Another question for cat owners

[iris lilies]

I don't want to piggyback on CathyA's question so I will ask my own.

Have any of you had cats who were adept at communication with humans in the human language? Specifically I mean cats who look you in the eye to get your attention before communicating their message.

In recent years we've known two cats who seems to rise above normal catness and who are very adept at communicating with humans. Both are dead now. One was a neighborhood cat who was sort of left on his own (his owners fed him but that's about it) and he would wander into our house to socialize. He was so funny and I loved him, but unfortunately, my male cat HATED HIM and the wanderer was our cat's mortal enemy. His family just up and moved one day and left him.Our neighbor took him in, and I got to visit him there, but still I missed him. One day I got up in the morning and he came strolling down the steps from our third floor where he had spent the night. He had decided to escape my friend's house for the moment. He knew that he was welcome here if he could avoid our own cat.

The other cat who took communicating with humans very seriously was our cat Rachel. She went to kitty heaven a few months ago. She was always the one to tell me when the cat food feeder was near empty. She would sit down in front of me, get my attention (look me in the eye) and place her paw on me. Now that she is gone, the remaining two cats have no freaking idea how to get food. They are Soooooooooo stupid. They will, no doubt, loose weight.

[Teacher Terry]

Actually, 2 years ago we moved to a very busy street. I had my 4 little dogs & my son's 2 big dogs. One was smart and the other was we thought dumb. I opened the slider for them to go out in the backyard and went in to get breakfast but left the slider open. The one I thought was dumb came in and was persistent and was trying to tell me the gate was open (my hubby left it open) and all the other dogs were in the front including my deaf dog. I finally understood him & everyone was in the front-thank god no one ran in the busy street. So it wasn't a cat but a dog we thought was dumb-not!!

[jp1]

Our cats both regularly look at us before communicating. Of course about the only communication they offer is "I'm hungry" and "you need to clean that litter box!" but both of them look up at us before issuing their commands. My icon is Chris telling me that it was dinner time.

[creaker]

My daughter's cat (and my daughter) is living with me right now. When the cat is looking for someone in the house to get attention from, he will make this two tone, two syllable sound that sounds a lot like "hello?" I'm supposed to answer back "hello"? (he'll repeat if he doesn't get an answer) then he'll show up in whatever room I am in a few seconds later. We've played this game dozens of times, so it's not a fluke.

[Miss Cellane]

For a year while I was in grad school, I house-sat for a professor. I took my two cats and moved in with their two cats.

One of my cats developed a new sound that she'd make as she entered a room with one or both of the "alien" cats. It must have been some sort of "I'm here but I'm no threat," sound, because they would completely ignore her. Unlike my other cat, whom they chased mercilessly. After I moved out, never heard that sound again.

My instructions were to let the professor's two cats, Maximus and Minimus, outside daily, and shut them up in the cellar at night. I'd get home from work in the dark, and the two cats would be waiting on the back deck for me to let them in. For the first month or so, Min was very affectionate, but Max had as little as possible to do with me.

But one night, as I was getting out of my car after work, Max came up and brushed against my legs. Min followed. The two of them kept walking around to the front of the house, turning back to look at me intently. When I started towards the back deck, they came back and twined around my legs.

So I went around to the front and let us all in the front door. Went back to the kitchen to feed all the cats. Heard something on the deck and turned on the outside light. There was a huge skunk munching away on the cats' outdoor food dish. I'm sure the cats were only thinking of their self-preservation, but they saved me from a probable skunking, too.

[Jilly]

Yes. I miss my cats for many reasons, but the personal attention and the lovely, sometimes interesting, ways they found to communicate with me are what i miss most.

[Float On]

I had a cat growing up who had one demand in life. For someone to build a fire in the fireplace. He could say "Fire" over and over until someone would build the fire, then he had no interest in us.

[new2oregon]

We had seven cats before I sold my house. All were rescue cats . One male cat Named Tuckerman was very vocal and would say hello. when you answered him back he would look right at you and talk kitty talk. He would lay on my bed and if he heard us down the hall and want attention he would say hello hello until you talk to him. We had to get rid of them when we moved.

[CeciliaW]

It was 15 degrees here last night so I put two more quilts on the bed. I mentioned getting a dog or two and my cat gave me Such a Look! She totally got her message across.

[sweetana3]

One of mine sleeps under the covers right by my side when it is cold. He is still there when I wake up.

[Packy]

I was thinking about this same subject the other day, because I have a cat who, more than the others, excels at non-verbal communication. It isn't that she's the favorite, or more attentive; it's that she has a routine, that makes her more assertive. She gets her needs met without being obnoxious or hyperactive.

[Glo]

We adopted a beautiful Turkish Van about 2 months ago. He's quite a boy and talks a lot. Not sure what he's saying, but I might eventually figure it out.

[Kestrel]

We have three of our own cats and another cat who lives next door but likes us better (we feed him but he doesn't come inside). They always let us know when they want out (meowing at the door), and since it's winter and they don't stay outside all that much, they scratch at the door when they want in. Which can be a couple of times a night, in and out :D ... but they just go and sit by their food bowls when they're hungry. Or when I'm making cooking noises/smells in the kitchen. They're very good with head-bumps and chirping and kneading when they feel like communicating, but I don't know what they mean other than "I love you" <3 . They usually sleep with us -- one on my side, one between the two of us, and another at the foot of the bed. We love our cats.

[iris lilies]

We adopted a beautiful Turkish Van about 2 months ago. He's quite a boy and talks a lot. Not sure what he's saying, but I might eventually figure it out.

Then you will have to learn the Turkish language, obviously.


awwww Glo you set yourself up for that comment, haha!