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cat "cussing"

post #1 of 9
12/12/10 at 5:40am
Thread Starter 
Regarding cats and the sounds they make -- I was looking over the site page here and didn't see anything regarding a sound my cats (particularly the female) make which I can only describe as "cussing".

For example:

1.) Female ("Moonbat") wants to go outside so she sits by the back door in the kitchen and looks up, making eye contact, watching my every move until I acknowledge her.
2.) It's too late (after 8PM) so I look at her and say "NO", shaking my head.
3.) She immediately runs off, head down, making what I can only approximate in written form as a "erh-erh-erh-grh-erh-grh-grh-grh..." sound.

This only lasts a couple seconds after which, she does this thing with twitching the fur on her back and resumes her post by the door.

I think "erh-erh-erh-grh-erh-grh-grh-grh..." is the cat form of human profanity. Not that I really care that she cusses me out when she doesn't get her way, just wondering how common this is and if anybody has any thoughts on it (like, is it really cussing or just an expression of frustration, etc.?).
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post #2 of 9
12/12/10 at 6:02am
We have a tortoiseshell named Teresa who does something similar. She loves to it on the desk, right in front of the computer monitor I swear she blocks the monitor on purpose sometimes - she knows where I'm looking and wants me to pay attention to HER!

We will duel for a bit, where I push her down and pet her but she continues to pop up and look in my face, all innocent. When I've finally had enough, I will pick her up and put her aside. After two or three times of this, she'll make this little 'hrumph" sound and jump down. The she'll go to the chair and stare at me, hrumping every once in awhile in disgust.

She is definitely giving me her opinion and I definitely feel cursed out!
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post #3 of 9
12/12/10 at 8:12am
Tomas does that whenever I tell him no. I know he's complaining because his ears will go back and his tail swishes. Generally it's caused by him wanting into the utility room and me wanting to shut the door. So my "No, get back in the house" is met by Tomas' weird complaining noises.
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post #4 of 9
12/12/10 at 9:58am
I'm certain cats invented cussing.
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post #5 of 9
12/12/10 at 3:25pm
I was having this discussion with my roomie the other day. Parker is very sassy to me. If he is being bad or in my face too much I said "NO! Parker" and his eyes get really wide and he makes a high pitched "meh" kind of sound at me. Sometimes its more of a "mrrrow", then he walks away, all insulted like. I know he's telling me what he thinks of me right then.
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post #6 of 9
12/13/10 at 10:11am
Holland cusses at me when I leave her alone for a couple of days or when she feels I've taken too long to feed her. She is NOT a talker, and barely utters a sound otherwise, but I always know when she's angry... Hers is more of a barking "mrah!" sound (don't know how to describe it).

The other funny thing she does is when she wants to play and I don't respond right away she looks at me and almost sighs, kind of like a "hummmph!" sound.
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post #7 of 9
12/13/10 at 11:54am
LOL I know what you mean! Sometimes we call it beeping.
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post #8 of 9
12/13/10 at 1:04pm
Memphis really lets his siamese side shine through when he's cussing at me. Most of his meows sound like a normal DSH, but when he's upset, the baby crying comes out. I honestly didn't believe that siamese sounded that similar to babies until one day I heard what sounded like a baby in my apartment and got really confused. I go to check it out and there was Memphis, looking from me to the cabinet where I keep the small plates, letting me know I was late putting down his wet meal.
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post #9 of 9
12/13/10 at 3:08pm
my two cats mostly cuss at each other, although i get my fair share if i refuse them catnip
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