Question
I have a cat that seems to get upset every time I joke about giving him away. He won't even get near me and he won't let me carry him.
Do they, like, read our body languages or something?
Answer
Caveat: this is all based on my experience with cats.
They can learn to associate certain sounds (words) with particular concepts. My cats know what the words "feed the cats" mean. It's hard to say what their effective vocabulary is, but they do understand some words.
They are also very sensitive to tone of voice and body language - given how much of a cat's communication occurs via body language this is hardly surprising. Every cat I've lived with knew when it was being teased or laughed at, and all of them hated it (I think this is why people say cats are "proud" - they really do not like being teased or laughed at).
If I had to guess, I'd say that your cat recognizes from your body language and tone that
- You're speaking to/about him; and
- You're teasing him.
He doesn't like it.
(Oh, all the cats I've had figured out fairly quickly that "I'm sorry" means I'm trying to make up with them. I don't know how that translates to communications and mental states, but actually saying "I'm sorry" will get me forgiven (they stop avoiding me or shunning me) by the cat I offended faster than not saying it).
Answered By - Kate Paulk