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Fo'andles
Elite Baiter
Joined: 06 Jul 2007
Posts: 1654
Location: busy doing nothing, somewhere
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Posted:
Tue Jul 14, 2009 10:28 am |
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Cheeky little devils.
Cats 'exploit' humans by purring
Cat owners may have suspected as much, but it seems our feline friends have found a way to manipulate us humans.
Researchers at the University of Sussex have discovered that cats use a "soliciting purr" to overpower their owners and garner attention and food.
Unlike regular purring, this sound incorporates a "cry", with a similar frequency to a human baby's.
The team said cats have "tapped into" a human bias - producing a sound that humans find very difficult to ignore.
Dr Karen McComb, the lead author of the study that was published in the journal Current Biology, said the research was inspired by her own cat, Pepo.
"He would wake me up in the morning with this insistent purr that was really rather annoying," Dr McComb told BBC News.
"After a little bit of investigation, I discovered that there are other cat owners who are similarly bombarded early in the morning."
While meowing might get a cat expelled from the bedroom, Dr McComb said that this pestering purr often convinced beleaguered pet lovers to get up and fill their cat's bowl.
To find out why, her team had to train cat owners to make recordings of their own cats' vocal tactics - recording both their "soliciting purrs" and regular, "non-soliciting" purrs.
"When we played the recordings to human volunteers, even those people with no experience of cats found the soliciting purrs more urgent and less pleasant," said Dr McComb.
How annoying?
She and her team also asked the volunteers to rate the different purrs - giving them a score based on how urgent and pleasant they perceived them to be.
"We could then relate the scores back to the specific purrs," explained Dr McComb. "The key thing (that made the purrs more unpleasant and difficult to ignore) was the relative level of this embedded high-frequency sound."
"When an animal vocalises, the vocal folds (or cords) held across the stream of air snap shut at a particular frequency," explained Dr McComb. The perceived pitch of that sound depends on the size, length and tension of the vocal folds.
"But cats are able to produce a low frequency purr by activating the muscles of their vocal folds - stimulating them to vibrate," explained Dr McComb.
Since each of these sounds is produced by a different mechanism, cats are able to embed a high-pitched cry in an otherwise relaxing purr.
"How urgent and unpleasant the purr is seems to depend on how much energy the cat puts into producing that cry," said Dr McComb.
Previous studies have found similarities between a domestic cat's cry and the cry of a human baby - a sound that humans are highly sensitive to.
Dr McComb said that the cry occurs at a low level in cats' normal purring. "But we think that (they) learn to dramatically exaggerate it when it proves effective in generating a response from humans."
She added that the trait seemed to most often develop in cats that have a one-on-one relationship with their owners.
"Obviously we don't know what's going on inside their minds," said Dr McComb. "But they learn how to do this, and then they do it quite deliberately."
So how does Dr McComb feel about Pepo now she knows he has been manipulating her all these years?
"He's been the inspiration for this whole study, so I'll forgive him - credit where credit's due." |
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FUK OOOOOOOOF - Mrs Cooker James
you are a fo0l forever because you are not worthy to be a human being but an Animal.
.something that cannot take 10minutes is taking you 2months- barrister lawrence |
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Roycropper
Baiting Guru
Joined: 14 Nov 2005
Posts: 7992
Location: Luxury Coffin
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Posted:
Tue Jul 14, 2009 11:19 am |
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I heard recordings on the radio of her cats.
Definitely recognised them as 'happy cat' then 'whiney cat', the sort of whiney purr that got them chucked out of the bedroom at aruond 5.30 this morning.
Cats don't have owners, they have staff. |
_________________ the European Union has bounced on our freckles
COULD YOU IMAGINE WHAT HAPPENED WHEN I WENT TO THE BANK
our Agent is Completely broke, pocketless and stranded
I WLL SEND AN AFRICA WITCH TO ATTACH YOU BASTARD
You go die like bird
i started shouting HALLELUJAGOBBLE but none of them notice me immediately police arrested me due to the shouting
f*ck u asshole ur damn mother will loose ur fcuking skull brain ur brain is nothing to compare with rat f*ck ur u
MY FRIEND ALEX WAS DETAINED IN POLICE STATION
I am not happy due to the question i answered at money office. Let me tell you do not play with me ok.
x4 6Yrs x6 |
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N N N
Master of Master Baiters
Joined: 26 Sep 2008
Posts: 689
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Posted:
Tue Jul 14, 2009 11:47 am |
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Cat's should be shot on sight ... especially if they're anywhere near my roses! Grrrrrrrrrrrrr |
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r2d2
Master of Master Baiters
Joined: 19 Apr 2009
Posts: 796
Location: in a galaxy far far away
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Posted:
Tue Jul 14, 2009 12:12 pm |
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Fo'andles wrote: |
it seems our feline friends have found a way to manipulate us humans. |
they do say that 'dogs have masters, but cats have staff'.
babies have different cries for different occasions, and i wonder which is being mimiced.
from memory they are - pain, hunger, discomfort, tiredness and boredom. |
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Badgerbait
Baiting Guru
Joined: 07 Jan 2009
Posts: 4507
Location: Winter spites...
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Posted:
Tue Jul 14, 2009 5:06 pm |
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My my, cat people are sensitive...
I second that N N N...
The best are free...sans picture (which I would have edited out if asked to do so, rather than find a deleted post).
That doesn't change the fact that cats are evil and take away your breath in the night if you are not careful. |
_________________ I have arrived in Moscow. Has gone to bank and to me have told that there is no such transfer for me!!!!
What does it mean? You played with me? If it so that you very much the cruel man and I am assured of that that the god will see your cruelty.
Explain to me!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! - Alena Byk0va
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We are Karma's soldiers.
<a href="/forum/donate.php">Mugu Gold</a>
I must be cruel, only to be kind:
Thus bad begins and worse remains behind. -Hamlet, scene iv
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Titania
Hell on wheels
Joined: 06 Jun 2008
Posts: 2442
Location: Rollin' rollin' rollin'
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Posted:
Wed Jul 15, 2009 12:10 am |
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<graciously ignoring the anti-cat sentiments>
I had a cat who purred so loudly during a physical exam that the vet coudln't hear her heart beating. He said he'd never had a purring cat on his table before. |
_________________ i do not know you.you need to expanciate more - C0llins W3aver
those words really made me felt completely bad..and i had to dust my ass and wipe tears Micheal David
x 8
Stanley's Christmas Adventure 2008 - Lagos to Abuja - massbait |
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Dorothy
Baiting Guru
Joined: 09 Jul 2008
Posts: 3114
Location: somewhere over the rainbow
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Posted:
Wed Jul 15, 2009 12:19 am |
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^^I have one of those who used to be like that too (after many many years she outgrew it)--my vet had encountered it before, and would hold her in front of the sink and turn the water on to stop her purring and check heart. |
_________________ "I've a feeling we're not in Kansas any more..." |
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Catcher In The Lie
Master of Master Baiters
Joined: 22 Sep 2008
Posts: 877
Location: 404 Yellow Brick Road
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Posted:
Wed Jul 15, 2009 1:30 am |
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A remark I'll always remember, perhaps from here was:
Quote: |
Cat's who fall from high places hide out for a while until they figure you won't laugh at them anymore, or they walk off nonchalantly as if to say I meant to do that. |
Well, that's exactly what I do.
But I love dogs and all critters as well. Always had em, always will
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"I don't want you to be burdered again." Ali the hitlad Sule
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Bombast
Master Baiter
Joined: 02 Apr 2009
Posts: 186
Location: Mountain Time Zone (GMT -6)
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Posted:
Wed Jul 15, 2009 5:02 am |
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I've found that it's possible to trick a cat into biting its own tail ONCE. Immediately after, the cat will pretend that its intent was to groom its tail all along. And later, they're hip to my jive and will not fall for it again.
I have two cats, and they're kind of like my children, except for the fact that I had the option of getting them fixed. And I'll never have to say, "So, you think you're tough enough to take on your old man, huh?"
On the other hand, they won't take care of me in my old age, either. |
_________________ "How i wish i can get out of here today and get is head off."- Name withheld due to currently ongoing bait (Started by Becky; I just scored an easy death threat through a minor assist. Still, I'm proud of it)
Please note, I am a total newbie at this. Feel free to slap me down if I say something dumb.
- Still ongoing. Thanks, Becky and Corona, for letting me in on the fun! |
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r2d2
Master of Master Baiters
Joined: 19 Apr 2009
Posts: 796
Location: in a galaxy far far away
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Posted:
Wed Jul 15, 2009 1:09 pm |
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Titania wrote: |
I had a cat who purred so loudly during a physical exam that the vet coudln't hear her heart beating. He said he'd never had a purring cat on his table before. |
was that before or after he took her temperature? |
_________________ x4
Climate Change for Dummies
Climate Sceptic Myths Debunked |
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Badgerbait
Baiting Guru
Joined: 07 Jan 2009
Posts: 4507
Location: Winter spites...
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Posted:
Wed Jul 15, 2009 1:22 pm |
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^^^
Are you implying the red thermometer? (I hope I don't have to explain...)
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_________________ I have arrived in Moscow. Has gone to bank and to me have told that there is no such transfer for me!!!!
What does it mean? You played with me? If it so that you very much the cruel man and I am assured of that that the god will see your cruelty.
Explain to me!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! - Alena Byk0va
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x13 x3 x4
We are Karma's soldiers.
<a href="/forum/donate.php">Mugu Gold</a>
I must be cruel, only to be kind:
Thus bad begins and worse remains behind. -Hamlet, scene iv
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Titania
Hell on wheels
Joined: 06 Jun 2008
Posts: 2442
Location: Rollin' rollin' rollin'
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Posted:
Wed Jul 15, 2009 2:24 pm |
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@r2d2 - it was after the temperature. The vet figured the cat was so distressed that she was purring in an attempt to get us to treat her better.
@Bombast - my cat (the one in my avatar) "nursed" me when I came home from the hospital after my amputation. She was always in the room with me, and when I lay down on the bed to rest, she'd jump onto it and lie next to me, purring. |
_________________ i do not know you.you need to expanciate more - C0llins W3aver
those words really made me felt completely bad..and i had to dust my ass and wipe tears Micheal David
x 8
Stanley's Christmas Adventure 2008 - Lagos to Abuja - massbait |
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frank.lester
419Eater is my life
Joined: 08 Aug 2008
Posts: 475
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Posted:
Wed Jul 15, 2009 9:35 pm |
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slightly off topic - once my cat did teach me how to catch mice.
one day she did very importend, made sure I will follow her into the cellar, and then .. did a demonstration, showing how it is done.
partly only imaginary, hunting a shadow without real object, and at last she was quick away for 2 mins., and did bring a mouse. / true, no joke!
back to topic - and she knew how to purr. |
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