Cats rule the world!
By John Amato Tuesday Jul 14, 2009 6:00pm
Well, I know when both of my cats (Sam and Babe) want to eat---that's for sure. I just didn't know how much power they actually have over the human race.
If you've ever wondered who's in control, you or your cat, a new study points to the obvious. It's your cat.
Household cats exercise this control with a certain type of urgent-sounding, high-pitched meow, according to the findings.
This meow is actually a purr mixed with a high-pitched cry. While people usually think of cat purring as a sign of happiness, some cats make this purr-cry sound when they want to be fed. The study showed that humans find these mixed calls annoying and difficult to ignore.
"The embedding of a cry within a call that we normally associate with contentment is quite a subtle means of eliciting a response," said Karen McComb of the University of Sussex. "Solicitation purring is probably more acceptable to humans than overt meowing, which is likely to get cats ejected from the bedroom." They know us
Previous research has shown similarities between cat cries and human infant cries.
McComb suggests that the purr-cry may subtly take advantage of humans' sensitivity to cries they associate with nurturing offspring. Also, including the cry within the purr could make the sound "less harmonic and thus more difficult to habituate to," she said.
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we actually had conversations. she welcomed me when I got home. cats have a bigger emotional vocabulary than dogs. sorry, doglovers.
I have one of each. They communicate in very different ways, but both are VERY communicative and as you know, once you spend some time with them you know exactly what they are saying.
... Cats have staff.
Ashes and Aloicius rule my home mostly.
And my gorgeous silver Persian mix -- so handsome that people say I should get him an agent -- agrees wholeheartedly.
I love dogs, too. I love all animals. It's reich-wing Republicans I have a huge problem with.
BID
... oh, excuse me. I need to take care something... right away.
lk;nseflihqgnlvsdalkselgnlks;eq MMROWWW!
He's the boss.
Kitties!
As anyone who share's life with a feline will tell you. It's so nice, being owned by a cat. :) Most of us wouldn't have it any other way.
I know!
;)
Mine would sit on my mouse hand when I was on the computer when she wanted something from her maid/chef/janitor. If I happened to be sleeping - no problem - a paw in/on the mouth and her yowwly "do it NOW!!" voice - You didn't want her to have to use that voice! :-0
I really miss her!
her name was Sammy, but miss kitty was her nick. I got her when I was 14; she died when I was 32...
I have actually had several, but Sammy was mine alone. The only love that comes close is my dog, and I refer to her as my kitty in a dog suit.
Your cat thinks you are big, slow, clumsy, and not very bright but very easy to train.
That was fast.
I luvs me my dogs. They're better for Mex. Camping on the beach and all. You never leave your animals outside on the beach in Baja at night. And you keep a close eye on them during the day.
But I do know some guys who go camping down there for 6 months at a time and wouldn't think of leaving their cats at home. They stay in the trailer or step vans these guys take down there. They usually have a dog or two as well.
I do know one Cat who is very formidable. She does rule the world.
I wouldn't have it any other way.
buenos noches mi amigos.
on them down there?
Coyotes, scorpions, wild pigs, Jack Ass's will stomp the crap out of them. Burro's will put a serious hurt on them too. And some people like to use them target practice. Poisons, there's a lot of reasons.
dogs have masters, cats have staff.
word.
Okay, the statement by itself was funny. But then......."word". LOL!!!
/
My cats have trained me quite well. ;)
Dogs think dogs are stupid four-legged people. Cats think people are stupid two-legged cats.
Heh. My cat is Babe's twin!
It's true my cats own me. They know how to manipulate my emotions and make me feel guilty. Bonita jumps on me and purrs intensely when she hears me raise my voice. She's a great temper controller!
such a cute cat name :)
:)
Yep, they sure do. Trust me, I've got three of them. They're in total control of me and I wouldn't have it any other way!
ps, my youngest kitty looks like Sam except he's all white and has blue eyes, and I used to have a cat very similar to Babe. Brings back fond memories.
:)
... but I read somewhere that cats only "meow" to humans. Sure they'll make other sounds to other animals, but the "meow" seems to be a cat's attempt to mimmic us.
anyway (the two I have now, and one that passed away years ago) have this strange silent meow that comes out of them when they're staring down birds. I have no idea why they do that!
When Trouble sees a bird, even through the window, he'll do this... oh, it's hard to spell... kind of like a staccato "ah ah ah ah."
Of course, he's over twenty now, and the birds just kind of laugh.
*
My first one (he's gone now) was named Mischief. "Trouble" just seemed like a good name for his buddy.
afoot, Trouble was sure to follow. ;)
Cats chatter when they see some type of small prey (usually a bird) but they are unable to get out to hunt. It's a sound of frustration. With three indoor cats, and bird feeders in my yard, it's a sound I hear quite frequently.
I thought the cat was "warning" the bird.
Trust me, it means they are fixin to pounce and bring a live bird into your house. Close the door quick!
threaten the birds from the window. :) I'm a little overprotective because I lost the cat that owned me before they did to malicious poisoning (she liked to come and go as she pleased, and that was her major vulnerability)...
when they watch birds. Ya know, maybe they're trying to say "attack"!
I know that 'ack, ack'...like they're 'cackling' from deep in their throat...and only for the birds...for the squirrels, meh...
just mouth the word "attack" ;)
the crying of a human baby. It's hard not to respond to her. So not only does she bully my other animals (cats and dogs alike), she's also super-manipulative. Cats have staff indeed! :P
It's always been my feeling that you could take any fifty cats and each would have a separate and distinct personality, yet each would be a "typical cat". They're like snowflakes.
what a lovely analogy!
Awwwww. Those are 2 fuzzy pussies even I wouldn't mind stroking:)
21,662,624 views
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z3U0udLH974
of the purring cat:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/814...
I had to finally part with my twenty year old kitty "Rascal" the end of April...and now I only have my 10 year old furry angel "Baby Daughter" left to harass and to love me.
I'm considering going to the Humane Society to get her a little male kitten to mother. I think she's bored being the only cat now. (Even though I do have my dog and African Grey parrot, who does a very funny imitation of BD, to keep her company).
But I loved reading about a parrot that imitates a cat. Way cool :D
Good luck with the new kitten.
P.S. Annaleigh has "The Little Girl" who hasn't quite been adopted yet. Think The Little Girl and Baby Daughter might get along?
If by some chance The Little Girl doesn't officially join my furbrood, and Abby can't find a companion for Baby Daughter, I'd be willing to foster The Little Girl for Abby if we could pull it off. The Little Girl will need a little time before she leaves for anywhere else right now (small animals on the streets take a lot of abuse here, it seems every cat or dog I encounter - including my furbabies, seeing as they're all rescues - has a case of what I call kitty or doggie PTSD), but once she's ready, she's free to a good home. :)
stress out older cats who are used to the old order. Ten is still fairly young, but a kitten can make kitty's golden years unhappy.
I'm afraid that I'd need a boy kitten for Baby Daughter. I think she might accept him easier. I'm on the fence. I may be moving in the fall and hauling two cats and the bird across the 40 West (I'd fly the dog) might prove to be a bit much.
When I made the trip out here we started out with all the cats confined in their cages and howling like they thought they were going to the vet. Finally we had to let them out as I was afraid the parrot would pick up their howling. Thank God he didn't, but by the next day we were all settled in, the cats were out free chilling in our laps and the bird was doing his usual yacking it up. "Hello!!! What'r ya doin'?! Meow!!!" etc. Ha!!!
I'd really like to get a Maine Coon kitten, but they're $1500!! I guess a rescue would be better, at least for my conscience!
named King (!) that had an occasion, while crouching low in the grass beside me, to point itself in the direction of an eagle in the trees along the bluffs 50 yards away, and make a very alarming growling noise that got me to look and see what he saw.
“Cats are dangerous companions for writers because cat watching is a near-perfect method of writing avoidance” - dan greenberg
dogs are incredibly loyal. especially my golden retriever. but i do love me some cats. i highly suggest checking out both www.stuffonmycat.com and www.catsinsinks.com it will brighten up your day.
“Cats are dangerous companions for writers because cat watching is a near-perfect method of writing avoidance” - dan greenberg
What a wonderful sentiment...thank you!
All our furry children live long lives 9 to 20. One we had named Taxes (we got from my sister's office she worked for our accountant and showed up during tax season) To our surprise this tiny baby was pregnant and one who was like Babe (tuxedo) was name IRA and one a Tabby was name TAB-A for (sign on Tab-A). I so wanted to call her Audy for Audit but DH refused to utter that word in the house. We now have a snow shoe siamese and a calico (believe it or not brother and sister and he looks pure bred). There truly is nothing better than a cat and their many, many different voices and personalities. Taxes was our "Nancy nurse" and more grateful than any cat we had for a nice indoor always home. She actually out lived her children which was painful for her and you could tell as she passed within two months after Tab-A. Lost IRA at 9 to cardiomyopathy (thought I would die with her as I had never lost a cat so young they have always prior to that lasted until 17 or 20).
SueDay
song writers........ and it really slows down your lyrics when a cat is sitting on your hand :)
song writers........ from the afore mentioned "I want something and YOU are NOT paying attention to me!" sort of thing
you need to know about people you can learn by living with two cats." It is pretty interesting watching them wrangle. Love, hate, mutual annoyance, mutual uninterest, playtime, naptime. Like an old married couple.
When my cats want to be fed--the girl sits and stares at me until she's hypnotized me into going and opening a can. The boy and I get on great except for about 5:30am, when he wants to eat--suddenly it's him and me, mano a mano (pawo), me with the spray bottle under the blanket, him with an iron will and an unerring ability to find my nose and poke it. I always lose.
Decisions...
Julie Newmar
Eartha Kitt
Michelle Pfeiffer
Who had the best purr/meow?
I go with EK
(and cats rule - dogs drool)
for the win, Bitter Bud Hussein!
My dog never did stand up and surf. But she was great at body surfing.
No way. Cats could do it. But, aside from tigers and jaguars, they seem to hate water as if it were acid.
Yet, they love fish. Go figure.
usually don't mix, but mine loved it! (very odd!) even the spray bottle! - that dimished the effectiveness of the spray bottle considerably.
She REALLy loved to chase a red laser - that was entertainment! LOL
:)
He never resorted to any mind games like that. He was more sneaky, if you were eating in the living room, he'd park himself next to you and when you wern't looking, he swipe a few morsels off your plate. To wake you up and feed him he'd just literally walk all over you.
over you."
My cats can't even do that without playing mind games. They climb onto my stomach and stare me down until I finally sense their presence and wake up! :|
Rascal was so cool. I'd be on my tummy sleeping and he perch himself on my back and just lay there Budda style until I couldn't breathe! Ha!! He was heavy!! What a love.
Having had both as live in companions, I currently am not able to have either live with me, I can tell all from experience that they communicate quite well with us maid servants.
Many of my cats had communicated to people I was talking too by convincing others they were babies and very hungry. The cats had mixed communication skills. They wanted ALL the attention, they were not hungry.
IIRC there are more and more studies coming out about the dog - human connection. We two species have very intertwined relationships. Perhaps from the beginning of human life type life.
Which is good. We rely on each other for much of our happiness.
And, dogs do laugh!
Thanks John Amato for posting a light hearted subject. We all love our pets and it's fun to share stories. Nice to take a break from all the seriousness sometimes....
It's a much-needed change of pace from all the doom and gloom in the world.
Thank you, John!
yea, it' nice to talk about our pets now and then...There is such a difference between a male and a female...Babe will lay on my chest at night. Sammy likes to talk more...lol
who love cats!!
People tend to think guys love dogs and chicks love cats.
It's refreshing to see all the guys here who love cats!
I've found, in my past "dating" experiences, that if a guy didn't "like" cats he'd simply say, "I'm allergic."
The truth is, he was allergic to ME!! Ha!!!!!
thank you John, its so easy to let the vile sludge overwhelm us - we need a "palate cleanser" and I think it pulls us "libruhls" together even more. Somehow I can not imagine a similar thread at the jeepers kreepers freepers pit-o-sludge.
than being guided through the basics of life by my cats.
I have always talked to my cats over the years...they have all been incredibly responsive, each with their own voice & cadence.
Yes...there are times when I wish they'd just learn the 'silence is golden' thingie, but that only lasts less than a second.
that has been mooching off of my chihuahua's food and water, and sleeping under my trailer at night apparently.
Well, I told myself no more animals, but The Little Girl (tm) as I call the kitten, is close to maybe maybe maybe joining the family... She's got her own plate of food now, and is starting to become curious about my house and whether there are other animals inside besides my two dogs whom she knows about already.
As I tell people, if she's not careful, she might wind up with a real name and a forever family! :P
sounds like she already has her foot firmly planted in the door... :)
;)
I had a calico. She was the best. She went in the street one time....
Oh no, I'm so sorry to hear that! :(
she's gotcha ;-)
afternoon. I think I belong to her now, lol. :D
she's gotcha ;-)
...live here. We brought them from Arizona when we moved here a couple of years ago. He has a real story:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jJA5c_YbUQA
Loved it. Especially the snapshots with the horse, and "pregnant" Al. Did you work on the screenplay for "Alien"?
and how fortunate you found the kittens. Their eyes weren't even open yet? How could anyone do that? Were they just left alone on the side of the road?
Thanks for the sweet video!
:)
and each one of them has their own distinct personalities and weird, quirky little things they do. My siamese is a real talker and lots of times I'll try to mimic his meow back to him. It's so funny because he'll meow back, and I'll meow back to him. It sounds silly but we have fun!
My cat Sue is siamese. She's the one that brings non dead animals in the house and calmly licks her paws while I try to figure out how to get them out. She's so proud of herself for bringing me a present.
I mimic the purring and meowing, especially when they're being melodramatic about something. It often ends up scaring them though because my voice can go up about a billion octaves and must hurt their ears when I hit a high note. :S I tell them, "see, that's what you sound like!"
...has to keep after me constantly. Good help is so hard to find.
Tony: http://cheezburger.com/view.aspx?ciid=4426086
They taste terrible.
Just kidding. They taste great. Kinda' like chicken.
Okay, okay. I love cats. We have two right now but if I had my way, we'd have lots more. In fact, at one point I had thirteen cats. One of them was a pregnant stray I took in, her six kittens, a cat I already had and another who had four kittens. You should have seen it when I called them for dinner. It was like a freakin' cat food commercial.
The two I have now are a Siberian Forest Cat who rules the place and a calico that fell off our third floor balcony twice when she was a kitten. She's a little off.
Oh, and we have a dingo, six finches, three doves, a guinea pig and several fish.
Careful all you bully doggies. You'd best be nice to the new neighbors. :)
I saw this weird infomercial with Meryl Streep...
She's painfully timid. It's more like "a baby ate my dingo."
I have a black one who weighs at least thirty pounds. He's part feral and hates to be picked up, but he's affectionate. He and the youngest kitty love to play-fight and chase each other. Quite the pair they are!
My oldest cat ignores them.
dark and light grey with blackish stripes. She is the queen of all she surveys. She even owns our dingo. If she thinks the dog is acting too happy, she'll run over and swipe at her to put her in her place. Her name is Daisy but my wife just calls her "Queen Bitch." She's not that big though. I think around 20-25 lbs but that's mostly fat since we got her fixed. I'm the only one who can pick her up and she literally chases me down if she wants me to pet her and I walk away. She also plays fetch. And she has me wrapped around her fat, little finger.
He is king of the castle and very domineering. Sometimes I'll be walking by him and out of the blue he gives me a big swat on the leg!
I can always find them when I shake the bag...
Just the sound of opening the kitty food bag....
just the sound of opening the cupboard door that the cat food is in.
Mine went crazy when they heard the can opener.
One got hit by a car, but after hip surgery he lived to be 21. He sat by the side of the bed every morning waiting for me to get up. He never got on the bed, just kneaded the carpet and purred, looking up with big saucer eyes, "Get up, it's morning,
I wanna playit's feeding time."Have your kitties tried the new "Party Mix" by Friskies? Good times, cats and kittens!
http://www.naturalnews.com/012647.html
How revolting!
I guess you really don't know for sure what is in your pet's food, but I at least try to provide my cats the best by not buying any cat food that mentions by products or corn gluteal. By products are disgusting and corn gluteal is just filler which is not easily digestible for cats. Buying a hollistic brand is best in my opinion. Also, you will definitely notice a difference when you switch to a hollistic brand. Cats will eat less of it because the quality is better, their coats will shine more and shed less, and you will find they don't poop as much.
and had a ton of recipes for (obviously) healthier dog food that you prepare yourselves. Makes me wonder if there's a book like that for cats. Hmm...I think I have something to keep an eye out for now...
I prefer to buy my pets their treats on Etsy.com from the pet food/treat makers. My dogs love their peanut butter and carob brownies they get from CiaoHound. If buying regular pet food from the Etsy cooks was cheaper, I'd do that too.
It's about a dollar a can. Then I grab a loaf of a softish bread like Roman Meal. I throw the can of mackeral into a big bowl with a few pieces of bread and the juices soak into the bread. I smash it all up and throw it into a ziplock bag. Baby Daughter LOVES it!!
My cats love them too. I am not convinced the ones that say natural on the package are any better than the other ones. Thankfully only one of my cats is persistant about getting his treats. When they were younger, it often seemed like they would take turns and work me and my roomate until we gave into them.
cats or conservatives, the cons are history.
I like both cats and dogs, but think you might like this cartoon.
http://www.strangecosmos.com/content/item/103...
Speaking of cats, it's time for my nightly catnap. Fun thread!
gna
Hey, this story was in my Korean newspaper today: they really do rule the world!!!! Purrr rrrr, feed me, damn it!
:D
Cats need taurine, an amino acid not available from a vegetarian diet. Were the lion to lay down with the lamb, it would need to have a source of this nutrient.
vegetarian or vegan diets. But if you search for vegan pet treats and food on Etsy, you'll see that evidently there are some people who prefer that.
But, I'm pretty sure mine are carnivores, except for one of my cats who insists on occasionally eating lettuce leaves or the leaves off of my jalepeno plants...
Cats are carnivores and definitely not vegetarians! While some cats do eat some fruits and vegetables, they are only eating them because they like the taste. Cats are not engineered to make use of nutrients and vitamins from fruits and vegetables.
The cat I had growing up loved cantaloupe. We would cut him some small pieces for him to eat. He lived to be 16 years old. Usually cats are trying to find a substitute for grass when they eat house plants or green leaf vegetables.
I love watching them scrabble around, going bonkers for the stuff!
Obviously, cat's can't read and seldom shop. But the humans know why the cats like it, and it's marketed much in the same way I imagine they'd market marijuana if they could.
BTW my cats always thought Kookamunga Catnip was much better than Cosmic Catnip.
I used to pick the wild stuff: it grows everywhere, very juicy. (It's a mint.)
I harvest a big bag of it every fall. In the dead of winter, there's nothing better than getting out the catnip and the laser pen. What a laugh riot!
=D
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9lZgHdOU-ko
Thanks for that, fiver!
;)
This is old news for people who use this site
http://icanhascheezburger.com/
Oh and by the way, cats love cheeseburgers and are plotting world domination
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ftOL4p1sFfc
but I ADORE cats. My husband hates them and refuses to let me have one, yet cats (and kids) love him. My son would like a cat as well. Cats are just regal and I miss having one. My mother has 2 and they are hilarious. When she gets up, they follow her down the hall like two little black minions. They sleep under the covers with her, sip her coffee and run my dad out of the room. I am going to try to talk my husband around. Besides, who has better ears than cats?
A lot of folks who say they "hate" cats are later won over by all of their wonderful attributes.
He'll come around.
BID
grew up on a ranch and all he knew were ferals. We talked him in to letting us have a kitty, and he was the first in the family to come up with endearing nicknames for her, cuddling her and feeding her special treats on the sly. Then he let us keep on of her kits. And then when I brought Sammy home, he was very helpful in my keeping her.
My wife & I are convinced they are not of this world...
Like Thom Hartmann thinks Pigeons are otherworldly...
Seriously though, our cats have been crazed lately, we get nightly serenades from them...and as soon as we get up, its non stop meows until the food is put out...
We have created treat monsters...every time we go into our pantry, they stop dead in their tracks and their eyes widen as if we've found the lost Ark... When we shake the bag of treats, its absolutely pathetic, the long drawn out meows/pleas... and then the ravenous chomping display....crunch, crunch, crunch
For those who don't have children...cats have the 'brains'(according to studies) of toddlers... They are our children...
According to Darwin's The Descent of Man, domesticated dogs have a larger vocabulary of vocalizations than wild dogs. They also use facial expressions more.
This Website has pix of (mainly) cats and other critters with hilarious captions that usually fit the pic. My daily sanity saver, as I can't afford a cat at my apt. complex.
http://www.freewebs.com/buto-clan/squirrel%20...
Made my day! A keeper!
http://blogs.sfx-360.com/ladyj/wp-content/upl...
"If man could be crossed with the cat, it would improve man--but deteriorate the cat."
Wise man, Mr. Clemens.
This thread starts with a dis of dogs, and almost no-one comes to the rescue? wth?
I had 2 dogs (max and 99) who utterly broke my heart when they passed away. I backpacked with them, ran in the hills with them, snuggled up to them, got kisses from them when I was sad...
Our two cats pee and spray in our new house (twice on our headboard, up on the kitchen counter, etc, etc, etc.) The day they hit the road will be celebration time. They are treated well, and I used to like them, but I am so done with them. Never again. And that's my wife talking about her own cats.
We have a 2 year old girl, and she's getting a puppy. A big galoof of a lab mix from the shelter. I can't wait to have a truly excellent animal in the house again.
How fair is that? Me-OOOOW!
Typical catty attitude:
http://croutonboy.typepad.com/.a/6a00d8341da6...
My wife and my cats rule me.
I wouldn't have it any other way.
I distrust Kenny Burrell's story on the liner notes for his collaboration with John Coltrane, "The Cats". I had two cats who were musical; one was caught sitting atop the stereo speaker switching that tail like a metronome to Burrell's Midnight Blue, and a second would cry for Ike Quebec's bossa nova LP, with Burrell as a sideman.
After watching a satellite special on Alfred Lion featuring some shots of the infamous Nica's crew of felines, we know--the jazz cat was the fellow who could best please the feline audience.
I've become allergic to cats and my life is far poorer for their absence.
My name is Noir. I am a Tuxedo Tabby cat who lives in Texas. I like to believe I'm a tiger on my own savannah. Let me tell you--my human is putty in my pink paws. I purr--she melts. I look at her with my saucer round eyes--she melts. I even nip her fingers when I tire of her petting me so much--she melts.
Hey-I got this.
Cats DO rule the world.
That's how we roll!
Noir
Four of them live here. So do I, but my end of the bargain is that I feed them and pay the mortgage. All they have to do is be adorable.
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