A study by researchers from Bilkent University in Ankara revealed that cats 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 what they need from their human “servants.” Now, researchers have found that these animals direct significantly louder vocalizations at men than at women. According to the team, this could be another form of feline manipulation aimed at getting 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, cats are actually very social. 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 behavior, because it helps strengthen the bond between domestic cats (Felis catus) and their owners. The researchers noted this 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 when the owners returned home.
The video recordings showed that when owners entered their homes, cats reacted significantly more actively to men than to women.
After accounting for factors such as the cats’ sex, breed, and the number of cats in the household, the researchers found that the owner’s gender was the only significant factor influencing the cats’ vocalizations.
The scientists suggested that this result might be related to the fact that women generally communicate more verbally with their cats and are better at understanding what the animals want. Men, on the other hand, may require more cues before they start giving their pets 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 different ways. Because this study’s participants were in Turkey, it’s possible that local men communicate less with their cats — but that idea needs more research.
The researchers acknowledged limitations in the study, including a small sample size and the fact that participants came from a single region. The animal psychologists also noted that other potentially important factors were not measured, such as the cats’ hunger level when their owners returned, how many other people were in the house, and how long the animals had been left alone.
“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, said he was amazed by the findings. He agreed with the researchers that louder and more frequent meowing directed at men is a sign of cats’ social flexibility.
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