06-22-2005, 02:44 PM
Cats have a few dozen words in their language. The don't say the meows that they say to people to other cats. Meow is made up of two "words". One means "I'll let you be friends with me" and the other means "I'm ready to defend myself if necessary".
Domesticated housecats have 5 primary versions of meow that they say to humans. (There are variations like the purr-meow). The meows that cats use with humans are primarly distinguised by pitch variation. Interestingly, cats are very poor at distinguishing pitch variation, while humans are highly adept at doing so. So these meows would be incomprehensible to other cats - only humans can understand them.
1) Food-related ("feed me"),
2) Agnostic ("stop that"),
3) Affiliative ("pay attention to me"),
4) Obstacle ("let me in / out"), and
5) Distress ("I don't like riding in the car! We're going to the vet, aren't we?")
Some of the "words" that they use with other cats are:
* Caterwauling - An extended, throaty, low-pitched, loud "owwww" that is used as a sign of agression / dominance between two male cats.
* Hunting meow - A short (cut off), quit meow.
* Trilling meow - Used by mother cats to communicate with kittens.
* Purring - Used by kittens to communicate with their mother while nursing. Used by kittens and cats as a sign of comfort or contentment. Also can be a sign of extreme distress.
Domesticated housecats have 5 primary versions of meow that they say to humans. (There are variations like the purr-meow). The meows that cats use with humans are primarly distinguised by pitch variation. Interestingly, cats are very poor at distinguishing pitch variation, while humans are highly adept at doing so. So these meows would be incomprehensible to other cats - only humans can understand them.
1) Food-related ("feed me"),
2) Agnostic ("stop that"),
3) Affiliative ("pay attention to me"),
4) Obstacle ("let me in / out"), and
5) Distress ("I don't like riding in the car! We're going to the vet, aren't we?")
Some of the "words" that they use with other cats are:
* Caterwauling - An extended, throaty, low-pitched, loud "owwww" that is used as a sign of agression / dominance between two male cats.
* Hunting meow - A short (cut off), quit meow.
* Trilling meow - Used by mother cats to communicate with kittens.
* Purring - Used by kittens to communicate with their mother while nursing. Used by kittens and cats as a sign of comfort or contentment. Also can be a sign of extreme distress.
