4 ms·
I only have anecdotal evidence to back this up but I think dogs and cats are generally as well behaved as their owners force them to. I'm not one to be lax on d
by smokinn 17y ago
I only have anecdotal evidence to back this up but I think dogs and cats are generally as well behaved as their owners force them to. I'm not one to be lax on discipline either and I've never had much of a problem with anyone's pets, even ones that are normally unruly that I have to babysit. They typically learn very fast that the stuff they used to get away with isn't working and they have to be well behaved to get what they want.
Your cat may have tried the baby meow bit in the past, realized it didn't work and moved on.
What will be very interesting is if you have a baby in the future, listen to the cat to see if it starts imitating the baby's cry. If this study's conclusion are in fact correct I imagine it's likely to happen.
- randallsquared 17y agoThe "baby meow" is just an anxiety meow. "Look, I'm a kitten, and I need something Right Now," it says. I don't think it's intentional in the sense that they'll try it and stop using it if it doesn't work (except in the sense that they might stop interacting with you at all if you pay no attention to them, give them no food, etc).
- litewulf 17y agoSimilar things actually work on babies. That is, if you respond immediately when a baby starts crying it will learn to cry when it needs attention. If you let it cry for a bit, the baby will learn not to do that. (This is actually not as unethical as I'm making it sound. Basically it has to do with attachment styles and teaching the kid not to be clingy. Generally you do things like this if the baby is waking up and crying at night. Of course, I'm not a parent, so this is just based on what I've read.)