Article: Cats Do Control Humans, Study Finds (Well...DUH!)

[Rumpleteazer]

This made me laugh. I found this article on Yahoo today, some of you may have already seen it. Scientists have confirmed what we knew all along.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/livescience/...RzZG9jb250cm8-

[sarahp]

There's a BBC news link about it as well, which I saw about half an hour ago

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/8147566.stm

[Rumpleteazer]

Exploit? That's great! At least they admit that we've been wise to this all along.

[DragulescuGirl]

This actually goes along to something I read once a long time ago. That cats have a 27 word vocabulary (or something like that) and have trained humans to understand their needs through their cries.

They put cat owners in rooms with other cats and the majority were able to figure out what the cats wanted.

I knew it! Those darn cats!!!!! Oh but they are so cute and furry and squishy and lovey...

[MargeCat]

I swear mine have a human remote control device built-in somewhere. Have yet to do a scientifc study on it, however.

"Hey, Loki! Let's see if we can get the redhead to talk to us in that silly, baby voice again! Wasn't that a blast when she did it the other day? What a moron! She actually thinks we like it. And they put US in cages, and say we're dumb. Jeeesh..."

"Ok, Smudge, here goes...pressing the 'blithering idiot button"!"

"HA-HA-HA-HA-HA!!!! SUCKER!!! 'Most intelligent of mammals', my butt!"

I do think I am contolled by Jasmine to some extent. I call myself "Daughter of Jasmine", you know, after David Berkowitz, "Son of Sam" (Sam was his neighbor's dog; he thought Sam was giving him commands).

Every morning, I shower, dry off, then dry my hair with a blowdryer. Jasmine knows this means that I soon will go into the bedroom, get dressed, then put on my jewelry. She runs into the bedroom, takes her position by where I keep my jewelry (always facing on an angle, in the same spot, and facing me). She then meows to me, jumps on the bed, and watches me. I jokingly ask her, "What stone today, Jasmine? Pearls? Oh, GOOD choice! Do you approve? Thank you, Jasmine; I couldn't get dressed without you."

If I deviate from the routine, such as going downstairs without drying my hair, she gets visibly upset. She is so routine-oriented! Then I have to call her, "Jasmine! Accessories time!", which brings her running, and all is right again in the World of Jasmine.

[Zane's Pal]

And in other news today, water is wet.

[AlleyGirl]

Like we needed an article to tell us this.

[Rumpleteazer]

Water is wet?!! OMGOSH!! I'm so glad you told me! I laughed so much when I saw the articles. And my cats were totally doing this this morning!! The one who wanted her morning nibbles was crying (cause she's part Siamese) cause she STARVING TO DEATH! And the one who has to spend the night in a room with his food and litter box (cause he destroys the house when he gets bored) was crying from his room to let him out cause THE MONSTER IN THE CLOSET WAS GONNA EAT HIM! And they were totally crying like babies. I didn't need any scientific study to tell me that they were guilt tripping me! And the moment they had what they wanted it was like, Thanks toots, we'll call ya when we need ya! lol

Oh! Do you guys catch yourselves doing this? Hehe, when you have to yell or scold or chase or whatever, or like accidentally knock something off and it makes a loud noise and scares them and they give you that look...you know the one I mean, the one that says, I thought you loved me! Do you ever find yourself apologizing even when the cat was misbehaving?! LOL Nothing in that study about the non-verbal communication is there? Hehe

My mom's cat is part Maine Coon so he has that big fluffy ... well back side, but when he's miffed cause we say no, he doesn't make a sound he just whips around and flicks his tail at us like, "Talk to the tail cause the face ain't listening!" He hardly ever makes a sound (except you know when the monster in the closet is eating him ) and he controls us just fine, so where does that put their study?! hehehe

I don't know how people can say they don't have personalities. Mine do. They're twerpy personalities but hey, they're cute.

[Sandtigress]

I just finished skimming the Current Biology paper that the article was based on, and I couldn't stop laughing. In the Acknowledgements section, the authors thank the cats that they got the purrs from. How exactly do I get the government to pay for me to do research like that?

[Rumpleteazer]

Originally Posted by Sandtigress

I just finished skimming the Current Biology paper that the article was based on, and I couldn't stop laughing. In the Acknowledgements section, the authors thank the cats that they got the purrs from. How exactly do I get the government to pay for me to do research like that?

Omgosh! I didn't see that! I want that job! What's next? A scientific study to prove that dogs are loyal companions and lower stress? How do I get signed up to get paid to play with cute puppies?!

[Anne]

I actually blogged about it yesterday on the TCS blog:
http://thecatsite.com/blog/ I'll add a link to the thread from the blog post