First off, I'm sorry I didn't get a post up yesterday. It was a mad day. I was super busy delivering, setting up and breaking down a huge floral event. I was hoping I could squeeze a post in during the day, but I just couldn't make it happen. My apologies for that.
Sara, mom to Edna and Edison Lamm sent me THIS video clip the other day. Once I hit play and the kittens started singing, Wylla dashed right over and started looking for the source of the mews. After circling my iPad a few times, she started rubbing her face against my hands and tried to gnaw my fingers. Soon, a curious Bean hopped up and joined Wylla in the kitten search.
We certainly watch our share of kitten videos around here, but I've never seen a reaction like that before.
Later, I played the clip again for Wylla and this time, I took a little video of her watching it so you could see it too. Though her reaction wasn't as strong as the first time she heard it, she was still very curious about where those kittens might be hiding.
Assuming you all watch cat videos on your computer, how do your cats react? I never usually see any sort of acknowledgement or response from Charlene -- there must be something about the frequency of these mews that get to her.
Spooky gets all upset when he hears other cats meow in videos. His ears move around, his eyes get big. It's funny if he wasn't so distraught.
ReplyDeleteGreat Video! Miss Twyla perks up a bit but what really gets her going is the commercial for that cat toy where the "mouse" is going in the circle and the cats bat at it. She gets into a pounce stance, watches intensely and will sometimes bat at the TV. It is pretty funny.
ReplyDeleteOne of my kitties just LOVES that commercial. Ginger will sit on the table and you can see her head move around in circles following the "mouse". The look on her face is so serious it's kind of comical!
DeleteZoubi watched the PBS A Murder of Crows from beginning to end. She and India listen to music as long as it is really beautiful- they won't listen to "Noisy Rock" music. If I play piano, they sit right there all tucked up with their eyes closed. So it isn't just Lamms! (try playing the Cantique de Jean Racine- it makes them purr). It is on youtube.
ReplyDeleteIf my cats are in the area of my computer when I play videos with kittens meowing, they usually come investigate what the heck is going on. The more kittens meowing or urgency in the meow, the more concerned my cats are. If they hear adult cats meowing, they could care less. It must be their paternal instinct kicking in with the kittens.
ReplyDeleteNo response from my cats on this one. I have seen them respond to cat videos though, and my older cat really doesn't like speaker phones and will come and bite you if she hears you using one.
ReplyDeleteThe other week I was watching a video about the various sounds foxes make, and after a few cries, the mommy cat I was fostering came into the living room looking really worried. She knew those sounds and knew they meant danger. I had to stop the video and put on headphones.
ReplyDeleteMy son had an app on his phone that played various animal calls. Some of them made my cats so crazy that my son had to stop playing with it around them.
DeleteLove the video, my cat has no interest in kittens, I think she's not too keen on them too be honest, but she has made firm friends with my tux stray who has taken up residents in the back garden
ReplyDeleteWe had to stop watching Cat Rescue on Animal Planet - it was too upsetting for B. On the iPad it's bird videos ... she paces and paws and tries to find where they are in there... There are a LOT of bird videos on YouTube!
ReplyDeleteWhat about squirrel videos? Some cats will run all around the screen trying to find where they 'went'...
DeleteMy cats rarely respond to anything like that. They lounged through 2 playings of this video; they don't react to kitties on television (despite my insistent, "Look! Kitties!). They will respond, though, if they hear a neighbor's cat meowing on the neighbor's balcony (apartment building). Sometimes they just lift their heads, sometimes they run over to the screen door all agitated. And once in a while coyotes howl outside (from a far distance away, but they can make themselves heard). The cats really don't like that.
ReplyDelete*waves to Edna and Edison* Thank you, Sara, their mom, for the adorable video!
Heh. One of mine just came over to investigate as I played this!
ReplyDeleteMy birthday was last week and my brother's family sent me a card that played Happy Birthday as meowed by kittens. My four girls flipped out! They all came racing over and searched nervously for the source of the sounds. I'm not sure what the card was saying in "cat-speak" but it sure got their attention.
ReplyDeleteI try not to play any distressed cat videos. My kids get very unhappy when they hear a cat in distress. Kittens they love. Bird sounds make them run around.
ReplyDeleteMews no. But put a puffin on the screen...
ReplyDeleteMany years ago (before I even had a home computer) I was watching an SPCA TV "Pet of the Week Segment" on the local news. When the tiny orphaned kittens began to cry, my late cat went running to the TV stand, meowed back, and tried to find them. She seemed so upset that she couldn't get to the kittens that I never had the heart to make her listen to any cat videos with sounds other than purring afterwards.
ReplyDeleteShe also liked to try to answer my landline phone though when it would ring.
My cats very rarely react to cat videos, and I watch a lot of them. Once in a while they will come running into the room, jump onto the computer desk and either listen with a cocked head or try to look behind the monitor. Once I started watching a video of 2 cats fighting, by accident. Before I could leave it my big cat launched himself at the computer and was trying to attack those cats. I didn't even think Winky could move that fast. Don't know if it is the frequency or what, I have often wondered why they respond to a few and ignore the rest. Who knows, they are cats after all. We aren't meant to understand them.
ReplyDeleteOne time LG came in while I was watching a cat video on the computer, and he found it distressing (although the video cat wasn't in distress). He reacts to certain noises on tv: human babies and children, dogs, and cats. Also to loud noises on tv. He doesn't like shows with angry/distressed cats. However, he was fascinated by a program about cats in the womb. It featured both "big" cats and domestic cats. He got up off the couch and sat himself right in front of the tv screen so as to get a better view. The mating scene freaked him out a little but he was totally absorbed in the rest of the show. He also likes shows with little tree monkeys flitting about the canopy. He can take or leave baseball (he mostly dozes but is attentive when the ball is in play - kind of like some humans :-)).
ReplyDeleteMy cats don't usually react to the computer unless there's a sudden loud noise. One cat has been known to chase the mouse pointer when I put it on the big TV, but that's about it.
ReplyDeleteAt least Wylla reacted in a positive way to the mewing instead of getting defensive. It will help with the next bunch of foster kittens.
Cute. Most of the time we use headphones, so the cats didn't hear most videos. There was one time, though, when we were testing out our new computer, and our kittens were hanging out nearby. We played a very short audio clip, just a single loud mew. Both kittens sat straight up,startled, and looked around for the source of the noise.
ReplyDeleteThat reminds me of a TV commercial our first cat encountered years and years ago - I think it was for some brand of kitten food.
ReplyDeleteShe usually ignored everything about television, but as soon as the kitten meows started her head went up and she searched desperately for the kittens. Even after the end of the commercial, she went on looking for them for a few minutes.
Please don't apologize for missing a day on your kitty blog. I'm amazed with the frequency of your updates!
ReplyDeleteMeow x2.
When I had Thistle I couldn't play kitten videos because she would run over to look whenever she heard them. She grew up with 5+ kittens from two litters as a foster and was the only one to remain after all the others were adopted (I kept her because she had a heart condition), in a house with older adult cats. I always thought she was looking for her favorite siblings when she came over to investigate the noise.
ReplyDeleteMy Ebby girl doesn't usually give much of a response for kitty sounds but her head popped up and her ears were going with this one.
ReplyDeleteMy two generally don't care one bit about cats on the computer. In fact, one was laying on top of me when I played this and barely flinched. Silly cats.
ReplyDeleteWhen I played it I had one cat near me and then 3 others came to investigate all big eyed and curious, I found it interesting all 4 female cats were curious but the 2 males were not, and one of the females came running out from another room and she is the only one who has had a litter.
ReplyDeleteSomething about a kitten mew must be acknowledged!
ReplyDeleteI have fostered a lot of kittens (nothing compared to you!) and when I play a video with kittens mewing, they definitely start searching for where the babies are hiding.
ReplyDeleteMy girl has the same reaction as Wylla did, every time. It could even be an adult cat meowing. She will hope onto my laptop, walk around and meow back asking where they are. Even after the video is over, she will still walk around for a bit looking for the mysterious kitties!
ReplyDelete