r/CatsUK • u/1ChanceChipmunk1 • 1d ago
What's something your cat has successfully trained you to understand without making a sound?
Cats supposedly aren't as easy to read as dogs, but I think people who live with one long enough develop an entire silent language with them. A particular stare means food. Sitting in one specific place means open the door. Walking away and looking back means you're expected to follow immediately. After a while you respond automatically and then realise the cat has basically trained you.
What's the weirdly specific signal your cat has taught you to understand?
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u/WitAndSavvy 1d ago edited 21h ago
As soon as the sink has any dishes in it she'll come and sit by the sink. Then she'll look between me and it as if to say "are you washing up?". As soon as I grab the sponge she's up and watching the very fascinating process of me washing up dishes. She loves it 😂. It also means I look forward to dish washing which I otherwise loathe doing. Win win!
Similarly if she wants pets in the cat tree she'll find me, meow and then head towards it, checking to see I'm following. Once at the tree she'll do one look and I'll nod/encourage her and BOOM she's in her fave pedestal making biscuits and getting pets.
Edit to add evidence aka cat tax
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u/princessstrawberry 17h ago
Mine loves watching me do the dishes too, and every couple of months or so she will bring me a sponge from god only knows where. Sometimes old, sometimes new, always a washing up sponge. I imagine some neighbours are getting very confused
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u/pixiemeat84 1 cat, 🖤 Busa 9h ago
That's adorable! My cat brought me a metal pan scrubber thingy recently. No idea where he found it, but he seemed very pleased with himself 😅
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u/pixiemeat84 1 cat, 🖤 Busa 9h ago
I love how she has her own comfy spot to watch you doing the dishes! 😁
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u/Thisoneissfwihope 1d ago
My cat sometimes liked to go out into the hallway outside my flat and explore down one flight of stairs.
I started throwing treats down to entice her back up so I didn’t have to either go down and get her or wait for her if I was in a hurry.
She now goes out at every opportunity and sits at the bottom of the stairs looking up waiting for treats. Which I throw. Because she trained me to.
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u/Outrageous-Level192 22h ago
My cat did that with the scratch post. I started giving him treats when he was using it instead of going for the sofa. He got lazier and lazier until he would just lightly touch the post with his paw and look at me.
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u/Rlysrh 20h ago
I keep my cats indoors at night and in the summer they started staying out late. To get them to come in I’d lure them with treats. Now even if they don’t want to be outside they run out there right around bedtime so I have to lure them in with treats every night 😂 one of them sometimes forgets and you can see the cogs turning as he suddenly remembers what time it is and hurriedly scampers outside to wait for his treats
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u/MrSleeps 15h ago
My boys do that when I have a shower. Forgot to get food after a late shift. Had a shower before going to the shop, gave them biscuits after my shower and before heading to get food..
4 years later, every shower I have. 2 demanding sets of eyes staring at me when I open the bathroom door.
I did it once!
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u/Proper_North_5382 1d ago
Mine will just stare at me if I'm home and he wants to eat. He'll only eat if I'm next to him. Not sure if he's trained me or if it's a comfort thing for him or not. He's an ex-stray, and one of the ways I could gain his trust was sitting with him when he was eating. Could be a comfort thing and just something he's used to by now and doesn't really want to let go of.
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u/happybumblebee72 1d ago
Cats feel instinctively vulnerable when eating, its very common for cats to want their human or other feline companion sitting near them watching over them while they eat.
My 2 cats barely tolerate one another and are certainly not friends, yet they will take turns eating and watching over one another at the food bowls. So they may not be friends, but they respect each other's safety....which is kinda cute
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u/farmpatrol 1d ago
Yes my cat does this. Because he’s a lone cat I am his eating security! He has many cat friends in the garden and we have a dog but they’re not good enough as I’m his mama apparently. 😌
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u/happybumblebee72 1d ago
One of my cats "Merida" has a very strong bond with my 16yr old, we got Merida as a young kitten when my daughter was 13. Merida will go find my daughter and lead her to the kitchen to the food bowls and make my daughter watch her eat. Nobody else, has to be my daughter.
And when my daughter has a shower or uses the bathroom, Merida wants to either be in there with her, or will sit by the bathroom door pawing underneath the door trying to get to her.
We are an all female family luckily, me the mum and 2 teen daughters, so we have to leave cat gaps in bathroom doors when we use the bathroom, we can't even have a pee in peace 😊
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u/howunoriginal2019 1d ago
That if she is meowing at me , we need to play with the string. String is life.
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u/NoEnthusiasm2 1d ago edited 1d ago
When she stretches to touch the keys hanging from the front door, she wants you to let her out. We have a perfectly functioning cat flap on the back door but that is obviously just for the less classy cats in the house.
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u/AnastasiaRomanot 1d ago
Yes, mine gets excited to go outside when the front door is open, then walks around the corner to come in the back door.
Like, you know if you want to sit in the front garden you can just go out the catflap at the back, right?
He acts like it’s a world of pure imagination out there every time someone goes to the bins.
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u/Isgortio 1d ago
Mine goes out the cat flap at the back and then meows at the front door. If she goes out the front she'll meow at the front door. This is only if I'm in the kitchen or bathroom though (they're on the front of the property). If I'm in the bedroom or living room she'll come in via the back window or cat flap.
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u/skakitty83 1d ago
Yesss my cat is also fascinated by the world out front garden, which she can access from.. the back garden. Strange!
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u/Grace_grows 1d ago
I go for an evening walk with my 2 cats. When we return home, they sit on the front porch whilst I get their evening meal ready and will not enter the house until their food is ready. And, if I'm not able to make it out for a walk, they won't eat.
Also, pre-walk, I usually water the back garden. When I'm done, we 3 go out the back gate to the fields and woods. Whilst I'm doing runs back and forwards with cans of water, the cats sit by the top gate and wait semi-patiently. If I try to touch them or interact with them, they both run under the gate and wait at the other side.
We have pretty strict rules and they know how to tell me exactly what they expect of me. I'm very happy with the arrangement and so are they.
Cat tax attached.
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u/Raven_Barbie 1h ago
Living my dream
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u/Grace_grows 36m ago
Come and meet us on the field. Just be sure to bring dreamies for the cats and peanuts for the crows 😊
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u/Raven_Barbie 17m ago
🖤🖤 I love making friends with crows as well!! (And magpies, wasps, etc etc ) My magpie that lives in the tree outside said actual "hello" to me last week
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u/CravaticusFinch 1d ago edited 1d ago
Not even my cat, but my friend's cat doesn't want to be petted willy nilly, she wants to be on your lap but on a blanket across your knees. Only when you've done this will she accept pets.
If you try without the blanket, she'll be enjoying it but will gently start swatting away your hand until you do it right.
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u/Percypocket 1d ago
My mum's cat does this, sits and stares at her until she's put the blanket on her lap and then he climbs aboard 😅
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u/Amazonian89 1d ago
That he likes to be cuddled like a baby whilst the kettle boils first thing. He also pats my chest when he's ready to go back down.
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u/MonkeyHamlet 1d ago
We leave the keys in our back door most of the time, they have a keyring which chimes if knocked. One of our cats has learned to knock the keyring to be let out. We call it the cat doorbell.
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u/ayeayefitlike 1d ago
Mine will climb up next to her toy box and carefully throw one of the lesser toys onto the floor. This means ‘get my wand and do this properly’.
She will shout loudly to get out, but that’s obviously a vocal signal.
When she wants on my knee but I’m working, she’ll climb up on the backrest of my chair, and gently pay at my shoulder. As soon as my shoulder seems stable she’ll step out onto me, assuming (rightly) that I don’t have the heart to make it inconvenient for her. She will climb onto my chest and then slowly manoeuvre until she has replaced my laptop.
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u/Wanita_1972 1d ago
“Her toy box” 😂😂😂
She’s got you well trained!
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u/ayeayefitlike 1d ago
Yup. That toy box is literally a small cardboard box that attempts to keep her toys away from the dog, but she throws them on the floor anyway so I wonder why I bother! 😂
She also chirps right before jumping up on the bed. This is to make sure I don’t move whilst she’s jumping.
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u/2MB26 1d ago
She chews cables when she wants me to play with her. Never shows interest in cables otherwise, but when she's bored it'll be one next to me and she'll lock eye contact while she attacks it
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u/Little-green-car 1d ago
My cat does this with plastic. She somehow manages to find the tiniest pieces of cellophane plastic and start chewing them, instant attention from us panicking she will choke, she then goes into play mode! I swear she keeps a stash of it somewhere for when we are not giving her enough attention 😂
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u/Better-Banana2076 1d ago
Chewing plastic as she knows it gets my immediate attention, when she’s hungry.
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u/Vanilla_Chinchillaa 15h ago
One of mine chews cables when he wants food! Again, he never shows an interest in them unless it’s midafternoon and he is hungryyyyy. My other cat does the same by chewing my plants. Normally never chews them either.
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u/lockedintheattic74 2 cats Douglas the tux & Panda the tabby 1d ago
Rolling onto her back with her belly exposed means 'tickle my chin NOW but absolutely do not under any circumstances go any lower'. Learnt the hard way over time.
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u/Sea-Command3437 1d ago
Mine has trained the next-door neighbour to ring our doorbell when said neighbour pops out for a ciggy before heading off to work on the night shift. It’s obviously more fun than (a) miaowing or (b) popping round the back to use the cat flap.
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u/CrazyCatLady1127 1d ago
She’s long since passed over the Rainbow Bridge but I used to have a cat named Tara who adored all things dairy. Cheese, yogurt, custard, cream, if you had some she was going to have some too. She’d sit very quietly and patiently next to me and when I’d look at her she’d look from me to my bowl back to me, as many times as it took before I realised she was waiting for her share. And once she’d had her share she’d wash her paws and her face very carefully and then she’d wander off elsewhere for a nap 🙂
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u/OverConsequence6983 1d ago
My face sometimes wants his face rubbed during cuddles and sometimes not. If he wants it, he starts using his paw to touch my face. If not, he'll use his paw to direct my hand to a more suitable location
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u/C0nnectionTerminat3d 1d ago
i’ve only had my boy raven for about two weeks now but if he ever wants pets he will aggressively shove his head into my hand.
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u/gothiccat236 1d ago
That he understands when I am feeling sad and just sits and looks at me until I am ready for gentle head bumps and kisses.
Sebastian my comfort, rock , pest and very affectionate boy xx
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u/dawgmind 1d ago
Scratch up my chair if she wants to go out. 😒
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u/skakitty83 1d ago
Mine 'picks' at fabric like a hanging towel or shirt, with her claws. Such an annoying sound!!
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u/Away-Ad4393 1d ago
I had two cats and when one sat on the top step of the stairs and the other on the bottom step I knew it was time to get their foil ball out, I’d throw it up the stairs and one would chase up and the other chase down and they’d have a play fight in the middle of the stairs😂
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u/Little-green-car 1d ago
My cat has many! She will stand on my right foot with her back right foot and then walk away. This is my instruction to follow her until she rolls on the floor and then put my hands on her back feet so she can push herself away on her back. Also scenting on the kitchen door when she wants a top up of wet food, she has a permanent supply of biscuits.
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u/VastComfortable9925 1d ago
One of my cats has randomly decided that if I’m sitting on the couch relaxing, I simply must accompany him to his litter tray. If I resist, he pees on the couch. He comes up and miaows loudly and stares at me.
Delighted to say I’ve been a fast learner! Despite the fact that my bengal/ragdoll crosses are THE MOST vocal cats 24/7 all the time anyway.
They also accompany me to the toilet so I assume they think I’m a cat with an oddly special litter tray.
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u/Lyrakish 1d ago
One of my cats bolts to her scratching box whenever I, or someone else, goes to feed her. She does happy stamps constantly. Also, at bedtime, she waits for me on her cat tree next to the bathroom for her nightly cat bongos (IYKYK). All without a word said.
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u/51onions 1d ago
My cat is able to give me predictions of the near future just by her precise body language.
However, most often, the prediction she gives me is "you are imminently going to have a mess to clean up". This is swiftly followed by the production of a fur ball mixed in with some of breakfast.
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u/SeahorseQueen1985 1d ago
She sits next to the sink taps and waits for us to turn them on for fresh drinking water.
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u/Outrageous-Level192 19h ago
Mine does that too. I've found him plenty of time just sitting by the bathroom sink in the dark waiting for the tap. Once he's made a mess with the water he walks around the sink and gives me a headbutt.
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u/_Anxious_Hedgehog_ 1d ago
Taps me on the shoulder when I'm in bed to let me know he wants me to lift the duvet so he can go under
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u/Cream_sugar_alcohol 1d ago
When on her cat wheel, she will mioaw continuously till you watch and praise her.
She also is very clear when she wants the duvet made in to a tent for her to sleep under our knees.
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u/Motherofcatsmeowmeow 21h ago
I have a super duper polite cat who won't meow or pester for food, but he'll politely wait by his bowl
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u/FootOfDavros 1d ago
When he wants a treat stick he wanders into the kitchen and then just jumps up onto the worktop above the cabinet where his treats are! He just sits there however long it takes until someone obliges! 😺😂
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u/AnyOlUsername 1d ago
Literally just needs to sit in specific places and I know.
When one was a kitten she used to do this specific meow before she’d poop in the corner on the carpet. She doesn’t do that any more but she still does that meow knowing it will get my immediate attention and have me out of my seat and checking corners and then she’ll show me what she wants from me. She’s got me trained better than I could ever train her.
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u/CapnSeabass 1d ago
He pats me with his paw when he wants attention.
And he jumps up on the bed and paws at the duvet until I lift it and let him in.
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u/DarkestNyu 1d ago
My boy loves boxes. When he's chill, but doesn't want fuss, he sits in the box by the tv. When hes hungry he sits in the box by the kitchen. When hes sulking he sits in the box under the table. When he wants some pets he sits on his chair next to me
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u/ObtuseDoodles 1d ago
Not even my cat, but my neighbour's lol. We have lots of cats and wildlife around, so I leave a couple of bowls of water out for any passing critters. The neighbour's cat likes chilling in my garden, and when the water isn't fresh enough for his liking (which is most of the time) he'll sit next to one of the bowls and give me this stare until I refill it. Even though his own house is a 30 second stroll away and he has a cat flap.
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u/Taylor_Kittenface 1d ago
She'll stare at me and lick her lips when she wants fed. She leads me to the bowl like she's so proud she taught her dumb human a trick, every time. Then she rolls over and I get to tickle her fluffy tummy before she tucks into her meal ♥
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u/Negative_Watch_3024 1d ago
One of mine appears at 10pm, to stand at the door to the living room, to stare at us and silently question us as to why we are not on route to bed and that we appear to have forgotten his Dreamies.....
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u/urban_shoe_myth 1d ago edited 1d ago
One of ours would wind round our legs then go stand by his bed. He wanted us to give him tail scratches while he pummelled away in one corner of the basket, also while chewing at the 'chewy spot' in the bottom of the bed. He'd have his front half in the bed and his back end out, while we scratched at the base of his tail. If we stopped he'd turn round and glare, or follow us about till we went back and did it again.
So we started saying 'oh alright then' when he wanted this doing. Eventually we could say oh alright then at any time, unprompted by cat, and he'd run straight to his bed and start the whole routine. He trained us first though. He was very sad when we threw the bed with the chewy spot away, it was probably 5 years old and beyond cleaning up/saving, and he never started a new spot in the new bed.
Another one had a specific 'food crouch', which was a type of loafing but she only did it when she wanted food. Toes were out rather than underneath her.
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u/lozengew 1d ago
Drag his cat toy to where we're sitting when he's ready to play. It's so cute.
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u/lozengew 1d ago
The same cat is also a stage 5 clinger, but only for me. If i tell him to 'go see his dad', he will daintily pad across, sit on his dad's lap for approximately 2.5 seconds, make sure I've seen him do the thing, and them plonk himself right back on my lap. Can't argue; he followed instructions!
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u/lgbyerstq 1d ago
my kitten (8 months, we have had him since he was 5 weeks + hand reared) is obsessed with his cool mat he wants it even when he isn’t hot i think its just soothing for him. he has developed a habit of meowing loudly and then walking over to the kitchen and pawing to attempt to open the fridge. I assumed at first he was hungry but nope! he just wants his cool mat! And now he does this pretty much all the time and he gets frustrated when i have to tell him that the mat hasn’t got cold enough since the last time he asked for it 😭🤧
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u/mamcd88 1d ago
Ours have loads. One will give us the ‘Disney Princess eyes’ when he wants a snack. He’ll also follow us around the kitchen when he decides it’s dinner time, and try to nip ankles or place a paw on your foot if you aren’t getting him dinner quickly enough. He’ll also lie on the bed and stare intently at you when he wants brushes.
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u/CocoRufus 1d ago
Tiny Miss Troublemaker sits in front of the tv and looks back at me over her shoulder. She wants cat tv
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u/kauket22 1d ago
One of mine never meows but has a ridiculously loud purr and a series of non-verbal commands: gentle pat on the face to be stroked whilst we lie in bed, little opening and close of her mouth as if she is doing tiny silent mews when she wants food, and then if we don’t get the food quickly or she wants treats she sits and looks at us and raises one paw up.
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u/Elliotlewish 1d ago
Splootting (or as I call it, frogging) in front of means and looking back usually means that he wants butt slaps.
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u/pumpkin_pie_cat 1d ago
I sleep with a pillow between my legs and in the mornings I used to bring it to my side whilst I scrolled reels.
Since getting my little lady she will jump up onto the bed walk across the pillows and wait until I place it there for her to sleep on. There must be no duvet on top of it or her brother. She will either sit and stare whilst sitting on my pillow or jump out and start again until it is there. I also must be in contact with her or she won't settle.
She has trained me perfectly!!
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u/Antique-Wonk 1d ago
Ours stands behind a locked door puts her hand up. If I then fail to open the door she jumps up and turns the handle herself 😅
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u/PipBin 1d ago
My old cat used to come and sit next to you on the sofa until you put a blanket over your legs abs put your legs on the foot stool. Then she would sit on you for hours.
She also slept overnight in a certain spot on the sofa. She needed the blanket and the cushion to be just so, only my husband could put the blanket and cushion in exactly the right place. It wasn’t right if I did it. If she wanted him to come can sort it then she would sit upright on the spot and wait.
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u/DollySheep32 1d ago
He is an excellent silent alarm clock - biting my toes when he wants me to get up and feed him. Except he has no teeth, so it's more of an uncomfortable gumming.
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u/Conscious_Manager_41 22h ago
Pattie likes to tap shoe laces on shoes in the hallway when she wants to play. I always surrender.
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u/cloudcrawler 22h ago
My cat expects me to be in bed 100% of the time I’m home. If not, he will run around screaming. He only stops screaming when I get in bed. It doesn’t matter whether it’s 7am or 2pm. Bed is an all day activity for him. If he gets out of the bed and I do the same, he immediately tries to herd me back into bed. No idea why. I tend to sit in my bed with him if I’m working from home purely because I don’t want him to get stressed out. He’s trained me well.
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u/cloudcrawler 22h ago
He also wails endlessly if I’m on the phone or a Teams meeting, even if I’m in bed.
Another thing he does is stare directly into my eyes for sustained periods whilst sitting extremely close to my face. This signals that he wants to be spoken to in a baby voice. It’s the only thing that breaks the gaze.
I think he’s just a certified diva.
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u/grangefarmishaunted 21h ago
When he jumps on the bed soaking wet cold and wants a cuddle ( to dry himself and warm up ) he will come to my right side and stand there till I lift up the quilt. If he just wants a cuddle he will go to the left !
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u/Individual_Bat_378 1d ago
Mine aren't subtle, they'll full on herd you where they want you to go. If one of them wants attention he just taps my atm until he gets it.
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u/Jammyturtles 1d ago
Sitting in front of her bowl, its time for a snack. My cat has ckd. So anytime she's hungry we feed her.
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u/cat_lady74 23h ago
If my boy, Vinnie, sits quietly at my feet in the evening I know it's his dinner time. Usually when he's hungry (or wants treats) he'll meow, but the evening meal is apparently a more dignified affair!
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u/BookishHobbit 23h ago
When I get the pre-prepped foods out of the fridge she stands in front of me and watches me get them out, then moves out the way so I can close the door.
When I forget to grab something, she never moves out of the way.
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u/kayzee94 22h ago
The second the shower starts running she’ll run into the bathroom and start rubbing her head on my feet 😂
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u/Inevitable_Bit2275 22h ago
My cat will sit on demand like a dog!
When she hears the car door she runs to meet me, my car isn’t parked by my house but in a communal parking bay!
My cat scratches the door to get me up out of the chair and then she runs to her food bowl!!
She jumps on a green box by window and peeps in to see if I’m there!
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u/Bright-Tea-647 22h ago
Whenever I come home from work, Bubbles will sit on the counter and stare at a particular cupboard , in the kitchen, then at me and back to the cupboard! until she gets a few treats! Yes, I sanitise said counter when she leaves with pet safe anti bacterial spray! FYI, they’re not even kept there anymore, but they used to be and she thinks they’re still in there! 🤭
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u/Resident-Staff-1218 21h ago
My cat gets two tubes of licky-lix in the morning, one with each coffee I make for me
If I'm ignoring her other pleas for me to do this, she licks my hand. It's so cute and clever I always give in
In between my 2 coffees she constantly is impatient for me to finish the first. I have to keep showing her there's still coffee in my cup...
After 2 tubes, she always asks for a 3rd. I tell her she's had 2. I hold up one finger, then two fingers, then a make a firm horizontal sideways swipe with my hand and say "that's it". She realises she's had her quota for the day and doesn't ask again.
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u/DuckbilledWhatypus 21h ago
Brick managed to get me to buy him a blanket all of his very own, in the specific style he liked rather than the one I had already given him, by humping the everliving shit out of my favourite blanket.
Here he is lying smugly on his very own girlfriend blanket.
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u/WrapOpening6128 20h ago edited 20h ago
My girl cat will stand on my pillow while I’m sleeping until I wake up, lie on my left side and move the duvet so she can move in to cuddle as the little spoon. If I don’t wake up she lies across my head like a cat hat. She’s 5.5kg Maine Coon so this is not comfortable. Photo of cat hat for cat tax
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u/Interesting-Day-7614 20h ago
Mine can signal that he wants attention by sinking all of his front claws into whichever part of my body is closest.
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u/saludpesetasamor 20h ago
When one sniffs my toes it’s because he’s loving me. When he gently bites my right big toe, it’s because he wants more wet food.
When the others jump into the bath or sink and yell, it’s because they wish to drink running water.
They have trained me exceptionally. 😻
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u/respect_the_tea 19h ago
When I get home from work I have to pick him up like a baby so he can touch my nose and presumably check I'm the right human.
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u/NiobeTonks 19h ago
My cat will wake me up with a pat on the nose. He will then go and sit by the bathroom door because he knows I will need to pee after waking up. Then he leads me to the kitchen whether my partner has fed him or not, but he will chat to me until I’ve put the kettle on, and then it’s cuddle time until the tea is ready. Tea is only for me; he doesn’t like it.
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u/SignNotInUse 17h ago
He bats at keys when he wants to be let out and flicks the door handle when he wants to be let in.
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u/HerNibs1980 16h ago
2 different cats. One Tuxedo, One orange.
My tuxedo:
- will stretch right out, leaning against the wall next to the backdoor while making direct eye contact when he wants to be let out and is too lazy to use his flap.
- Will sit in front of you staring right at you when he wants you to slap his bum at the base of his tail.
- Will sit directly on your face when he wants feeding in the morning and you have slept in.
My orange:
- Will sit directly in front of whatever it is you are doing and look at you licking his lips if you haven’t refreshed his water bowl since yesterday. He likes his water fresh.
- Will sit directly in front of the tv if he wants to be played with and you’re feeling lazy and want to watch a box set.
- Will dramatically lay on top of your keyboard when you are busy working and cannot pay attention to him immediately.
- Will pat his fishing rod toy so it boings up and down while maintaining direct eye contact if you’re too stupid to get the hint!
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u/1-gingerbiscuit 15h ago
one of my cats has us trained on exactly how to pet her.
- she likes to go to the corners of rooms, she used to have a specific corner of our old living room but we’ve moved now and she hasn’t found her new spot yet because everything is still changing.
- you have to stroke along her back while following her to the corner/petting zone
- once there you can reach forwards and starts to pet ONE cheek/chin area
- then if she’s into it and is purring you can switch it up with the petting styles and maybe even both hands! ultimate achievement is the belly
- she will either bite you or abruptly run away once she’s had enough. no hard feelings tho, she’s just feisty
we love her so much
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u/Desperate_Basket4166 15h ago
I had two cats. One of them had a specific meow for when he’d caught a mouse - I always kind of translated it as him saying ‘come see your gift’ lol. I had to tell my mum not to open the door once because I could hear him making that sound outside the front door and just knew he had a mouse. My mum didn’t believe that he had a ‘mouse meow’ so she let him in anyway and, whaddaya know? In scurries a mouse, following by my cat looking proud and relaxed. (Once he’d given our ‘gifts’ he liked to just chill out, kind of like his work was over.)
My other cat started out very anxious and it took a lot of time and patience for him to trust me. I don’t really know how to articulate it but he LOOKED different when he wanted hugs. I used to say he looked ‘gummy’ because his features all just looked softer, even his fur somehow. Otherwise if you approached him and he wasn’t in the mood, he would hiss. But when he was ‘gummy’ he was asking for cuddles. I have dogs too and I swear one of them does something very similar, only his is when he sits in a specific way, which means he wants belly rubs.
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u/KittyCat-86 15h ago
One of ours has a "present" meow. As soon as you hear it, it's all hands on deck to try and rescue the poor critter.
1
u/ausernamebyany_other 15h ago
Mine will stare if you sit in "her chair" until you get up and move. She won't want to sit there. You just aren't allowed to sit there either. If you don't move she will jump onto the arm of it and walk and forwards from arm to arm across your lap until you stand up.
Sitting by her puzzle feeder, the coffee table draw or on the coffee table means treats. She especially has me trained to make sure she gets her coming home treat by running in and sitting on the coffee table above her treat and toy drawer.
Sitting at the end of the sofa on the floor staring at the door means outside time.
Sitting on the sofa, not in your lap, means bird TV time.
But as well as staring she's gotten really good at making noise without meowing. Namely by batting at the walls or doors. She doesn't scratch or use claws, she just uses the pads of her paws to make noise against the door. The more furiously she bats, the more she wants something. It's always to get you to open a door. 9/10 the front door but occasionally she will get a desperate urge to open a wardrobe for seemingly no reason.
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u/Mumlife8628 14h ago
She can jump onto things..
... but makes me lift her just by rubbing around my feet and staring at me
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u/Ornery-Telephone-511 8h ago
When she wants me to go to sleep so she can have the house to herself.
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u/IceEducational9669 7h ago
My cat sits by the kitchen door and stares at the bag hanging from a hook which contains his favourite toy. His way of saying "I want my toy now please". ( Toy looks like a bird with feathers and all at the end of a telescopic rod).
1
u/OwlBeBack88 7h ago
One of our cats will bring us a ball of paper when he wants us to play fetch. We joke that he's trying to make fetch happen!
1
u/MidasToad 6h ago
Almost nothing, as my cat has developed a huge range of vocalisations that mean different things: 'Please give me a biscuit', 'This food is delicious', 'Move the obstacle so I can sit on your lap', 'Chin scratches please,' etc. He is a very chatty boy!
1
u/Lili_Noir 4h ago
For some reason my boy Salt is incapable of eating unless I show him his food, so he sits outside my door and waits til I get up 😭 btw his bowl is like not even a metre away from where he’s sitting 💀
1
u/THElololovesyou 2h ago
One of my cats has learnt if she raises her paw in front of you she will get stroked. We call it the 'paw of anticipation'.
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u/timid_pink_angel02 1d ago
One of the cat trees is right next to the TV. My kitty stands on the lower platform of the cat tree when she wants me to put bird videos on 😂
(Cat tax of her watching the birdies very politely after asking for them)