News hardware Talking to your cat is possible, provided you follow the advice of science
Do you talk to your cat regularly and you feel that he really listens to you? This may well be the case: a French study reveals that felines can pay attention to their master on one condition.
All pet owners are happy to admit it: they regularly talk to their dog or cat. However, if Médor is generally the type to drink his master’s word, Félix, meanwhile, regularly gives the impression that he has nothing to do with it… But then nothing at all! But according to a study conducted by Charlotte de Mouzon, Marine Gonthier and Gérard Leboucher, three French ethologists, the cat would actually be much more receptive than one would imagine when he hears his master’s voice.
If your cat listens to you, it’s because you have a silly voice
The study was published last week in the journal Pet cognitionpoints it out the cat is particularly interested in its master’s voice, especially when he speaks to the animal with a certain intonation. Again, if you have a four-legged friend at home, you probably know what type of voice we’re talking about: the slightly silly one, with a high intonation, close to what you might also use to address a baby.
But the survey also shows that the cat does not listen to all “stupid” voices in the same way: only the interests of its master really interest it. To reach this conclusion, ethologists studied the behavior of 16 domestic cats to whom they played recordings of the same message, but stated by different people. They all showed more interest in hearing their master’s voice than that of strangers.
Moreover, in order to really stimulate the cat’s interest, his owner really needs to use this very special way of talking: the same sentence uttered as if speaking to another human does not interest the animal.
Your cat is interested in you, but…
“Cats have long been thought to be very independent creatures, only interested in humans for food and shelter, but the fact that they respond specifically to their owner and not just someone talking to them supports the idea that, that they are able to bondsums up Charlotte de Mouzon.
Your cat is therefore not an ungrateful little one only interested in its bowl : He listens, but only when he knows you’re really talking to him. Or else, it does not mean that he understands the meaning of your wordsbut that he is sensitive to you communicating with him.
Felix is ​​therefore an independent animal, of course, but he still has love for his favorite biped. “These findings bring a new dimension to the study of the human-cat relationship, as they imply the development of a specific communication in human-cat dyads and emphasize the importance of individual relationships for cats, strengthening the literature on feline abilities. and people to form strong bonds”concludes the investigation.
