Anyone have a cat that speaks? English?

[Sanity Claws]

I have two cats but one is noticeably more intelligent than the other. There are times when I think he is trying to talk to me, in English. Don't worry -- I'm not writing this from a padded cell. Last night in the middle of the night, I'll swear he cried out Hello (as a cat would, Eell-ow; he can't do "h"). It seemed he wanted to know where everyone was. Other times, he has called me "mom." (He still has cat vocal cords and can only do so much.)
He understands that speech is communication. Last year, he caught a mouse, killed it, and wanted to bring it in the house to play with it. I kept telling him, The mouse can't come in the house. He was trying to figure out what I wanted, then figured it, dropped the mouse on the front step, and walked in the house.
Anyone else care to admit that they think their pet is talking to them, in English?

[El Fuego]

1. Sometimes it seems like cats try to imitate the cadence of your voice.

If you think about it, cats don't really meow much or "speak" to each other. So when they make sounds like that, it's seems like they're trying to communicate with people.

When I feed my cat, I ask her if she wants her food now, and she responds "NOW!" And I say "Now?" and she says "NOW!!"

It's true.

[Sanity Claws]

2. Interesting

I'm actually going to teach Now to my cat. Good to know someone else has a similar experience.

[opihimoimoi]

3. My cat tells me when he wants OUT....i open the door and he bolts outdoors

when he wants in...he meows his call and I open the door..

That friggen cat got ME TRAINED....

[Sanity Claws]

8. Same here

My second cat tells me when he wants in or out with non-verbal cues. They have me trained too!

[opihimoimoi]

14. I got a blue Siamese.....he sometimes scratches the screen for a signal he

wants in or out...

Meooow

[TimeChaser]

4. My spoiled baby does that all the time.

"Kitty want food?" "Now" "Really" "Nooooooow!"

[DELUSIONAL]

5. There's a parrot called Alex -- who understands words

and knows the meanings of the words he uses.

Research has shown that some dogs understand words -- 250 plus words.

So why wouldn't cats understand words? And if a parrot can use words -- why wouldn't a cat be able to learn words and try to communicate with us dumb humans who refuse to talk cat?

I now have a Japanese Bobtail cat who is trying to shape his meows into sounds that I can understand -- I learned from his breeder that he started practicing making sounds when he was a tiny kitten. He is an exceptional cat -- very smart. He can also tell time and lets me know when it's time to take the dog for a walk-- he comes along for our walks.

I fully believe that some cats are smart enough to understand words and some will even attempt to make sounds that we understand -- if parrots can -- cats should have this ability also.

[Sanity Claws]

9. I like your reasoning

I was freaked out by hearing the cat say something that sounded like Hello. I guess I should have realized.

[ScreamingMeemie]

6. Merlin can copy my son's voice calling Mom exactly. Many a night

I jumped up and opened the bedroom door to find him there, calling me. He also says "help". :hi:

[Sanity Claws]

10. Ooh, that's scary.

You must be anxious for your son's voice to break so you can tell him and the cat apart. ;)

[trackfan]

7. My dog says several words

or at least tries to. He's very good at "Wine" and "I want" and "burger" (sounds more like rer-rer).

[Sanity Claws]

11. I used to think that dogs had larger vocabularies

than cats. I had a dog and was astounded at how much he understood. Sometimes I got self conscious about what I said in front of him. I'm now starting to think my cats are just as good at words but show it differently.

[Der Blaue Engel]

12. Is he by any chance Siamese?

Siamese are very vocal and very smart. I had one years ago that I swear called me Mom. It was a very different sound from his general meow, and he would do it when prompted with "where's mom?" or when he was looking for me.

[Sanity Claws]

13. No, pure shelter kittie

We guess he might be half Maine Coon. He's got the shorter legs and bushy tail of a Maine Coon but his fur is medium length, not long like a full-bred Maine Coon. He's also a little bigger than your regular domestic kitty.

[Der Blaue Engel]

15. Ah, Maine Coon's are very smart too

My ex had one growing up that herded the rest of the cats and dogs in the house and kept them in line. Also guarded the house at night, and basically lived outside but came in to eat and check on things. Although he almost never meowed.

[ironflange]

16. We have a talker

The one in the middle. She has a strange low yowl she uses sometimes, and it can sound like any one of our names. She'll call, and if the called person answers, she runs to him/her. It's weird. What's even weirder is that this cat is pretty well brain dead in most other respects.

Here's another pic, for good measure.

[Sanity Claws]

17. That's some picture

She doesn't seem too happy to be in that pink dress. LOL

[yellowdogintexas]

18. Thomas says "Owwwwt" when he want out

and it often sounds as if he is saying "Mee Now"

Lewis says "Right Now" I swear that is what he is saying.

Lewis is a real chatterbox anyway.