The meow is one of the forms of communication characteristic of cats. This sound so typical of them has multiple variants, which will depend on what our cat wants to "tell" us. There will be cats that are more or less "talkative" and, among those that are more inclined to communicate in this way, we will have the opportunity to observe a wide repertoire of sounds.
It will be our job to learn to interpret them and, therefore, to communicate with our partner. In this article on our site we are going to explain the meaning of some of the most common meows. Why does my cat meow when I pet it? Find out below!
Cat meows and their meaning
As we have mentioned, meowing is going to be a very important form of communication for cats who most want to interact with us, since this sound is more used in relationships with humans than with other cats. To answer the question of why a cat meows when petted, we must first know the meanings of the most common meows.
These are as follows:
- Greeting: is the typical meow that our cat emits when we get home or when he meets us. It will have a happy tone.
- Request: it is an insistent and very clear meow. Especially if the cat wants to get something in a very intense way, for which he will use a high tone and will not stop until he does not get it or gives up (which is usually rare!)
- Surprise: is a brief meow, similar to a "scream", that our cat will produce at the sight of something that it interests and pleases him, such as when we approach him with his favorite food.
- Heat: if we have a whole cat, that is, not sterilized, when she goes into heat, which can happen at any time of the year, it will emit some meows in a very high pitch, insistent and almost like a scream. Sterilization puts an end to this behavior.
- Conversation: there are cats that especially like to interact with humans and are capable of establishing a "dialogue" with us, way that they meow in "response" to our comments, being able to follow the "conversation" for minutes.
- Wake-up call: when our cat is bored or needs our contact, it can emit a soft meow, which perhaps evokes us the one with which the cat communicates with her young.
- Location: also remembering the mother's relationship with her young, our cat can meow, in a high tone, when is locked up somewhere or even if he has lost sight of us.
- Help: Sometimes a sick or injured cat may request our attention with a meaningful meow, which will vary depending on its state, being able to acquire a more or less serious and deep tone.
- Disgust: when our cat is in a situation that makes him uncomfortable he will meow in protest. It is the one we can hear when, for example, we lock him in the carrier to go to the vet or, in some cases, when we leave him alone.
Petting our cat
Having seen the meanings of some of the most common meows, let's see what happens when we touch our cat to find out why it meows when we pet it. Some cats are reluctant to these contacts and therefore we must respect them and never force them. The pattern we can follow to pet a cat is as follows:
- Head: cats accept, and the most affectionate ask for, petting on the head, to the sides, between and behind the ears and down the neck.
- Loin: This is also an area they like, especially towards the end of it, before the start of the queue. Some even react by moving their front legs as if "kneading", a behavior that is reminiscent of their time as a baby, when they performed this action when suckling to stimulate the release of milk.
- Paws: Cats don't usually like to have their paws or feet touched, as they are very sensitive, so it's we better avoid it.
- Barriga: red alert zone, most cats do not allow their belly to be touched, as it is a very vulnerable part of his body. They may react by running away or even grabbing your hand with their paws or mouth.
Bearing in mind the feline language and the aspects that we have explained, we are going to see the reasons why a cat meows when we caress it.
Meows and caresses
We must bear in mind that the first and most important thing is to get to know our cat in order to understand the meaning of his meows, since that each cat will develop with us its own language. So, why my cat meows when I pet her is usually due to what we can consider a " feedback".
The cat is comfortable with our caresses and reacts with begging meows to ask us to continue. Sometimes they even emit a kind of beep, a sign of pleasure and happiness, in addition to the purr that will be typical in this situation. If we stop petting it, it is likely to meow with more intensity to ask us to continue, while rubbing its head and back against our hands or legs. In any case, although this is the most common behavior, cats are not an exact scienceand therefore we must observe our partner to determine the keys to communication of him with us
