Hey Aris - your cat pwns you

Cat owners may have suspected as much, but it seems our feline friends have found a way to manipulate us humans.

Researchers at the University of Sussex have discovered that cats use a "soliciting purr" to overpower their owners and garner attention and food.

Unlike regular purring, this sound incorporates a "cry", with a similar frequency to a human baby's.

The team said cats have "tapped into" a human bias - producing a sound that humans find very difficult to ignore.

Dr Karen McComb, the lead author of the study that was published in the journal Current Biology, said the research was inspired by her own cat, Pepo.

"He would wake me up in the morning with this insistent purr that was really rather annoying," Dr McComb told BBC News.

"After a little bit of investigation, I discovered that there are other cat owners who are similarly bombarded early in the morning."

While meowing might get a cat expelled from the bedroom, Dr McComb said that this pestering purr often convinced beleaguered pet lovers to get up and fill their cat's bowl.

To find out why, her team had to train cat owners to make recordings of their own cats' vocal tactics - recording both their "soliciting purrs" and regular, "non-soliciting" purrs.

"When we played the recordings to human volunteers, even those people with no experience of cats found the soliciting purrs more urgent and less pleasant," said Dr McComb.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/8147566.stm

cats rule. i cant wait to own one again, someday.

lol -- i read that yesterday.

my cat has gone WAAAAAY beyond specialized purring, though. she has a routine that goes like this:

wakes up (sleeps near the end of my bed)
checks her food dish
comes back
jumps up and sits right next to my face
does a lip smack thing
if that doesn't work, she walks back and forth across my pillow
if that doesn't work (though it most often does), she will hop up on my chest and hop off repeatedly.

also, i messed up my back a couple of months ago, and she had zero sympathy.

aris post pics of your cat(s)

she refuses to make eye contact with me.

That sounds about right.

Jasmine won't look at me when I pull out my camera...she's got bad cataracts and can't really see, but the flash has bothered her in the past. So even if I'm not using the flash, when she hears the camera power on or the focus mechanism whir up, she turns her head.

yeah, i hear that. i always keep the flash off. cats hate it.

Awww, Aris' kitty

Interesting that it sleeps on the dining room table...

that's one of her spots, because she likes the sun.

my cat liked to sit on the windowsill and bask in the sun. so thats where we keep his ashes now.

cats love the sun. it'll be 80 degrees here, and she's lie right in the sun.

awwww

This is soooooooooooooooooooooooooo my cat.

oh, yes. i can count on a visit from mine, if she's not sleeping.

my brothers' cats just open the slide door, jump in the bathroom, and sit on your lap while you're taking a shit.

my cat won't try to open doors. i'm not sure why. like 999999.999% of all cats try to open any door they can.

Aristotle wrote:oh, yes. i can count on a visit from mine, if she's not sleeping.

I am on a schedule. For some reason, I have to duce the same time every day, which is typically when I get home from work. My cat knows this. He greats me at the door then walks into the bathroom and waits for me.

Ascona wrote:my brothers' cats just open the slide door, jump in the bathroom, and sit on your lap while you're taking a shit.

Talon wrote:

Aristotle wrote:oh, yes. i can count on a visit from mine, if she's not sleeping.

I am on a schedule. For some reason, I have to duce the same time every day, which is typically when I get home from work. My cat knows this. He greats me at the door then walks into the bathroom and waits for me.

You need to post another pic of him. What about the girl cat? Did you get rid of her? I know you two didn't get along.

yeah, my aunt's cat would always come and visit me in the bathroom.

It would always wait a minute to see if i was showering, peeing, or pooping before ramming the door to come in.

Talon wrote:

Aristotle wrote:oh, yes. i can count on a visit from mine, if she's not sleeping.

I am on a schedule. For some reason, I have to duce the same time every day, which is typically when I get home from work. My cat knows this. He greats me at the door then walks into the bathroom and waits for me.

i used to be on the schedule as well.

when i had a job.

xtine wrote:

Talon wrote:

Aristotle wrote:oh, yes. i can count on a visit from mine, if she's not sleeping.

I am on a schedule. For some reason, I have to duce the same time every day, which is typically when I get home from work. My cat knows this. He greats me at the door then walks into the bathroom and waits for me.

You need to post another pic of him. What about the girl cat? Did you get rid of her? I know you two didn't get along.

I almost forgot how epic he was on this forum because of his cuteness. We still have the female. Had I gotten rid of her, I think my g/f would have lopped my bag off in the middle of the night. The cat's a lot better than she used to be. But forget her, back to my boy!

Epic cuteness sample one:


Epic cuteness sample two:



....aaaaaaaaand cat.

Now if you will excuse me, I just got home from work and he is waiting.

I want to pet your kitty, Talon.

I miss having kitties.

xtine wrote:I want to pet your kitty, Talon.

You can have my kitty if I can have yours.