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Friday Cat Blogging - 17 July 2009
In news that should come as no surprise to anyone, it turns out that cats are pretty devious when it comes to getting humans to feed them. The latest research shows that cats have two kinds of purr: there's the normal happy kind that we all know and love, and then there's "solicitation purring," a surprisingly annoying kind used in the morning to get us off our backsides and out to the food bowl:
"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."
....McComb got the idea for the study from her experience with her own cat, who would consistently wake her up in the mornings with a very insistent purr. After speaking with other cat owners, she learned that some of their cats also made the same type of call. As a scientist who studies vocal communication in mammals, she decided to investigate the manipulative meow.
Domino has recently taken up this behavior too, though it's not clear why. Around five or six in the morning she suddenly gets all perky and wants everyone to pay attention to her. But the food bowl already has food in it, and that's not what she seems to be interested in anyway. She just wants attention. There's obviously something devious going on here, but I'm not sure what.
Anyway. On to catblogging. We recently acquired a new rocking chair, and it instantly became the new bestest thing in the world. Domino doesn't rock much, but she loves the chair. On the right, Inkblot is watching studiously as Domino crosses his field of vision. You can't be too careful around these parts.
It's the Attention, stupid
For the last few weeks of her life, Shadow had no appetite at all. But she would still chase me around the kitchen when I was in there fixing dinner, and would paw at me until I put some treats out for her. Once the treats were there, she would sniff them for a minute, and then go back to lying in her preferred spot, which was generally right in front of the stove where I needed to stand.
I miss her.
How long has she been gone?
Do you have other cats? Will you eventually get a new cat?
thanks for asking
Shadow died a couple of weeks ago. She was the last -- her sister went a few years ago. Soon we'll be off to the shelter for a new kitten.
Because even a cat that's afraid of mice, like Shadow was, is an indispensible early warning system. Not to mention the purring, the clawing, the hollering, and all the other cute things they do.
What's new pussycat? Woah,
What's new pussycat? Woah, Woah
What's new pussycat? Woah, Woah
Pussycat, Pussycat
I've got flowers
And lots of hours
To spend with you.
So go and powder your cute little pussycat nose!
Pussycat, Pussycat
I love you
Yes, I do!
You and your pussycat nose!
What's new pussycat? Woah, Woah
What's new pussycat? Woah, Woah
Pussycat, Pussycat
You're so thrilling
And I'm so willing
To care for you.
So go and make up your cute little pussycat face!
Pussycat, Pussycat
I love you
Yes, I do!
You and your pussycat face!
What's new pussycat? Woah, Woah
What's new pussycat? Woah, Woah
Pussycat, Pussycat
You're delicious
And if my wishes
Can all come true
I'll soon be kissing your sweet little pussycat lips!
Pussycat, Pussycat
I love you
Yes, I do!
You and your pussycat lips!
You and your pussycat eyes!
You and your pussycat nose!
Cat Control
This is so true. Every morning when I get up my male Siamese starts to whine/meow and doesn't stop it until I "fill" his dish -- even if it already has food in it. I have to go through the motions of putting more food in before he will be quiet. He does the same thing when he wants other attention. He loves to lay on his back with his tummy bared and roll from side to side. He starts the whine/meow demanding that I come and rub his tummy. He loves to have his tummy rubbed. Don't put him in a car though. He starts the whine/meow and just increases in volume and intensity untl you can't help but start laughing. He gets so loud some times that I can hear him inside the house from OUTSIDE the house.
Cat reading
Thanks for the link to information about cat behavior (and for my weekly fix of cat pictures, of course!) I often tell my wife that our cat is not college material, but he is really, really good at being a cat. He knows an amazing amount of the kind of information that a cat finds useful. Anything not useful to a cat, he ignores.
He engages in learning, so it is a little bit unnerving when he finds a spot where he has several lines of sight and can see everything that goes on. We suspect that he is stalking us, in a benign way: He spends a huge amount of time observing our behavior, so that he can put himself in front of whatever food there may be.
Kitties rule
One of our cats, a Turkish Angora, likes to make sure I get up at 4:30 AM to make the train on time. How he knows the time is beyond me, it's not just the light in the sky, since he's punctual year round, even accounting for time changes from Daylight to Standard time.
The other, an American Shorthair, could not care less about getting me up on time (perhaps she's delegated that duty) but goes into full-throttle purr/nuisance mode if the catbox is not cleaned to her exacting specifications.
They've both trained us very well.
As someone put it, dogs have masters, cats have staff.
starvalating
Inkblot has the look that says "I starvalating, no one feeds me and beats me 6 times a day".
You sure you fed him Kevin?
?
"no one ... beats me six times a day"
Some would consider that a positive thing.
A condition of our marriage
A condition of our marriage is that there are no cats in the bedroom at night when I am there. If I would go out of town, fine. What I don't know won't bother me. But when I am there the bedroom door is closed and the cats can fucking burn themselves alive for all I care.
Also when my cat does that second food purr I merely laugh and either ignore him, or shove him if he is trying to rub his head against me. He gets his allotted amount of food and if he doesn't like it, tough it's what he is supposed to have each day. So cat tricks don't work on me because well, I hate cats.
Sigh
"A condition of our marriage . . . I hate cats."
I pity your spouse, your cats, and you.
Outside of my Significant Other, our cats are the best companions I could wish for.
Ridiculous. Cats are like
Ridiculous. Cats are like ex-girlfriends, demanding attention even when you are done with them, ungrateful arrogant and stupid, destructive and I will be damned to hell if I let a cat sit on my fucking head when I am trying to sleep.
No. I find it difficult to describe how annoyed the sycophantic hagiography cat owners indulge in constantly in regards to their cats makes me. I am the cat's master not the other way around and he is never going to forget it. Because cat's are idiots they usually forget things after about 5 seconds so I just have to remind him a lot.
a sudden astonishing discovery that we were not feeding him
Thersites!
I had a cat named Shadow and that's exactly how he spent the last few weeks of his life.
He was all black with green eyes and a white spot on his chest.
Wonderful pussycat, but he never purred when hungry. It was more like he'd have a sudden astonishing discovery that we were in some terrible danger of not feeding him and meowed with a benign exasperation.
small world
When "our" Shadow was too weak to meow she would still open her mouth and a little squeak would come out. Endearing and heartbreaking all at once.
Silent meow
Ah, the silent meow. My cat does that, now and then, even though he's healthy. It must be wrenching when the cat is in decline.
Condolences. You and Shadow enriched each other's lives; too bad it could not have continued forever.
The strange, dumb, big
The strange, dumb, big mammals that live with us don't know how to eat properly, so we demonstrate.
purring cats
I can't detect a difference in purrs in my two, but Azreal has taken to waking me up at around 6 a.m. Then as soon as she realizes I'm awake, she flings herself on me and purrs like crazy -- so cute I have to pet her, which is the ultimate result. If I stop, she flings herself on me again and looks at me with a "aren't I the cutest" look. How can I resist?
out door cat underrepresented in the blogsophere
Our 14 year old cat, Allegra, comes inside only to eat in summer. She sleeps in the garden, in the shade of the sunflowers. I would like to post a photo of her. How to do this? FC
I'm so sorry
Thersites, I'm so sorry for your loss. It sounds like you gave Shadow a wonderful life, and Shadow did the same for you.
thank you
like every cat, Shadow was a unique and cantankerous individual.
No matter WHAT position...
those two cats are posed in, they're both still huge. But, they are beautiful, so that beats all.
i saw that study
i saw the results fo that study elsewhere and thought: well, duh! who didn't know cats control their humans? apparently only the humans...
Peligro!
I thought that rocking chairs and tailed animals were a recipe for disaster (or at least disgruntled tailed animals). Things seem fine as long as the dynamic duo can sit atop the rocker, but what happens if they loiter nearby, waiting for a chance to jump up?
One of my cats, Professor
One of my cats, Professor Boots, will poke me in the face until I wake up. It's like he's saying, "Hey. Hey you. Yeah you. Wake up. C'mon, pet me. Yes you. "
Forgive the hijack, but...
I just have to mention how absolutely in awe of Tom Watson I am right now.
Thank you.
One day when he finally
One day when he finally expires Inkblot will make a fine rug.
Thanks for the link to
tagged as:- solution
- result
Thanks for the link to information about cat behavior (and for my weekly fix of cat pictures, of course!) I often tell my wife that our cat is not college material, but he is really, really good at being a cat. He knows an amazing amount of the kind of information that a cat finds useful. Anything not useful to a cat, he ignores.
He engages in learning, so it is a little bit unnerving when he finds a spot where he has several lines of sight and can see everything that goes on. We suspect that he is stalking us, in a benign way: He spends a huge amount of time observing our behavior, so that he can put himself in front of whatever food there may be.
tiffany jewelry
tiffany and co