• About
  • Privacy Policy
    • Cookie Policy
    • Disclosure
    • Disclaimer
  • Contact
  • Advertise
    • Cat Clout! Top Influencer.
    • Awards
    • Demographics
  • PR Friendly
  • Nav Social Menu

    • Facebook
    • Instagram
    • Pinterest
    • RSS
    • Twitter
    • YouTube

The Tiniest Tiger

  • Home
  • Gracey’s Story
    • Gracey’s Blog
    • The Tiniest Tiger’s Habitat
      • Bad Kitty
      • Lazy Leopard
      • Bossy Backyard Blue Jay
      • Great Horned Owl
    • Gracey’s Place of Refuge
    • Bissell MVP 2010
      • Bissell MVP Pet Photo Winner 2010
  • Conservation Cub Club
    • Wildlife Wednesday
    • Big Cat Cousins
      • Tigers
      • African lions
      • Jaguars
      • Leopards
      • Cheetahs
      • Puma
      • Smaller Big Cats
    • Small Paws United
      • Small Cat Projects
        • Anna Marie and Kaydee
        • PurrEver Ranch Sanctuary
        • Meow for Mango
        • Nosetaps for Nancy!
        • St. Francis Animal Rescue Center
  • Cat News
    • Reader Opinion Polls
    • Cat Health
    • Feline diabetes
    • Feline Nutrition
    • Water!
    • Litter Box News & Issues
  • Shop Triple T Studios
  • Product Reviews
    • Cat Comfort
    • Cat Food and Treats
    • Fountains & Dishes
    • Cat Litter
    • Cat Towers
    • Cat Toys
    • Cat Collars & ID
    • Cat Grooming
    • Cat Travel
    • Cleaning
    • For Cat Parents
      • Apparel
      • Books
  • Giveaways

The Cat’s Meow. The Evolution of the Manipulative Meow

Joanne's Blog· Smaller Big Cats

18 Jun
Eddie the manipulative meow

Eddie is an effective communicator with his soft, high pitched meow.

Your Cat’s Meow

The cat’s meow are most common in cat-to-human vocalizations, but they are rarely observed in cat-to-cat interaction. Vocal communication plays an important role in cat-human communication, in part because vocal communication is important to the human caretakers. The meow, in particular, seems to be associated with vocal communication between domestic cats and humans.

Animal rescue workers have observed that the vocalization is not present in unsocialized feral cats, but only appears on regular contact with  human caretakers. Although some wild felids meow as juveniles, they rarely vocalize the call in adulthood. The exception to this rule is the adult African wild cat but unlike our domestic cats, the observed  wild cat meows were not directed at humans, but at the general environment.

The African Wild Cat and Our House Cats

African Wild Cat Green Leaves

African Wild Cat Image

In a study to test for the possibility of human influence on the meows in domestic cats, vocalizations by domestic cats (Felis catus) were compared with the cries of the African wild cat (Felis silvestris lybica), the domestic cat’s closest wild relative.  The study analyzed both the acoustic characteristics and perceptual studies with human listeners.  Humans were asked to rate the cat calls for pleasantness. In controlled listening conditions, and blind to the inclusion of calls from the two different cat species, human listeners judged domestic cat meows to be significantly more pleasant sounding than African wild cat calls given in comparable context.

Both the acoustic and perceptual comparisons showed clear species-level differences.  The domestic cat meows were shorter in duration and a higher frequency than the wild cat meows.  The humans listeners that participated in the study, regardless of their own experience and feelings for cats rated the domestic cat meows as far more pleasant sounding than the wild cat vocalizations. Domestic cats appear to meow at a higher pitch that sounds less threatening and more juvenile thus more appealing to human ears than the deeper pitched African wild cat calls.

 Cats Use the Manipulative Meow

Perhaps these results are due to domestic cats having learned over the course of their development which of their calls appeal to humans, whereas their wild counterparts have not. These results are consistent with a theory that domestic cats have adapted their vocalization to be more pleasing to their human caretakers. A more pleasant vocal communication strengthens  the cats’ ability to persuade  their caretakers into giving them what they desire. Thus the use of the term the manipulative meow.

You might also like our post:  Can You Understand Your Cat’s Purrs?  Listen and See.

Perceptual and Acoustic Evidence for Species-Level Differences in Meow Vocalizations by Domestic Cats (Felis catus) and African Wild Cats (felis silvestris lybica). Nicastro, Nicholas. Journal of Comparative Psychology 2004, Vol 118, No3. 287-296.

10 Comments

Previous Post: « Can You Understand Your Cat’s Purrs? Listen and See.
Next Post: How To Help Your Cat Stay Cool On Hot Days »

Primary Sidebar

Welcome to The Tiniest Tiger

Gracey for TTT
Hi, I'm Joanne and I love all cats. With a Global Field Master of Zoology degree focused on big cat conservation, I like to learn and talk about big cats too. I share my habitat with Paul and we were adopted by our cats Annie, Eddie and Mercy. The Tiniest Tiger has a fierce following of cat lovers and we'd love it, if you'd join us.

Join Team Cat!


Triple T Studios ~ Fashion With a Passion®

Our Books

our books ad with border

Light-a-Candle Memorial

candlelight vigil image
Light A Candle

The Tiniest Tiger

  • Log in
  • Entries feed
  • Comments feed
  • WordPress.org

Copyright © 2021 · Refined theme by Restored 316

This site uses cookies: Find out more.