If cats could talk, they wouldn’t.

– Nan Porter

Mr. Man is a talker. He’s always been a talker. When it’s just the two of us, he usually attempts to boss me from room to room with both meows and a sort of corralling walk, as if he’s herding me somewhere I really need to go but am too stupid to go on my own. If I’m not busy doing something or heading out somewhere, I just go with it.

According to this Associated Press article, meows are all for humans – cats don’t use them to communicate with each other. Cats also talk to us through blinking and tail movements. Mr. Man does this sometimes but mostly, he talks.

If he’s in the tub and wants to play, he howls. If I don’t come, he jumps out and hides in the living room where he wails again until I respond. When I give in and head to the bathroom, I am passed by a little black streak that hurls itself into the tub to await me.

Each day, when I leave in the morning, he waits until I brush my teeth and then starts walking around and crying to let me know I need to give him a treat before I go out the door. Whenever I come home from work, he walks around crying and leads me to the bedroom where he squats down the way he does when he wants me to pick him up. When I do, he purrs and grunts and most times tries to groom my face.

What about you? Do your kitties communicate?

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Source: AP: Cats chat with us through meows, blinks and roving whiskers