Update

: There is no such thing as 'just a cat'. I have never met a human who has
: given the unconditional, selfless love that my cats have. Animals always
: seem so grateful for what you do for them. They love you for yourself,
: never judging, never criticizing.
:

I agree with you completely.
But there's one thing that I wonder about since a long time:
How do pets recognize you? Even from a distance where smell doesn't play a
role?

I got myself a new hairdo today - none of the pets commented: they just
greeted me as usual, so looks can't be that important.
I know that the voice is important. My rabbits disappear when they hear a
strange voice. But the cats spot me from a distance.

Carola


I often wonder the same thing. I have 4 furbabies and live my myself and whenever
somebody comes they go into hideing but I remember the first time I shaved after I got a
couple of them I had shaving cream on my facce and thought I would see what they would do.
I stuck my head out of the bathroom and gave my best rendition of a dog bark :-( and they
looked at me and went back to what they were doing. Go figure.


http://members.aol.com/larrystark/




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Remove spam and junk to reply via e-mail.

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I've got to stop checking in to groups and work... can only explain
"must be allergies" so many times when snuffling away at my desk.

Delighted to hear that I am not the only one. I haven't been on this
group long and when I started I had a cold, which as far as my
colleagues are concerned "lingered" for a very long time....

Now they all think I have hay fever....Monday was bad, a couple of
days off work and the first two headings I get were that Princess and
Beast were gone. This is after last week, when I sniffled a lot
because it was the anniversary of losing my Fugazi and on the same day
from what appears to be the same condition, Jackie passed on..This
newsgroup is making an emotional wreck out of me!!!!

Lesley

Slave to the Fabulous Furballs

I'd also guess that they may well recognise you from the unique sound of
your footsteps. If you've ever seen a cat "chatter" when it sees a bird,
you've seen a demonstration of just *how* good their hearing is. We only
hear the low frequencies of a chatter, which gives it that distinctive
staccato sound. Recordings of the chatter have shown that it's actually a
two-part call, with rapid modulation between low and high frequencies.
Despite this - and this is part of my fascination for animal-human
relationships, and how much is really not known/not acknowledged - a cat
will "chatter" back to you even if a person can only mimic the lower
frequency (my sister's cat, btw, has a very deep feline voice, and you can
hear both parts of the chatter when he does it).

And here's another thought. A few months back I was listening to a
late-night radio talk show as they interviewed a scientist in England.
He did research with dogs, but said his tests worked with cats as well.
He would set a video camera to watch the window at which a dog-owner's
dog would run when dog new owner was coming home. Owner worked quite a
distance (several km) from home. Reseaercher had dog owner leave work at
a different time each day, and record the time of leaving. On the video
tape the dog could be seen running to sit before the window at the
moment the owner left work. No way could the dog hear or smell the owner
leaving; there is some other means by which dogs (and by extension cats)
are connected to their humans.

"Dan M" wrote in message
...
I'd also guess that they may well recognise you from the unique sound of
your footsteps. If you've ever seen a cat "chatter" when it sees a bird,
you've seen a demonstration of just *how* good their hearing is. We only
hear the low frequencies of a chatter, which gives it that distinctive
staccato sound. Recordings of the chatter have shown that it's actually a
two-part call, with rapid modulation between low and high frequencies.
Despite this - and this is part of my fascination for animal-human
relationships, and how much is really not known/not acknowledged - a cat
will "chatter" back to you even if a person can only mimic the lower
frequency (my sister's cat, btw, has a very deep feline voice, and you
can hear both parts of the chatter when he does it).

And here's another thought. A few months back I was listening to a
late-night radio talk show as they interviewed a scientist in England. He
did research with dogs, but said his tests worked with cats as well. He
would set a video camera to watch the window at which a dog-owner's dog
would run when dog new owner was coming home. Owner worked quite a
distance (several km) from home. Reseaercher had dog owner leave work at a
different time each day, and record the time of leaving. On the video tape
the dog could be seen running to sit before the window at the moment the
owner left work. No way could the dog hear or smell the owner leaving;
there is some other means by which dogs (and by extension cats) are
connected to their humans.

And humans are connected to each other. When I worked in an office alone I
had a friend who would call or stop by once in a while. Usually when I
really need company or oddly when I needed to ask him a question about work.
I wouldn't have to call him. He would call me. And I'd know it was him
when the phone rang. Same when he would stop by. I always knew just a bet
before he was going to stop by. Same with a couple of other friends.

And had really strange connection to my mother after I move away from the
east coast. On three of four occasions I could feel what she was feeling.

Jo

On Wed, 27 Apr 2005 06:33:35 -0700, Dan M wrote:

I'd also guess that they may well recognise you from the unique sound of
your footsteps. If you've ever seen a cat "chatter" when it sees a bird,
you've seen a demonstration of just *how* good their hearing is. We only
hear the low frequencies of a chatter, which gives it that distinctive
staccato sound. Recordings of the chatter have shown that it's actually a
two-part call, with rapid modulation between low and high frequencies.
Despite this - and this is part of my fascination for animal-human
relationships, and how much is really not known/not acknowledged - a cat
will "chatter" back to you even if a person can only mimic the lower
frequency (my sister's cat, btw, has a very deep feline voice, and you can
hear both parts of the chatter when he does it).

And here's another thought. A few months back I was listening to a
late-night radio talk show as they interviewed a scientist in England.
He did research with dogs, but said his tests worked with cats as well.
He would set a video camera to watch the window at which a dog-owner's
dog would run when dog new owner was coming home. Owner worked quite a
distance (several km) from home. Reseaercher had dog owner leave work at
a different time each day, and record the time of leaving. On the video
tape the dog could be seen running to sit before the window at the
moment the owner left work. No way could the dog hear or smell the owner
leaving; there is some other means by which dogs (and by extension cats)
are connected to their humans.

My experience over the years, with several different cats, suggests
that they are recognizing the sound of the car. If I am driving my
own car, the cat will be waiting at the window or near the front door,
but if I am driving a rental car, the cat doesn't react until I enter
the house, at which point she comes running.

--
John F. Eldredge --
PGP key available from http://pgp.mit.edu
"Reserve your right to think, for even to think wrongly is better
than not to think at all." -- Hypatia of Alexandria

John F. Eldredge wrote:
On Wed, 27 Apr 2005 06:33:35 -0700, Dan M wrote:

I'd also guess that they may well recognise you from the unique
sound of
your footsteps. If you've ever seen a cat "chatter" when it sees a
bird,
you've seen a demonstration of just *how* good their hearing is.
We only
hear the low frequencies of a chatter, which gives it that
distinctive
staccato sound. Recordings of the chatter have shown that it's
actually a
two-part call, with rapid modulation between low and high
frequencies.
Despite this - and this is part of my fascination for animal-human

relationships, and how much is really not known/not acknowledged -
a cat
will "chatter" back to you even if a person can only mimic the
lower
frequency (my sister's cat, btw, has a very deep feline voice, and
you can
hear both parts of the chatter when he does it).

And here's another thought. A few months back I was listening to a
late-night radio talk show as they interviewed a scientist in
England.
He did research with dogs, but said his tests worked with cats as
well.
He would set a video camera to watch the window at which a
dog-owner's
dog would run when dog new owner was coming home. Owner worked quite
a
distance (several km) from home. Reseaercher had dog owner leave
work at
a different time each day, and record the time of leaving. On the
video
tape the dog could be seen running to sit before the window at the
moment the owner left work. No way could the dog hear or smell the
owner
leaving; there is some other means by which dogs (and by extension
cats)
are connected to their humans.

My experience over the years, with several different cats, suggests
that they are recognizing the sound of the car. If I am driving my
own car, the cat will be waiting at the window or near the front
door,
but if I am driving a rental car, the cat doesn't react until I enter
the house, at which point she comes running.

--
John F. Eldredge

Absolutely in my experience, too. Also, peculiar enough, Bootsie seems
to know when DH is due to arrive home and is always sitting at the
window looking for him. He gets home precisely at 7:15 at night, and
she is in the window by 6:45 watching. Switching over to daylight
savings time did confuse her but she righted herself in just a few
days. Amazing to me. (p.s. She is DH's cat, and completley devoted to
him. She only likes me when he's gone)

Sherry

Dan M wrote:
No way could the dog hear or smell the owner
leaving; there is some other means by which dogs (and by extension
cats)
are connected to their humans.///

I also think that they can let you know they are in distress or
something is wrong.

In early 2000, when I had only Tiger and Robbie, I had to go away very
unexpectedly for work on a Thursday, i.e. at 3 hours notice. The only
person I could get to look after the cats was a neighbour who lived
next door and had her own cat. There was no reason to think that she
wouldn't look after my two babies, because she treated her cat like a
baby.

By the Sunday afternoon, I was CONVINCED something was wrong at home. I
didn't know what it was, and couldn't put my finger on my unease, but
it was like both HRFL Tiger and Robbie were yelling at me *to come
quick* (I can't really describe the feeling/"vision"). So anyway,
Monday morning, I can't take it anymore, I made my excuses to my boss
and headed home.

I get home to find the food bowls empty, the litter FILTHY (clearly
hadn't been changed for a few days) and the water bowl tipped over.
Both boys were ravenous and gobbled their food in the manner of cats
who were clearly very hungry & both were very thirsty.

Turns out, that the neighbour had a new boyfriend, and on the Friday
night he had asked her to go away for a long weekend. Instead of
getting someone to feed my guys, she had just put a bowl of dried food
down and left them. I got home before she did!

I wasn't happy about what happened, but just grateful that I got home
when I did, but I do think the cats told me that they were in distress,
I really do.

I've also had other "experiences" like that with the mogs, where I've
been told something by one of them and it's turned out like they say.
Am I flake? Maybe, but I genuinely believe that you have a bond with
your animal companions.

Just my $0.02

Helen M

wrote:

(p.s. She is DH's cat, and completley devoted to
him. She only likes me when he's gone)

Sherry



Sounds like most of the cats in our house. I'm everyone's second
favorite, for use when their primary favorite is not available.

Pam S. dejected

I had a cat 'Panther who left us at age 16.1/2 she used to talk to me as you
described, also my son who was an apprentis Jockey came home on holiday, I
used to finish work at about 2.30 pickup my small daughter from School and
arrive home at around 3.30, One day my son said 'Its just
clicked Mam, why Panther jumps up on the cabinet every day ot 3.00,
she knows your coming home'. Jean.P.




Dan M wrote in message ...
I'd also guess that they may well recognise you from the unique sound of
your footsteps. If you've ever seen a cat "chatter" when it sees a bird,
you've seen a demonstration of just *how* good their hearing is. We only
hear the low frequencies of a chatter, which gives it that distinctive
staccato sound. Recordings of the chatter have shown that it's actually
a
two-part call, with rapid modulation between low and high frequencies.
Despite this - and this is part of my fascination for animal-human
relationships, and how much is really not known/not acknowledged - a cat
will "chatter" back to you even if a person can only mimic the lower
frequency (my sister's cat, btw, has a very deep feline voice, and you
can
hear both parts of the chatter when he does it).

And here's another thought. A few months back I was listening to a
late-night radio talk show as they interviewed a scientist in England.
He did research with dogs, but said his tests worked with cats as well.
He would set a video camera to watch the window at which a dog-owner's
dog would run when dog new owner was coming home. Owner worked quite a
distance (several km) from home. Reseaercher had dog owner leave work at
a different time each day, and record the time of leaving. On the video
tape the dog could be seen running to sit before the window at the
moment the owner left work. No way could the dog hear or smell the owner
leaving; there is some other means by which dogs (and by extension cats)
are connected to their humans.

On Wed, 27 Apr 2005 06:33:35 -0700, Dan M wrote:

I'd also guess that they may well recognise you from the unique sound of
your footsteps. If you've ever seen a cat "chatter" when it sees a bird,
you've seen a demonstration of just *how* good their hearing is. We only
hear the low frequencies of a chatter, which gives it that distinctive
staccato sound. Recordings of the chatter have shown that it's actually
a two-part call, with rapid modulation between low and high frequencies.
Despite this - and this is part of my fascination for animal-human
relationships, and how much is really not known/not acknowledged - a cat
will "chatter" back to you even if a person can only mimic the lower
frequency (my sister's cat, btw, has a very deep feline voice, and you
can hear both parts of the chatter when he does it).

And here's another thought. A few months back I was listening to a
late-night radio talk show as they interviewed a scientist in England. He
did research with dogs, but said his tests worked with cats as well. He
would set a video camera to watch the window at which a dog-owner's dog
would run when dog new owner was coming home. Owner worked quite a
distance (several km) from home. Reseaercher had dog owner leave work at a
different time each day, and record the time of leaving. On the video tape
the dog could be seen running to sit before the window at the moment the
owner left work. No way could the dog hear or smell the owner leaving;
there is some other means by which dogs (and by extension cats) are
connected to their humans.

It is obvious --- they read your mind! MLB