Do you speak 'cat'?

[MissSueFlay]

My 9 month-old kitten is getting more chatty as she grows up, and I chat back to her, mimicking the sounds she makes to me. I sometimes wonder what I'm saying to her - is it a load of nonsense, do I have a really bad cat accent?
She does sometimes choose to engage in a proper back and forth conversation. Mostly she just looks at me with her expressionless face before walking off, leaving me wondering what I just said to her.

Cat tax paid.

She’s gorgeous!!
I chat a lot to my Bengal-tabby mix. We ‘meep’ to each other and he bounce-skips off. We have lovely chats. My beloved old man black cat thinks I’m a moron unless I’m brushing him or providing a good blanket lap so there is no chatting there. But we do have lovely slow love blinks 😁

I speak to my boy cat. I genuinely believe we're having some sort of conversation as we can go on for a good 5 minutes and I just know he's telling me how much he loves me!! 😂

Meow (Yes). I've definitely had conversations in cat. Normally repeating sounds I've heard the cat say. Revolves around working out if it's food or a poo that cat is talking about. Occasionally it's because cat wants to show me something exciting going on.

I chat back in English as I cannot chirrup, meep or chirp and most of the meows come over as very cross because I'm either very slow to feed or just stupid 😬but yes, we do chat. Have done this with my late rescue, and a couple of garden strays. This last stray makes really weird noises that I cannot even explain what they are 😂

The late Cheddar and I had proper conversations. She had an opinion on everything! She would sit on books I was trying to read. So we had some very in-depth conversations about Brutalism, and town planning. (I am aware I need to get out more) Maia was a diva and just issued orders, and Penelope is similar. 😂😂

I talk in English as well.

Yes, definitely.

You'll start to find you're genuinely communicating- you'll learn what her vocalisations mean & she'll start to learn certain words and intonations you make.

Love a chatty cat - it's a lovely relationship

I’ve read some amusing comments on MN, but “do I have a bad cat accent?” might be the best! There’s a meme where a human meows at their cat and the cat thinks: How could she have so many grammatical errors in one meow?

Oh and studies have shown animals do have accents :)

I like to burrrrup at my cat. She looks very offended when I do it though

I suspect you are telling her she has a fat butt in that fur coat and she hasn't even twirled around 🙀

She is a bit of a furry goblin

p.s WHERE IS THE CAT TAX EVERYONE?!

I chat to mine. She knows her name, word pouch and no. I read somewhere it was the tone they follow.

however after 12 years I know what her meows mean. The I am hungry to I want attention. She has just started to go outside and she now has a special meow to out now!!

I understand cat pretty well now and can decode at least 20 separate sentences, but my accent is awful

I'm very much aware that I'm doing the cat equivalent of loud, slow English with 'O's added to all the words in the belief that I'm speaking fluent Foreign, but I've always had conversations with my cats: prrtouts, meeps, karooos and waahs, plus love eye blinks. They either indulge me, stare blankly and stalk off. Big bruiser boy cat in particular has a range of very clear things to say that go:
Prout-prout! = hello! I found you!
Waaaaah = I'm here and someone should stroke me (or let me bite their hand)
Karooooo = bowls empty and I'm about to expire
Mimi! mimi! Mimi! = look at this great mouse I've bought you! Look, I'll let it go in the kitchen! It's brilliant!

I just chat back to mine in English. I fully believe we understand everything the other is saying.

I twice asked Magic to go and find Cheddar, when I couldn't find her. Paddington has just started to find his voice. He definitely understands what I'm saying to him.

Ah @Soubriquet you are right! Cat tax submitted

Zephyr (stripey)is a classic miaower- she also gives dainty little meeps, and we often have lengthy meep exchanges. Nemmypoof (floof) has a surprisingly deep voice and makes a lot of guttural mrrows. They will both appear if I stand in the living room and trill. Otherwise, I speak a kind of cat/ English pidgin to them.

The only communication of mine that stops little Tennyson doing What He Wants is a mummy type cat hiss.

ETA that was just after he'd used his cone to push everything off the coffee table.

Oh yes, I hiss at mine too. Which is generally ignored 🙄

This!
I wonder if she asks me 'Where has that little pink ball gone, do you know?' and I reply in the equivalent of a bad English person speaking French, 'I ordered a new laptop yesterday'
That's when I get The Look and she sashays off down the hall...

There's a fabulous cat on a neighbouring road who sits on the front garden wall of his house and will chat to anyone who goes past, like he really has things he wants to say to people. He starts as you approach, engages in a bit of back and forth (I tend to speak English to him), and wishes you well on your way when you leave.

My cat shouts when he comes in ‘‘mummy! Mummy! I’m home! Mummy!”
at least that’s what I think he’s saying

My little Spooky is becoming more vocal and I chat to her too! She has the Cone Of Shame on at the moment, as she was "done" the day before yesterday, because the two furry top speed rally drivers she provided us with, are quite enough! They're 9 weeks old now and Sabre, the little boy, wakes up, comes running up to me meowing, then starts purring... That's his way of asking to be stroked and hugged! His sister Suki is quite quiet, but I'm expecting that as they grow, things will become a lot louder! 🤣🤣🤣
Here they are greeting mummy when she came home from the vets!