Scientists May Have Unlocked ‘Catcalling’ Secret, Try This With Your Cats To See If It Works

French researchers found that cafe cats approached a human stranger the fastest when they used vocal and visual cues to get their attention.

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Favourite pets of many, cats have always had a reputation for being wayward and independent.

Meaning trying to sway one to come your direction might just prove to be more of a challenge than expected.

However, cat lovers can now rejoice as a group of scientists may have just found the best way to catch your kitty’s attention.

The team of experts found that cats living at a cat cafe responded most quickly to a human stranger when the stranger used both vocal and visual cues to get their attention.

The cats also appeared to be more stressed out when the human ignored them completely.

The study, which was conducted by a team of French researchers at the Paris Nanterre University’s Laboratory of Compared Ethology and Cognition, analysed the behaviour of 12 cats living at a cat cafe.

The cats were placed in a room, one by one, and put through four different types of interactions.

Led by Charlotte de Mouzon, the cats would enter a room and then de Mouzon interacted with them in one of four ways:

She called out to them but made no gestures toward them otherwise, like extending out her hand;
she gestured toward them but didn’t vocalise;
she both vocalised and gestured toward them;
and, in the fourth, control condition, she did neither.

Through these four ways, they were able to understand that the cats were significantly more responsive to visual gestures along with sounds.

Another intriguing find was that the cats wagged their tails more often in the vocal cue scenario and the most in the control scenario, when they were being fully ignored.
Showing that the cats were showing signs of stress unlike dogs that might wag their tails out of happiness.

Additionally, the study also found that much like humans, cats might also feel discomfort when they can’t easily read the intentions of someone else in a room.

To cat lovers who want to read the full study, you may do so here.

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