Communicating with Cats (Plus Examples)

I have been called a probable psychic with psi properties as well (which I gather means hyper-sensitivity to body language, although this was a result of more recent events). Anyway, as such, I have spent the recent years studying things such as body language and I made a breakthrough in the realm of tonality a while back.

I noticed that higher tones represent ideas, while lower tones represent actions. This might not seem like much - until you realize that it is entirely appropriate for deciphering the language of cats.

For our example, let us use the _ to represent a low tone, - a middle tone, and / upward motion, a -_ being a downward motion in tone. Okay - so.

-/ : A question. This is because the cat is starting out neutral and then pondering into the astral realm, or the idea realm, wondering something.

--_ : A command. The cat is starting out neutral and then its thoughts are going into the physical realm, where actions are.

__ : All command. Possibly growling. This is because the cat is absolutely commanding something. "Go away." or "Leave me alone."

/-- : Okay. So basically this is the freaked out meow because the cat really wants something and is trying to convey an idea. More likely emotional than physical - although if it is hungry, it probably really is freaked out about not getting food.

-- : Content. The cat neither desires command or questions answered. Although this neutral tone is a good one for longer statements such as "I'm heading off" or "thank you."

So... if you are good at reading the subtle body language and tones, the cat will more than likely be less blunt when asking for something like food. For example, if my cat wants out the door, he will look at the door and ask "Hey, can you open that for me?" with one short meow while looking at the door handle, then over at me.

Cats are very blunt, actually - when it comes to body language, they will look at what they want, vocalize it, look at you - they might paw at the door if they want out of a room - etc. - if you are good with cats, they will be a LOT more subtle. Such as glancing over at the door while laying next to you and even commanding quietly once if they are comfortable enough, that might mean "Hey, I'm thinking about heading out soon."

Usually commands that involve ideas, like getting food, are asked as questions - while if my cat is sitting next to me and wants me to move my hand, he will "ask" with a command, especially if he is doing something like grooming, this is considered polite.

However - if this is more of an issue, like I'm not paying attention and the cat wants me to move my arm, he might ask a question -

Asking for something using the command tone is super informal and means that cat is in a VERY comfortable, informal setting with you. Usually the cat will ask for something with the ask tone.

One example involving food where the cat might still use the informal command tone for asking for food is if you always feed the cat at exactly the same time, and you two happen to be on SUPER good and chill terms, the cat might make a command noise quietly and glance at you to remind you it's time to feed.

Now if your cat is distressed and meowing high-pitched all the time, it is probably because it is freaked out that you, as the owner, are so dense, according to it -

Start out with the basics, like make sure that it has food and water (cats like running water) as well as a place to sleep. Cats also like calm environments, and they like to steal dice for some reason, and hide them.

This is just a side-note: cats like positive reinforcement and don't respond well to negative reinforcement at all - this would be "No." or "No!" etc. - Positive reinforcement would be "Hey buddy, come sit over here - " followed by petting.

Also, cats are the type that if there is a rule, they want to know how come - or if that is not possible, at least have consistency. They probably can understand your tones even if you don't know your own tones - so it does not hurt to speak to them.

Well, it could - because the cat will hear the truth in your voice - so if you are telling it how much you like it but you don't like it at all, it can tell.

For an example of training, if the cat is playing with a cord, you could say "Hey - don't play with that -" although this is a hard one, because the cat wouldn't have a way to know anything about how cords work. I think this is a situation where the cat thinks you are an idiot and have some delusion or superstition about touching cords.

Cats don't like delusions and superstitions, they think they are silly.

However - if you are consistent about the cord rule, it might pick it up. But it will think you are crazy if you dangle a cord in front of it to play with on Mondays and Wednesdays, but on Tuesdays and Thursdays snap at it if it touches one; it might also start hiding from you if you do that kind of thing lots.

I have one rule that I try to instill in my cats - not get in my work area. As in the space in front of me, where I am doing something like reading, using a controller, typing on a laptop, etc. This is somewhat of a hard rule, because the cat wants attention -

I have to explain this, especially the laptop rule, literally thousands of times, I swear - but I was trying to get this through to one of my cats named Elmer for a long time, while the other one, Max, watched on for months. Then one time, when Max needed to get across my laptop that was on my bed, he stood at one end and leaped over as to not get on it.

-----

Back to the tonal communication. Certain chakras are actually associated with different tones, believe it or not.



What I want to do is figure out of there is a correspondence between each tone, chakra meaning, and cat communication.



Finally... Here is a video of a cat - this cat is looking for something. I can translate (this isn't garbage, I picked a video randomly of a cat, and am actually translating as accurately as possible) Transciption (in order of speech):

"Uh... you aren't where I thought you were" (Somewhat not worried, but is a bit more surprised)
"Hello? + Where did you go?"
"Hello?"
"Hello? Hello?"
"OMG! I'm freaking out!"
"Where are you? Wtf? I'm worried!"

At this point, the cat is just freestyling / I'm not sure.

The "Hello" speech is sometimes used by cats to get your attention if they are like "Hello?" "Are you mentally there?"

reply to post by darkbake


thanks for the read brother!

im also learning to understand the community cats.
maybe birds too haha

peace

reply to post by darkbake


Wow thank you for putting that out there.
I think you are onto something.

With our cats, the tail is a big part of communication. We've tought our kids to "read the tail". If they are holding one of the cats, or petting it, and the tip of the tail is twitching it means "I've had enough. Let me go or you will be scratched." Of course this wouldn't work with Manx.

This thread would be perfect in a Pet Forum...... Lol

reply to post by Lolliek


Lol! I missed the pet forum! Mods can move it if they want. I put it in Paranormal Studies because of the tones dealing with chakras.

...Maybe you shouldn't own cats anymore and go outside for a while haha (only kidding =P)

dodol
reply to post by darkbake

 

thanks for the read brother!

im also learning to understand the community cats.
maybe birds too haha

peace

Another "race" I am good at communicating with are squirrels, although they are a bit harder than cats. I had a squirrel friend once who didn't have a tail. I am good with birds - parrots and the like.

I had a pet magpie once, it was very smart, and we also got along. Although different than cats - for example, birds cannot control when they poop - the magpie was similar. Magpies can also learn to speak if you split their tongue, like parrots.

unb3k44n7
...Maybe you shouldn't own cats anymore and go outside for a while haha (only kidding =P)

That's pretty funny!

Maybe you could write a book on cat language.

It would probably be a big seller.

reply to post by darkbake


Thanks for posting this, I'm glad I'm not alone with recognizing this.
My husband used to be surprised when by the tone/ sound of our cat's meow I could tell whether she wanted food, or me to change her litter tray, or when she was just asking for a cuddle.

Now he asks her too: "Do you want food?"
And the way (high sound/low sound) she answers he can now also tell whether she says "yes" or "no, you just fed me, you dimwit."

If people actually took their time to pay more attention to this, it could make the relationship with their pets a lot easier.


They play-fight a lot, and when she has enough, she gives out a very sharp/ strong 'command' for my husband that we are pretty sure means 'stop', or 'enough'. It even sounds a little pissed off.

Hi darkbake!
I have always tried (succeeded?) to communicate with animals, and I agree that 'tone' means different things.

I used to visit a friend who had dachshunds, and one in particular was really affected by my voice. I would always greet him using a higher pitch (almost cartoon character) voice, and he would get so excited that he would immediately pee himself...even though he was trained to always ask to go out (to urinate). My friend asked me to 'tone it down' lol...and when I used a lower, calmer voice...he didn't react the same way.

I've had a lot of cats in my life, and we seemed to understand each other quite well.
Now I have ferrets. They don't really make sounds like dogs or cats, but they both know their names...and communicate a lot with their eyes and body movements.

I also talk to birds/animals outside, and have often had birds, squirrels, chipmunks come right up to me, unafraid.

Sometimes I think that animals can tell if you have the 'intent' to communicate with them. They definitely always seem to know that I mean them no harm.
Cool thread friend! S&F
jacygirl

darkbake
reply to post by Lolliek

 

Lol! I missed the pet forum! Mods can move it if they want. I put it in Paranormal Studies because of the tones dealing with chakras.

LOL! you have this in the right forum. There is a petition thread for adding a Pet/animal forum which is what I was referring to.

Good thread, btw.

It got me thinking why the sphinx guards the pyramid.
Animals must have been a big deal for previous civilizations to make such a monument of them.
I believe the sphinx originally had a cats face not a humans but that's just me.
I even named him "Tommy the sphinx" protector of the animal kingdom

reply to post by darkbake


My buddy Diesel almost always communicates in a very kitten like mew. He's a Maine Coon mix and is quite large and tall. He weighed thirty pounds at one time. But is also quite the active cat. The only time I ever heard him meow loudly was when he was in a cat carrier. He hated that thing.

And as pointed out before his body/tail/ear language communicated a lot as well.

I think that he believes that he is a dog since that is what he originally grew up around. He speaks, fetches, comes and sits when I tell him to. Smart cat...playing with his pet like that.

reply to post by darkbake


Really like your analysis of cat behavior. It's quite fun bonding with cats and understanding their world view.

I came across a 6 page story written by Anne Billson about Jonesy the cat (from the Alien film) which is so funny.

Anyhow, we’re all tucking in together and everyone seems quite jolly when all of a sudden one of the other can-openers throws a fit and starts going into spasms on the table, and I realise the weird new smell has been coming from him all along. All the other can-openers are making a gigantic fuss of spasm-guy, and I feel a bit left out and wonder whether I should reclaim their attention with some cute feline antics. But next thing you know, shazzam! Spasm-guy has suddenly given birth to a hairless kitten with teeth! Catastrophe! Now no-one is paying me any attention at all, even though the hairless kitten clearly has no idea how to behave in can-opener company. Even when it scuttles off, the can-openers are too preoccupied with it to notice me. Honestly, if I’d known it would get that sort of reaction, I too would have burst out of someone’s chest like a cheap birthday cake stripper. I slink out of the mess room and off into a corner of a store area for a good sulk, and then the sulk turns into another nap. Hmmm. Big fat guinea-pigs, squealing as I…

Who does he think he’s kidding? It’s embarrassing. Even the new-born hairless kitten isn’t going to fall for that crap. In fact, this can-opener is starting to piss me off with the patent insincerity of his “Here Jonesey” schtick so I scamper next door into the room where they keep the big drill…

ALIEN (From The Perspective Of Jones The Cat)

Anyway, my mothers cat has learned to paw open the living room door so I don't have to do it all the time. Also when a cat is being fussed over and you stop it will wave it's paw at you. If you sit on the floor facing away from a cat it will place both front paws on your back and nudge you.

reply to post by darkbake


I liked your reference to "polite" and "informal", and that indication of a sort of... cat culture.

In the video those vocalizations are very similar to how mamma cats talk to their kittens, but they use those vocalizations less and less often as the kittens get older, and much less often between adult cats. It seems a lot like how we do "baby talk" to infants. Which means our cats might use a sort of "baby talk" with us; which I think supports your theory about subtly. If you are on it, and speak "cat" well enough you can catch the subtler cues without the vocalizations at all.

There was some tid-bit coming to mind (although I can't remember the source, so take it for what it is) that cats are much more vocal with humans than with other cats, and even further, that domestic cats that cohabitate with humans vocalize much more than wild or feral cats, even among each other. Which begs the question of just how much they are trying to bridge the gap and accommodate our communication styles and even culture. How much do they understand about verbal language?

On that last note, we did have a tom cat here (this is a mini-farm), that when we would come outside he would flat say "Hello" "HI" "Hello" in a steady stream as he approached us. He would up-turn the tone at the end so it sounded like a question ("Hello?" "Hi?"). The vocalizations ceased as soon as he got to us and we would stroke his back. It was a very close mimic to human vocalizations. We have video of this, but I don't know how to embed.

funny, you cant determine that from just looking at its body langauge

Failing communication with the feline, there is an alternative...