The Language of Cats

When Chi, our first “Garden Cat” came on the scene about three years ago, I noticed something pretty fascinating. He didn’t use the noises I was used to when trying to communicate with us. His noises when conveying something were mostly a series of chirrups, chirps and brrrpps. It became a source of humour, when he finally used the cat flap confidently, that he walked in brrpping what he’d done while out and about.
It made me consider something a lot more than I had previously; the noises my other cats made to communicate with me. Darwin most definitely has perfected the high pitched squeaking mew that a lot of cats seem to use. Studies (such as the one by Karen McComb from the University of Sussex – http://www.sussex.ac.uk/broadcast/read/1210) indicate that when cats interact with each other, they rarely use meows to do so. The findings definitely illustrate an intelligence that some people wouldn’t expect. It’s almost like cats mimic the noise a human infant makes to endear themselves to their humans.
All our cats have different noises; Sage, Astryd and Sprocket also convey their feelings very directly with their unique tones. But it’s clear which cats in the group have been outside and interacted with other cats more than people for a part of their life.
They meow less, even to us. Because their experiences have taught them the way to get a point across is with the vocalisations used between felines. They’re learning the “cuddle me” noise, by observing the other cats in our home, definitely. But it’s not their first choice when communicating.
Cats constantly amaze me with their complexities; the fact that they exhibit entirely different ways of communicating with humans and other cats is another aspect of their behaviour that is something that’s fascinating to see.
If you live in a multicat household and have never done so before, take a little time to sit and observe how your cats interact with each other. You’re likely to see a whole different aspect to their personalities and get a little insight into how they view their home and its other inhabitants.

Former Garden Cats, Chi and Sprocket