Cats does not communicate with words, but with sound and noises. Their anatomical limitation does not allow them to create much vocalization like human do. Cats,and other animals cannot speak as we do because the voice box is too high in the throat. Understanding what your cat is trying to communicate to you is a great step towards achieving a satisfying relationshihp with your pet, as well as keeping it a happy member of your family.
The more you talk to your cat, the more it talks to you and you'll eventually begin to understand one another. This will also entice your cat to become even more expressive.
Since your cat does not speak like humans do, communicating through normal speech is not an option. Therefore, it's important to understand how a cat communicates.
By looking at certain feline behaviors and vocal patterns, you will start to understand what your cat is telling you. Every cat noises contains meanings & intentions.
Believe it or not, cats can make over 100 vocal sounds. Typcially, a cat is going to meow at a human when it wants something. Whether it is food, attention, to go out or come in, even please clean my litterbox because it is starting to look like raisin bran in there. When you hear the cat meow, look at where it is standing or sitting and whether it might be motioning to something. If you cat is sitting in front of its food bowl, you can be fairly sure it wants food-supper time or not. If the cat is meowing near its toys, it's play time.
Although there are numerous subtle variations in the sounds that a domestic cat will make, there are only seven basic messages that they try to tell you:
Anger. Adult cats become very noisy when fighting, this will include snarling, growling, wailing and howling. All these forms of signal are given a different name, but carry the same message, 'Get lost, or I will attack you!'
Fear. When cornered, a cat will perform a yowling noise. The message is: 'I am scared, but do not push me too far or I will turn on you anyway.' If pushed further, it will lash out and probably hiss and spit.
Pain. If a cat is in great pain it will scream in a way that is understood by any human being.
Wanting attention. 'Miaow' can say many different things in many contexts, but will always have the same basic message, ' I want your attention.' In wild cats it more or less disappears when they reach adulthood, with domestic cats it persists throughout their life. It originates from when they were kittens, letting their mother know when they needed help, and they will use it like pseudo-kittens towards their human owners. They will build on it, developing it into many different miaows, modified to suit each occasion.
Asking you to follow. A soft chirruping noise is made when your cat wants you to follow, this comes from when the mother cat wants her kittens to come to her or to follow. It may also be used as a greeting, when she has been away from the litter for a while. This noise is often made while the cat is on the move and about to go towards the place they expect their food to be.
Inoffensiveness. That wonderful purring sound is your cat telling you that it is in a non-hostile mood, and is equivalent to our smile.
Ready to Kill. When a cat is on the prowl and has spotted its prey it will often make a clicking noise with its teeth. they also use a variant of this when seeing a bird through a window.
It is worth noting that purring noises do not only reflect happiness and relaxation, but can also reflect extreme discomfort of sorts. For example, some very scared semi-feral cats will purr when handled or examined, even as they are struggling and fighting.
There are many variants and subdivisions of expression made by domestic felines, but these are the seven most important.
Cats also employ a language of high-intensity sounds that they mainly use among themselves to either scare off another cat or entice one to them. They can growl, snarl, hiss, spit, shriek, and wail to get a specific point across.
