocabulary. He always responds to his name and he knows where to go to when I say "bedtime", he goes to his throne on the bed. He has a different meow when he want food and another one when he wants to play.

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