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24 February 2010
Cat psychologists, please step inside....→[More:] I discovered last night that if I meow like a kitten loudly at Zuzu, she'll come running into the room and bite me in the face.
It's obvious Zuzu is a radical feminist, because your loud meow insults her to the very core of her feminine feline soul. This upsets her even more, because as a woman yourself, Zuzu had higher expectations concerning your own personal enlightenment with respect to women's issues. Her face biting is merely a reflection of the torment she feels at having such an oppressive owner, so willing to bow to the man. Sadly, because Zuzu is a cat, she doesn't realize that it is no longer 1975, and we've come a long way, baby. Maybe you should point that out to her, show her a calendar. She'll probably be sufficiently embarrassed by her temporal error, and will cease biting your face, and will settle for burning your bras (cats are anachronistic that way, it's just part of their personality).
I don't think cats appreciate it when humans make cat noises. We are obviously not cats, so why pretend? I think some cats tolerate it the same way you might tolerate behavior in a toddler that wouldn't fly as an adult. Zuzu is probably more of a strict grammarian, if you can't say it correctly, just don't, it's wrong. She's just trying to save you from looking silly in front of other cats, it's for your own good.
As a teen we had a cat that would freely roam the neighborhood and I could always "call" her if I meowed in a plaintive manner. She'd come up to me and do that press the forehead against you thing. She always seemed a bit concerned actually as if I was in trouble. I miss that cat :(
I've had cats (and Kaylee as well) who reacted with what I saw as concern when I did the kitten meow. But I've never had one of them bite me. I'm also curious as to the type of bite. It could be triggering a "be quiet, a predator might be near!" nip.
I don't have an answer, but I have another observation. If I sing the beginning of "Pretty Fly (for a White Guy)" by The Offspring, my dog goes apeshit, growling and barking. I can sing anything else in falsetto, but "Give it to me, baby, uh-huh, uh-huh" sends her over the edge.
Yeah, it's an annoying song. I only discovered this during a fetch game.