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[-] jewbacca117@lemmy.world 168 points 5 months ago

cats absolutely meow to other cats

[-] somethingsomethingidk@lemmy.world 98 points 5 months ago

From wikipedia

Adult cats rarely meow to each other. Thus, an adult cat meowing to human beings is generally considered a post-domestication extension of meowing by kittens: a call for attention.

[-] Auli@lemmy.ca 2 points 5 months ago* (last edited 5 months ago)

Cats are not domesticated though or not fully domesticated. They are tame.

[-] sparkle@lemm.ee 6 points 5 months ago* (last edited 5 months ago)

this is a stupid take especially considering that "tame" usually literally just means domesticated

  1. Not or no longer wild; domesticated

adjective: 1. (of an animal) not dangerous or frightened of people; domesticated.

verb: domesticate (an animal).

reduced from a state of native wildness especially so as to be tractable and useful to humans : DOMESTICATED

in fact the first definition for "tame" in every dictionary i've looked up just has the word "domesticated" as the meaning for tame. "domesticate" and "tame" are also indirectly cognates, they both ultimately derive from PIE *dem(h₂), just "domesticate" is Latinate and "tame" is Germanic, but that's more of a fun fact than a relevant indicator of meaning.

we selectively bred cats to fit our wants/needs, they live in our house and pester us to support their lifestyle, what about that isn't domestication

[-] grrgyle@slrpnk.net 51 points 5 months ago

My cats meow at each other sometimes, especially when surprised or trying to pick a fight, but it's very different than how they meow at me. And they seem to favor non verbal cues with each other as well.

[-] LemmyLogin@lemmy.world 42 points 5 months ago

Domesticated cats meow much more than wild ones do, since they’ve learned to do it for us. Cat mothers chirp to their kittens. So while yes, they do, the tweet is right; cats meow to get our attention, and they meow at about the same frequency as babies.

[-] SuperSaiyanSwag@lemmy.zip 31 points 5 months ago* (last edited 5 months ago)

I believed the tweet for a second, but then I remembered all the times I have woken in middle of the night with the gangs of cats outside my street just meowing to each other

Edit: I am wrong, I looked up Yowling and that’s definitely what I heard, not meowing.

[-] Soku@lemmy.world 43 points 5 months ago

Those cats on the street are not meowing, they are yowling. That's a holler to intimidate or to fight, over a territory or hot ladies. That's not a meow for a human to fill the food bowl or give scritches or something else tame and domestic.

[-] Swedneck@discuss.tchncs.de 7 points 5 months ago

it's honestly ever so slightly worrying that people would think yowling and meowing are the same thing, they can be sorta similar sure but yowls literally sound like a human voice and are slightly unnerving because of it.

It's like a parent thinking a baby's laughter and screaming are the same thing, that's.. not a good sign..

[-] Ephera@lemmy.ml 7 points 5 months ago

Maybe "meow" is cat language for "filthy peasant", so they're using it to insult each other and to address us.

[-] DickFiasco@lemm.ee 4 points 5 months ago

This is the only explanation that makes sense.

[-] TachyonTele@lemm.ee 1 points 5 months ago

/glass of water falls off the table

[-] jose1324@lemmy.world 9 points 5 months ago

They don't, they chatter and chirp. But not full meows.

[-] TachyonTele@lemm.ee 6 points 5 months ago

Do they though?

[-] johannesvanderwhales@lemmy.world 4 points 5 months ago

Not generally in the wild. Domesticated cats are much more vocal.

this post was submitted on 15 May 2024
851 points (100.0% liked)

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