If you talk to your cat in baby talk, you're far from alone. Many animal lovers make their voices higher and more drawn out when talking to their pets, but a new study from Animal Cognition seems to prove that cats actually prefer this sound, too.
The findings, de Mouzon says, suggest cats—like dogs—may understand that their relationship with us is akin to that of a parent and their baby. “We are the caregivers—they can sense it,” she says. “It reflects and reinforces that bond.” This communication isn't just a one-way street.
Cats Are More Responsive To Baby Talk, According To Study - DodoWell - The Dodo.
Indoor cats react when their owners speak in a high-pitched “kitty voice” – such as by moving their heads and ears more – but not when strangers do so.
A little more surprising is that the dogs liked hearing their favorite words and the baby talk voice together best of all. Especially puppies! So the next time you feel a little silly talking to your favorite four-legged family member like they're a baby, be proud instead. It's science.
The study is among the first to show cats can recognize—and respond to—their owners' voices. “There is really a special communication that develops between every owner and their cat,” says de Mouzon, who is also a researcher at the University of Paris Nanterre.
Cats, according to new research, recognize their owner's voice. They just can't be bothered to react to it. Researchers in Japan arrived at this conclusion after performing experiments with twenty house cats.
Sorry to break it to you, but human meows mean nothing to cats. At most, you can get your cat's attention and they may even appreciate your attempts to communicate by purring or even meowing back. But to most cats, human meows sound like human language.
Every cat is different. While some cats enjoy being kissed, others will not. Some will feel love, while others will not see kissing as a sign of affection. There are better ways than kissing to show a cat affection that they will understand.
Its conclusion may surprise some people: Cats bond with their caregivers to a similar degree as infants and, yes, dogs. “Cats that are insecure can be likely to run and hide or seem to act aloof. There's long been a biased way of thinking that all cats behave this way.
The dog responds whether the owner talks in baby talk or a stranger does it. But cats, as usual, are a little different. A research study found that cats do not like having strangers talk to them in baby talk.
Some cats will be totally unperturbed by an infant's crying, whereas others may become stressed. No one knows exactly why, but one theory is that a crying infant sounds like a baby animal or kitten in distress, which may be why your cat is disturbed by the noise.
In most cases, cats will purr when they are in a relaxed environment, sending out waves of calmness. This may also occur when you stroke them, and if this is the case, your feline friend is feeling happy or sociable. However, cats purr to communicate other emotions and needs, too.
Cats lack the cognitive skills to interpret human language, but they recognize when you talk to them. To put it another way, cats comprehend human language in the same way that we understand meowing. It's similar to how you interpret your cat's language by "reading" how they arch their back or swish their tail.
Cats developed their language to talk to humans. They built the set of signals to tell them what they need and what they don't want their cat parents to do. However, when your cat talks back to you, especially if they do that often, they may need your attention.
Your pets probably don't understand that in nine months a new baby will be joining your family, but dogs and cats do detect differences in your mood, posture, behavior, and body chemistry that clue them in to the enormous changes you're going through.
All in all, even the most aloof and brooding cat will be able to pick up on your warmth and devotion. Whether they choose to admit it or not, they can sense when a person loves them (and hates them).
According to the experts, cats do not understand smiles and frowns independently, but they fully understand strong human emotions when expressed in more than one dimension — more due to the tone of voice than facial expressions. So, unlike interacting with dogs, smiling is not an effective way to connect with a cat.
Smell Transfer
Cats recognize each other (and us) by scent. Raising the butt is your cat's way of getting their anal glands closer to your nose so you can get a whiff of their pheromones.
"Your cat is most likely staring at you while crying because they're trying to make sense of what they see and hear," McGowan says. Your cat might not understand human crying, but she'll gather as many clues as she can and use them to adjust her behavior.
As explained by Popular Science, cats actually don't recognize themselves in the mirror, despite what you see in those cute cat videos or in your own home.
“It is common for cats to remember you even if they haven't seen you for years,” Dr. Hawthorne told The Dodo. “It is important to note that kittens will typically have worse memory recall compared to adult cats, which is a similar thing that happens in human babies.”