My cat Marty is a regular contributor on our sister site, myjoyofliving.com. He likes to write blog posts to educate humans on the best ways to interact with cats. In the recent blog post, Marty gave us some insight on effective communication with cats. Check out Marty’s insights below:
I have spent some time observing dogs and humans interacting, and it always amuses me how dogs enjoy and understand such simple commands as “Sit;” “Stay;” “Down;” and “Fetch.”
However, do you know how to communicate with your cat? We do tend to be a bit more advanced intellectually than dogs, so it takes more than just a simple, monosyllabic grunt on your part to get our attention
As the folks at catster.com wrote, when you communicate with cats, it is less the words you use and more the tone and body language you employ when you utter those words.
For example, if you command us to get “down” from the couch, if you smile and use a singsong voice, we will probably ignore you. However, if you use a stern facial expression, along with a hand gesture pointing down to the ground, we will probably get the message in time.
The secret is to be consistent! We are also likely to respond to a sharp hissing sound of “NO!” if we are doing something very wrong and you want to correct our behavior. We get that message loud and clear. (We tried it on the dog once. It fell upon deaf ears.)
If your cat is annoying you while you are trying to do work or some other task, respond with a firm “No,” and then gently push him away. If you say this with a sweet tone and a loving caress, we will most likely stick around.
So, just remember…consistency is key…firm tone along with stern facial expression and hand gestures to get one point across….and a sweet smile, along with a singsong voice and a loving touch, and then we will know treats are on the way!
Have fun! Enjoy communicating with your cat. Now, I am off to my enormous task of doing nothing, so if I hiss at you should you interrupt, I trust you will know to back off and give me space! This communication stuff works both ways, you know!
Written by Karen
