MetaChat REGISTER   ||   LOGIN   ||   IMAGES ARE OFF   ||   RECENT COMMENTS




artphoto by splunge
artphoto by TheophileEscargot
artphoto by Kronos_to_Earth
artphoto by ethylene

Home

About

Search

Archives

Mecha Wiki

Metachat Eye

Emcee

IRC Channels

IRC FAQ


 RSS


Comment Feed:

RSS

09 November 2011

Chatty chatty chat chat. I am in a chatty mood and my husband is not. Be chatty with me!
My cat *may* be in a chatty mood, but it's hard to tell since she doesn't really talk. I had a long monologue at her detailing why she was a cat, but she seemed pretty unimpressed with it.
posted by occhiblu 09 November | 23:57
Failing actual chat, suggestions for where on the web to find fast-moving chattiness are also welcome.
posted by occhiblu 10 November | 00:03
Come to #bunnies IRC. Easy entry.
posted by oneswellfoop 10 November | 00:24
My big white cat Whitey Ford did not chat when we first met as he was a feral cat and they are not socialized to human norms. Now years later he has learned to chat and does a whole lot. Because he was about 7 years old before he discovered talking he has a very odd scratchy voice.
posted by arse_hat 10 November | 01:02
My cat did not really talk much until I moved in with ikkyu2. I think she heard him talking to me all the time and assumed that must be his preferred form of communication. She meows at him consistently in situations where she just looks at me to communicate what she wants.
posted by occhiblu 10 November | 01:10
Just dropped in to say that my cat is a compulsive liar.
posted by Ardiril 10 November | 01:57
I think she heard him talking to me all the time and assumed that must be his preferred form of communication.

I read once, and have never sought to verify, that cats left to themselves really don't meow after kittenhood when their eyes start working. They only revert to vocalizing when they're around people - they hear us vocalizing and decide they need to do it too, to get our attention. Like I said, haven't checked with the authorities but it seems completely believable to me.
posted by Miko 10 November | 08:19
I've read cats vocalize for our benefit.
posted by ethylene 10 November | 08:32
She meows at him consistently in situations where she just looks at me to communicate what she wants.

This is hilarious.

Come to think of it, the last few cats I've been close to* have vocalized extremely rarely, and usually only when something is terribly wrong ("I'm stuck in the basement!") or terribly exciting ("These birds are SO CLOSE on the other side of the glass").

*I haven't had a cat of my own since I left my family home. I would love a kitty, but our apartment is too small for an indoor cat and the streets in our neighborhood are a little scary for an outdoor cat.
posted by Elsa 10 November | 09:55
There were definitely studies a few years back out of Harvard, I think, showing that both cat and dog vocalizations had evolved as ways of communicating with humans, and not particularly with other animals, and also (I think) that humans had evolved to understand those cat and dog vocalizations. I don't remember details of how the study was conducted, though.

> She meows at him consistently in situations where she just looks at me to communicate what she wants.

This is hilarious.


To be fair to her, he tends to meow back at her. They've developed a whole unique meow-language and I'm absolutely certain that both of them think they're just humoring the other one with it.
posted by occhiblu 10 November | 10:45
One of my cats threw the toaster, 3 sets of keys, my cellphone, AND my iPod off the kitchen counter 2 nights ago. He wanted to sleep right where all this stuff is kept.

He's 14 and has really turned into an old grumpy asshole.
posted by danf 10 November | 10:53
To be fair to her, he tends to meow back at her.

This does not make it less hilarious!
posted by Elsa 10 November | 11:07
Oh, no, it is hilarious. :)
posted by occhiblu 10 November | 11:18
And I just realized: with the largely-nonvocalizing family cats I described above, I would habitually meow to them. (When I was growing up, we always had a group of cats, and they would meow often --- though whether to each other or to us, I couldn't tell you.)
posted by Elsa 10 November | 11:27
Bam! Kapow! Slap! || Somniloquy.

HOME  ||   REGISTER  ||   LOGIN