by Kevin Burton
How well do you know you cat, asks a Good Housekeeping article that my brother sent me.
Well I am in tune with our two cats, enough so that my wife Jeannette calls me a cat whisperer. If you have cats you know whispering doesn’t always get it done.
I had some familiarity with most of the 20 cat facts that reporter Alesandra Dubin included in the GH article. I began breaking them down two weeks ago (Examining The Desires, Behaviors Of Cats, Nov. 22). We continue jumping around in her list today:
7–Cats meow only for humans.
“Here’s a fact that might blow your mind: ‘Cats never meow at each other,’ said Dr. Ambika Vaid, an integrative veterinarian and advisor to the pet nutrition brand Badlands Ranch. “It’s a behavior they developed to communicate specifically with people.”
“Have multiple cats at home? Observe them and test it out,” Dubin writes.
So this is both true and false.
Most of the feline small talk is done through sniffing. But if something is wrong, if barriers have been broken, lines crossed, cats will talk to each other but by screaming, yowling, spitting and snorting.
Graph, the first cat I had as an adult, my mother called “Gruff” because she did not play well with others.
Maybe you don’t call that rough kitty talk meowing. In that case, no they don’t meow at each other. But they are not afraid to speak out when needed.
8–Cats recognize their names (they just may not care).
“Research shows that cats can distinguish their own names from other words. Whether they respond depends on their mood and motivation,” Dubin writes. “In other words, they can hear and understand you, they just don’t care to listen. Don’t take it personally!”
I got my cat Mex from a former co-worker who found her on her front porch. She was weeks old perhaps. She fit in the palm of my hand. I named her Mex after my exploits as an English teacher in Puebla, Mexico.
The cats I have had since then came to me from a rescue place called “Save The Kitties” in Derby, Kansas. They were each at least six years old when my wife and I got them. For that reason I kept the names they came with.
I say giving a cat a one-syllable name is best for all concerned. Our cats Ronnie and Lakin have two syllable names. Ronnie recognizes her name, though I think her hearing may be going because she doesn’t snap to attention at the sound of her name the way she used to.
Lakin, that nutball, answers to her name, to Ronnie’s name and to “Alexa.”
Maybe in your youth as you were playing in the street and you heard your mother calling you, maybe you pretended you didn’t hear. Cats can be like that.
13–Slow blinking is a love language.
“When a cat gives you that adorable slow blink of the eyes, it’s actually a way of communicating love. This gentle eye movement is a sign of deep trust and affection,” Dubin writes. “Try blinking slowly right back at your cat to return the love… it’s the closest thing to a cat’s version of a warm smile.”
This one I was not aware of at all. That’s probably because I have poor vision. But I have also never heard anybody talk about this.
I used to have staring contests with Graph. She would always tire of this and lower her head after maybe 15 seconds.
Ronnie and Lakin make a lot of eye contact, but I have never observed them blinking, quickly or slowly.
19–Cats love having choices.
“Cats feel safest when they have control,” explains Dr. Colleen Guilfoyle, a veterinarian with Best Friends Animal Society, a national animal welfare organization. “Offering multiple resting spots or scratching posts for them to choose between helps prevent stress.”
“A further note about scratching: Scratching is communication, not (just) destruction. Cats leave both visual and scent marks when they scratch, which is perfectly normal territorial behavior.”
Variety is the spice of life for humans, so why not for felines as well?
Lakin has taken to sleeping on a black and yellow backpack our friend Laura gave us. Ronnie sleeps in a bed I got for Mex, which Mex ignored completely. But Ronnie loves it. If the final feeding of the night is over, she makes a beeline for that little round bed and reliably can be found there.
OK kiddies/kitties, we’ll be along with more cat facts sometime soon. Rest assured I’ll pick the purrrr-fect time.
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