This week’s question comes from Donna C. of Massachusetts. Donna asks …
Question: Do cats communicate with each other?
Answer: There is some evidence that cats communicate based on the fact that they conspire together. Typically one cat creates a diversion
by knocking something over, eating something inappropriate, being excessively cute or, when all else fails, vomiting. While the owners are distracted,
another cat can get away with knocking something over, eating something inappropriate, being excessively cute or vomiting.
Beyond this, however, cats have been observed interacting with each other in various ways. The most common forms of intra-species
communication are staring, hissing, playful wrestling and sniffing each other’s butts. The staring, hissing and wrestling behaviors are
believed to be a kind of mock aggression as a rehearsal for actual combat. The butt sniffing is anyone’s guess.
Note that while cats exhibit a variety of behaviors for expressing themselves to humans and to each other, there is no evidence whatsoever
that they understand any of the responses.
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