<p>It seems that <a href="https://portal.research.lu.se/en/persons/susanne-sch%C3%B6tz/publications/" rel="nofollow noreferrer">Suzanne Schötz</a> is not in your reading list - she has done enough work on domestic cat meows to merit an <a href="https://improbable.com/2021/09/09/announcing-the-2021-ig-nobel-prize-winners/" rel="nofollow noreferrer">Ig Nobel Prize</a>! From <a href="https://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1007/978-3-030-30734-9_14" rel="nofollow noreferrer">&quot;Phonetic Variation in Cat–Human Communication&quot;</a> Schötz (2020):</p>
<blockquote>
<p>&quot;Although kittens mainly meow to get the attention or help from their mother, adult cats rarely meow towards other cats. Instead, meowing is one of the most common human-directed attention soliciting vocalisations. [...] Kittens often mew to solicit their mother’s attention, and adult cats may mew when they are in need of help. [...] Meows are often used in cat–human communication to get our attention, e.g. to solicit food or to negotiate a barrier (e.g. a closed door or window).&quot;</p>
</blockquote>
<p>This textbook chapter is not clear on the primary source for these assertions, but they seem to be generalised from a long-term research programme on domestic cat vocalisations.</p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2022-08-08T07:34:28.800Z
I haven't! It is encouraging that a specialist also makes these assertions. I wonder if the long-term study is Bradshaw and Cameron-Beaumont paper I can't seem to get a hold of...
etgriffiths
CC BY-SA 4.0
2022-08-06T15:50:34.523Z
2022-08-06T15:59:59.113Z
2022-08-06T15:59:59.113Z
Dan Stowell
<p>This is one of those little factoids that is tossed around a lot. Cats meow as a means to communicate with humans, and not really at each other. It's a fact passed around at parties or in pop sci articles like <a href="https://www.aspca.org/pet-care/cat-care/common-cat-behavior-issues/meowing-and-yowling#:%7E:text=The%20cat%27s%20meow%20is%20her,each%20other%2C%20just%20at%20people" rel="noreferrer">this</a> or <a href="https://www.livescience.com/why-cats-meow.html" rel="noreferrer">this</a>, which actually quotes an animal behaviorist but not any recent peer-reviewed work.  However, I can't seem to find scientific evidence of this.</p>
<p>The one paper I have been able to find that has been cited to <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0376635711000568" rel="noreferrer">support</a> this claim is from 2011 (Yeon et al., 2011). The paper doesn't really focus on cats meowing at one another, but rather that feral and domestic cats use different acoustic parameters and emit calls at different rates when they growl, hiss, and meow at different stimuli. While their sample size is rather small, I think they make a good argument for this.  However, they go on to say that feral cats meowed less than they growled or hissed in response to all stimuli, which supports the claim that cats don't meow at one another.</p>
<p>Here's the thing: the domestic cats in the study ALSO meowed less than they hissed or growled. In general, domestic cats were just less vocal and less scared than the feral ones.  Additionally, this is where their small sample size really becomes an issue, where they had 25 feral cats and 13 house cats in the study.</p>
<blockquote>
<p><em>In feral cats, 474 growls, 281 hisses, 37 meows and in house cats, 102 growls, 25 hisses, and 12 meows were analysed.</em></p>
</blockquote>
<p><a href="https://i.sstatic.net/eELm5.png" rel="noreferrer"><img src="https://i.sstatic.net/eELm5.png" alt="Fig. 2. Number of calls produced in 1 min by test situation for each group. aff is an affiliative or non-threatening stimulation. ago is an agonistic or threatening stimulation." /></a></p>
<p><em>Fig. 2. Number of calls produced in 1 min by test situation for each group. aff is an affiliative or non-threatening stimulation. ago is an agonistic or threatening stimulation.</em></p>
<p>They go on to say:</p>
<blockquote>
<p><em>In this study, the meow was exhibited in response to the approaching caretaker, stranger, doll, dog, and cat by feral cats, but meows were rare compared with other calls like growls and hisses. On the other hand, the house cat did not exhibit the meow except in response to the approach of a caretaker or stranger. Although the frequent of meow call was rare compared with other call types, this result in the house cat was similar to previous research results which were that meow was heard more frequently during cat-human interaction and very rarely heard during cat-cat interactions (Bradshaw and Cameron-beaumont, 2000, Brown, 1993).</em></p>
</blockquote>
<p>I found it odd that the paper currently being cited to support that cats don't really meow at one another cited two other papers (listed below) to support their point.  When I went to look them up, I found that the Bradshaw and Cameron-Beaumont paper isn't available online, and the Brown is an PhD dissertation on mostly the tactile actions of domesticated cat colonies, and olfactory communication. It only mentions meows in an appendix to define them as such:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>MI MIAOW   Cat makes a distinct miaow vocalisation when it appears to be trying to obtain something from another cat.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>This seems to be the opposite of what the original factoid is claiming.</p>
<p>Does anyone have any insight on this? Any other papers that I missed that can help explain whether or not this 'common knowledge' is actually true?</p>
<p><strong>References</strong></p>
<p>Bradshaw, J., Cameron-beaumont, C., 2000. The signalling repertoire of the domes-
tic cat and its undomesticated relatives. In: Turner, D.C., Bateson, P.P.G. (Eds.),
The Domestic Cat: The Biology of its Behaviour. Cambridge University Press,
Cambridge, pp. 71–72</p>
<p>Brown, S.L., 1993. The social behaviour of neutered domestic cats. Unpublished
doctoral dissertation. University of Southhampton, United Kingdom</p>
<p>Yeon, S.C.; Kim, Y.K.; Park, S.J.; Lee, S.S.; Lee, S.Y.; Suh, E.H.; Houpt, K.A.; Chang, H.H.; Lee, H.C.; Yang, B.G.; et al. Differences between vocalization evoked by social stimuli in feral cats and house cats. Behav. Process. 2011, 87, 183–189.</p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2022-08-04T12:05:06.527Z
Are the nightly "meeeeauuu" (sounds like a baby crying) a type of meow? If so, then I can report that everywhere I've lived cats spend a considerable amount of time meowing at each other. Also, mother cats meow all the time to their kittens (search youtube for examples, a search for "mother cat meowing to kittens" gives many hits)
Rasmus
CC BY-SA 4.0
2022-08-04T12:19:18.353Z
I mean, I think it does. And what your saying is often the argument I see in pop sci articles about it. Cats meow at their kittens, and that's why cats that were socialized early meow at us. But again, I can't actually seem to find reliable papers that have tested this.
etgriffiths
CC BY-SA 4.0
2022-08-04T12:48:25.280Z
Your question was "if cats meow at each other", they clearly do. Seems you actual question is more like "What is the function of meowing in cats, and how does domestication affect it?" I would suggest you edit your main question to get the attention of the right people.
Rasmus
CC BY-SA 4.0
2022-08-04T14:12:11.247Z
@Rasmus, that really isn't my question, but I will edit the title to be more clear.
etgriffiths
<terrestrial><air>
Is it true that cats don't really meow at each other, but rather at humans as a way to communicate?
# Is it true that cats don't really meow at each other, but rather at humans as a way to communicate?

(Asked by: username_0 on 2022-08-04)

This is one of those little factoids that is tossed around a lot. Cats meow as a means to communicate with humans, and not really at each other. It's a fact passed around at parties or in pop sci articles like [this](https://www.aspca.org/pet-care/cat-care/common-cat-behavior-issues/meowing-and-yowling#:%7E:text=The%20cat%27s%20meow%20is%20her,each%20other%2C%20just%20at%20people) or [this](https://www.livescience.com/why-cats-meow.html), which actually quotes an animal behaviorist but not any recent peer-reviewed work. However, I can't seem to find scientific evidence of this.

The one paper I have been able to find that has been cited to [support](https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0376635711000568) this claim is from 2011 (Yeon et al., 2011). The paper doesn't really focus on cats meowing at one another, but rather that feral and domestic cats use different acoustic parameters and emit calls at different rates when they growl, hiss, and meow at different stimuli. While their sample size is rather small, I think they make a good argument for this. However, they go on to say that feral cats meowed less than they growled or hissed in response to all stimuli, which supports the claim that cats don't meow at one another.

Here's the thing: the domestic cats in the study ALSO meowed less than they hissed or growled. In general, domestic cats were just less vocal and less scared than the feral ones. Additionally, this is where their small sample size really becomes an issue, where they had 25 feral cats and 13 house cats in the study.

> *In feral cats, 474 growls, 281 hisses, 37 meows and in house cats, 102 growls, 25 hisses, and 12 meows were analysed.*

[![Fig. 2. Number of calls produced in 1 min by test situation for each group. aff is an affiliative or non-threatening stimulation. ago is an agonistic or threatening stimulation.](https://i.sstatic.net/eELm5.png)](https://i.sstatic.net/eELm5.png)

*Fig. 2. Number of calls produced in 1 min by test situation for each group. aff is an affiliative or non-threatening stimulation. ago is an agonistic or threatening stimulation.*

They go on to say:

> *In this study, the meow was exhibited in response to the approaching caretaker, stranger, doll, dog, and cat by feral cats, but meows were rare compared with other calls like growls and hisses. On the other hand, the house cat did not exhibit the meow except in response to the approach of a caretaker or stranger. Although the frequent of meow call was rare compared with other call types, this result in the house cat was similar to previous research results which were that meow was heard more frequently during cat-human interaction and very rarely heard during cat-cat interactions (Bradshaw and Cameron-beaumont, 2000, Brown, 1993).*

I found it odd that the paper currently being cited to support that cats don't really meow at one another cited two other papers (listed below) to support their point. When I went to look them up, I found that the Bradshaw and Cameron-Beaumont paper isn't available online, and the Brown is an PhD dissertation on mostly the tactile actions of domesticated cat colonies, and olfactory communication. It only mentions meows in an appendix to define them as such:

> MI MIAOW Cat makes a distinct miaow vocalisation when it appears to be trying to obtain something from another cat.

This seems to be the opposite of what the original factoid is claiming.

Does anyone have any insight on this? Any other papers that I missed that can help explain whether or not this 'common knowledge' is actually true?

**References**

Bradshaw, J., Cameron-beaumont, C., 2000. The signalling repertoire of the domes-
tic cat and its undomesticated relatives. In: Turner, D.C., Bateson, P.P.G. (Eds.),
The Domestic Cat: The Biology of its Behaviour. Cambridge University Press,
Cambridge, pp. 71–72

Brown, S.L., 1993. The social behaviour of neutered domestic cats. Unpublished
doctoral dissertation. University of Southhampton, United Kingdom

Yeon, S.C.; Kim, Y.K.; Park, S.J.; Lee, S.S.; Lee, S.Y.; Suh, E.H.; Houpt, K.A.; Chang, H.H.; Lee, H.C.; Yang, B.G.; et al. Differences between vocalization evoked by social stimuli in feral cats and house cats. Behav. Process. 2011, 87, 183–189.

**Tags:** terrestrial, air

> **Comments:**
> **username_1**: Are the nightly "meeeeauuu" (sounds like a baby crying) a type of meow? If so, then I can report that everywhere I've lived cats spend a considerable amount of time meowing at each other. Also, mother cats meow all the time to their kittens (search youtube for examples, a search for "mother cat meowing to kittens" gives many hits)  
> **username_0**: I mean, I think it does. And what your saying is often the argument I see in pop sci articles about it. Cats meow at their kittens, and that's why cats that were socialized early meow at us. But again, I can't actually seem to find reliable papers that have tested this.  
> **username_1**: Your question was "if cats meow at each other", they clearly do. Seems you actual question is more like "What is the function of meowing in cats, and how does domestication affect it?" I would suggest you edit your main question to get the attention of the right people.  
> **username_0**: @username_1, that really isn't my question, but I will edit the title to be more clear.  

---

## 1 answers

### Answer by username_2 on 2022-08-06. Score: 4

It seems that [Suzanne Schötz](https://portal.research.lu.se/en/persons/susanne-sch%C3%B6tz/publications/) is not in your reading list - she has done enough work on domestic cat meows to merit an [Ig Nobel Prize](https://improbable.com/2021/09/09/announcing-the-2021-ig-nobel-prize-winners/)! From ["Phonetic Variation in Cat–Human Communication"](https://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1007/978-3-030-30734-9_14) Schötz (2020):

> "Although kittens mainly meow to get the attention or help from their mother, adult cats rarely meow towards other cats. Instead, meowing is one of the most common human-directed attention soliciting vocalisations. [...] Kittens often mew to solicit their mother’s attention, and adult cats may mew when they are in need of help. [...] Meows are often used in cat–human communication to get our attention, e.g. to solicit food or to negotiate a barrier (e.g. a closed door or window)."

This textbook chapter is not clear on the primary source for these assertions, but they seem to be generalised from a long-term research programme on domestic cat vocalisations.

> **Comments:**
> **username_0**: I haven't! It is encouraging that a specialist also makes these assertions. I wonder if the long-term study is Bradshaw and Cameron-Beaumont paper I can't seem to get a hold of...  

---

