Recent investigations indicate that felines appear to vocalize more frequently towards male custodians than female ones. This phenomenon may be attributed to men’s tendency to exhibit a more detached approach when engaging with their pets.
The research, spearheaded by a cohort from Ankara University in Türkiye, involved the analysis of video recordings from 31 distinct cat owners. Each participant was tasked with documenting their cat’s responses upon their return home, with the instruction to maintain their usual demeanor.
“Our findings revealed that cats communicated vocally with greater frequency towards male caretakers, whereas no other demographic attribute exerted a discernible influence on the rate or length of their greeting behaviors,” state the investigators in their peer-reviewed publication.
A comprehensive assessment encompassed 22 distinct behavioral categories, including yawning (frequently indicative of feline stress) and actions related to sustenance (such as approaching their food receptacles). The researchers observed that only the vocalizations demonstrated variation contingent upon the owner’s gender.
Two primary clusters of actions were observed to commonly co-occur: social interactions (encompassing behaviors like erect tails and affectionate rubbing) and displacement activities (such as body shaking and self-grooming). The researchers posit that this dual presentation serves as evidence of the multifaceted communication signals cats deploy when acknowledging an individual’s presence.
The frequency of vocalizations did not exhibit a strong correlation with either of these behavioral groupings, suggesting that this aspect of communication is managed independently by the cats and is not necessarily tied to other factors examined in the study, such as a desire for food or missing the owner.
While the research team did not delve extensively into the underlying motivations for this specific behavior, they have proposed several hypotheses. These include the observation that women tend to provide their cats more focused attention, generally demonstrate a superior ability in interpreting feline emotional states, and are more inclined to emulate feline vocalizations.
“Consequently, it is conceivable that male caregivers necessitate more direct vocal expressions to acknowledge and address their cats’ requirements, which in turn reinforces the cats’ propensity to employ more targeted and frequent vocalizations to capture their attention,” conclude the researchers.
Although this study involved a comparatively modest cohort of cat owners, all hailing from the same geographical region, its reliance on recorded observations provides a distinct advantage over numerous other pet-related studies that depend on owner self-reporting of animal conduct.
Furthermore, this work enhances the existing body of knowledge concerning cats’ adeptness at utilizing their meows to solicit attention, convey affection, and articulate discontent. It also suggests that felines may not be as indifferent to our displays of affection as their demeanor might occasionally imply.
Our domesticated feline companions have coexisted with humans for millennia, yet scientific inquiry continues to uncover novel insights into how they perceive us and how we, in turn, can foster more effective interspecies communication.
“These discoveries imply that the ways cats greet individuals are multifaceted, may signify varied motivational or emotional conditions, and can be influenced by external elements such as the caregiver’s gender,” articulate the researchers.
