Cats seek to understand and manipulate their environment. As the most powerful and interactive part of their environment, it’s only natural we should be the target of much of their study and attention.

If we aren’t… it’s probably our own fault.

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If we are not viewing our cat’s activities through a framework of communication, many of our cats’ attempts to reach us will be dismissed or ignored. This has two bad outcomes; we aren’t figuring out that our cats really are trying to communicate with us, and it can make our cats conclude we aren’t bright enough to be worth the effort.

Even our cat’s most assertive and compatible communication method, direct verbal requests, are often regarded as “yet another” request for food. If it’s near mealtime, they are given food, and if it’s not mealtime, they are scolded for being a nag about it. But how do we know that’s what they are asking for?

Even if we have progressed enough in our cat relationship to understand their “food cry,” it can still be the case that they don’t necessarily want food. We might have trained them that the “food cry” means we will get up and do something far more reliably than other methods.

Once we are on our feet, our cat might have something else to tell us. If we are not open to this possibility, our cat cannot make it happen.

Underestimating our cat’s abilities will limit our cat’s abilities.

It can be a trap we fall into when we assume that since our cat’s needs are simple and direct, their ways of asking for them are direct and simple. And we’re done.

Well, that wasn’t the point of getting a cat, I hope. I hope the impetus was companionship.

Otherwise, we might as well get the keychain version where we have to press a button every so often. Cats are living, thinking, feeling beings, and are not only more complicated than keychains, they should be far more fun.

So the next time the cat asks for something, open a dialogue. Express our willingness to listen. Follow them to where they want to go, or walk to the toybox to see if we can give them a play session instead of a treat.

Let the cat know we are interested in more than just opening a can, or not. When we do that, we let the cat have a chance to really speak up.

And find out what they have to say.

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