A study by researchers from Bilkent University in Ankara has revealed that communicate more distinctly with male owners, greeting them with loud meows.
Over more than 10,000 years of domestication, cats have learned to meow to get everything they need from their human “servants.” Now, scientists have surprisingly found that these animals address men with significantly louder “phrases” than they do with women. According to the researchers, this could be another form of feline manipulation aimed at attracting attention.
“This shows that cats are not automatons and possess cognitive abilities that help them adapt to life alongside humans,” said Kaan Kerman, a co-author of the study, in an interview with Live Science.
Despite their reputation as aloof and unfriendly creatures, cats are actually very sociable. They easily fit into various social groups, the scientists noted.
“For some time, both in public consciousness and within the scientific community, there was a belief that cats are solitary animals that do not need social connections. However, they are much more social than previously thought. Cats interact with people not just for food; they actively seek social contact and willingly establish bonds with their caregivers,” Dr. Kerman explained.
Greeting is a key part of this social activity, as it helps strengthen the bond between domestic cats (Felis catus) and their owners. This was noted by the researchers in their report for the journal Ethology.
What Did the Team Discover?
The animal psychologists equipped 31 cat owners with cameras and asked them to record the first 100 seconds of interaction with their cats upon returning home.
The video recordings showed that when owners entered their homes, cats reacted significantly more actively to men than to women. Taking into account various factors such as the animals’ sex, breed, and the number of cats in the household, the researchers found that the owner’s gender was the only significant factor influencing feline vocalizations.
The scientists suggested that this result might be related to the fact that women generally communicate more verbally with their cats and better understand what they want. Meanwhile, men may require more cues before they start giving their pets enough attention.
The team also believes that cultural factors may have influenced the results. Previous studies have shown that people from different cultures interact with cats in various ways. In this case, the study participants were in Turkey, and it’s possible that local men communicate less with their cats. However, this assumption requires further investigation.
The researchers acknowledged that the study had certain limitations, including a small sample size and the fact that participants were from a single region. The animal psychologists also noted that other potentially important factors, such as the cats’ hunger level after their owners returned, the number of other people in the house, or the duration of time the animals were left alone, were not taken into account.
“An important next step is to replicate these findings in different cultural contexts,” Dr. Kerman said.
Meanwhile, Dennis Turner, director of the Institute of Applied Ethology and Animal Psychology in Switzerland, who was not involved in the study, expressed his amazement at the research team’s findings. He agreed with the scientists that louder and more frequent meowing directed at men is a sign of cats’ social flexibility.
Photo: Unsplash
