Can a cat be taught to speak? Animal horns

Man differs from his smaller brothers in that he has the ability to speak. But folk wisdom says that if you want, you can fly into space. And therefore, one should not think that it is easier to order a talking hamster than to make your cat say "meat." You just need to put in a lot of perseverance and time to make your friends believe in miracles.

Guide to action

First you need to get a kitten, and the younger he is, the more successful the idea itself will become. The fact is that “milk” kittens are able to quickly perceive and adopt the habits and instructions of the owner, while an adult cat already has its own views on life. You also need to consider that it is better to buy a male kitten, because his mouth apparatus is more flexible and easier to adjust.

Now start listening to the dialect of your new resident, because the usual "Meow" is not the only cat sound. The feline lexicon is much wider than you think, so you need to try to find in it the word that can be “fitted” to the human. Once a suitable vocabulary item has been found, start honing it. For example, it seemed to you that the kitten said "meat", so every time you hear this, repeat this saying and praise the pet. You also need to do reverse actions, as a result of which the pussy should already repeat the word “meat” after you.

Do not rush and expand your vocabulary until the kitten begins to speak at least one word, but clearly and distinctly. Haste is inappropriate here, and you will live together for more than one year. You don’t have to be very demanding yet, and you should understand that the cat will definitely not say “hello” to you, and the learned words will still sound in the feline dialect. But as for the demonstration of the pet’s skills, you need to be extremely careful here, because the inadequate reaction of outsiders can nullify your joint efforts with the kitten. Then you will only have to buy an Android TV box, as a consolation prize, because an animal that has experienced stress will never speak again.

Many pet owners seek to teach their pets something unusual, extravagant, which the wards of other owners cannot do. One of these amazing skills is the ability of a domestic cat to talk.

True, the speech apparatus of feline representatives, unlike the human one, has a completely different structure. It is unlikely that anyone will be able to teach a cat to have heart-to-heart conversations with the owner, however, long-term training and the abyss of patience of a stubborn owner will help train your pet to make sounds a little like human words. Before you start teaching a cat to talk to a person, you need to have an idea about the language spoken by the pets themselves.

About cat language

The cat vocabulary is extremely rich: cats meow, hiss, growl, snort and sometimes even chatter their teeth. Moreover, each cat expresses its emotions in different ways, using its own set of sounds and placing accents in its own way. Scientists have identified sixteen main types of vocal signals in meowing pets, which they emit both on exhalation and on entry, without stopping breathing.

The most famous sounds that cats make are well known to the owners of meowing pets. A warning and a threat in the cat language are expressed by hissing and snorting, and snorting by animals is also emitted when they unexpectedly meet with an opponent. A low guttural grunt is no longer a joke threat, which is sure to be followed by an attack. Cats express pleasure and enjoyment of life by purring. To learn how to understand your pet and teach a cat to speak, or rather to pronounce sounds similar to human words, you need to know the training rules developed by enthusiasts.

How to teach a cat to speak like a human

Training bears fruit only if training starts from the very infancy of a kitten. Adult individuals already have their own established character and their own view of the world, in which there is no place for empty chatter with a person.

Teaching conversational speech gives good results with cats, and not with cats, in which the speech apparatus does not have flexibility and can hardly be changed.

If several cats live in the house, then in order to teach the conversational speech of the cat, it is necessary to isolate it from other pets so that they do not interfere with the student learning complex sounds.

Training must begin with one word, which must necessarily be associated with food. The most popular word among teaching cats to talk is the word "meat", very similar to the sound "meow". You need to pronounce the word "meat" either while the kitten is eating, or before it. Some owners recommend repeating the word "meat" to the kitten for an hour before feeding this meat to the baby.

It is important to praise the kitten not only at the moments when it starts to make sounds similar to human words, but also when the owner speaks the right word, and the cat responds to it.

In no case should you impose your will on a kitten, all the more you should not torment him with long training sessions - the effect of such a master's diligence will be minimal.

You should not start teaching a kitten new words until he has firmly mastered one word. And do not forget that the kitten will speak "with an accent", because the pet will not be able to pronounce the word in the same way as a person.

If you carefully listen to the sounds most often uttered by your pet, it will be easier to pick up a human word that is very similar to these sounds and, first of all, teach the kitten this particular word. So the sound "mau" is very easy to transform into the word "meat", "I don't know."

Despite the similarity in the structure of vital organs and systems, a person differs significantly from an animal. First of all, this concerns intelligence and the presence of developed speech. And although mammals do not have the necessary anatomical tools, some of them can be trained to imitate simple words. Representatives of the cat family including. The article is devoted to how to teach a cat to speak and how to arrange it for classes.

Speech is a way of communicating between people using complex language structures. Mandatory moment of its formation is human society. In order for a child to learn to speak, he needs to be among talking people.

Scientists still disagree about the origin of the language. According to one of the leading versions, the words arose during the period when the ancestors picked up the first tool of labor. The palms, which were the main communication tool, were occupied, and people had to invent a new method of communication.

Anatomical background

For intelligible articulation, a speech apparatus is needed. When pronouncing words, the diaphragm, larynx, lungs, nasal cavity, bronchi, epiglottis, trachea, small tongue, pharynx, palate, lower jaw, teeth, tongue and palatine curtain are involved.

The following organs play an important role in articulate speech:

1. Diaphragm. During the conversation, you need to supply air in portions to the ligaments, which helps to divide words into syllables. Otherwise, an inarticulate cry will escape from the mouth. This is possible thanks to the muscular septum.
2. Larynx. In humans, it is lower than in great apes. This position of the organ makes it possible to clearly pronounce the sounds used in phonetics.

In addition, a wide spinal canal is needed, through which impulses will flow from the brain to the respiratory organs. The more spacious it is, the more neurons that can receive information.

In children under 3 years of age, the larynx is located high, just like in chimpanzees. Then it descends, which allows the baby to fully master the sound side of speech.

Why Animals Don't Speak

Representatives of the fauna cannot keep up the conversation for several reasons. In addition to the fact that they do not have such a need, there are physiological obstacles:

1. For a clear pronunciation of words, a well-functioning system of organs is necessary. It is not available in mammals.
2. The ability to speak and understand a language is formed as a person develops the skills of logical and associative thinking. Animals have no such talents.

One of the important human qualities is the ability to invent new terms. In the communicative practice of animals, this is found only among especially gifted monkeys who use sign language.

Features of communication in the animal world

There are many non-verbal communication methods in the animal world. Each species speaks its own language, which is a simple system of signals.

Table 1. Signal system

There are also less common methods of communication - the bioelectromagnetic fields of the Nile elephant, high-frequency signals in dolphins, echolocation in bats.

Animal horns

Evolving, each species has invented its own sound signals. Some of them are understandable to all representatives of the animal world. For example, in many languages, hissing means discontent, and the trumpet call is a call for mating. But in most cases, only related species understand the sound code. For example, the meaning of a horse's neighing is understandable to another horse, but does not carry a semantic load for a cat.

Sound arsenal:

• frog - 6;
• chicken - 13;
• cat - 16;
• rooster - 15;
• dolphin - 32;
• fox - 36;
• monkey - 40;
• tit - 90;
• raven - 300.

These numbers do not mean the number of letters, but the number of sound combinations used by animals.

Not even the fish are silent. According to recent studies, they use sound signals to convey information, as well as sneezing, coughing and wheezing.

In some species, such as vervet monkeys, phonetic signals have a wide range of associations. For many predators, they have an individual sound code. The cry of alarm announcing the approach of an eagle is different from that of a leopard.

What animals imitate human speech

Science knows many cases of successful imitation of human speech by representatives of the animal kingdom. Birds are the most trainable.

Animals that can imitate human speech:

1. Feathers. Some varieties of parrots can memorize and pronounce about a thousand words. Crows show good results. They are considered even more talented than exotic cockatiels.
2. Monkey. Due to the peculiarities of physiology, they can pronounce 5 vowel sounds. However, in imitation of speech they are significantly inferior to birds. So far, the trainers have managed to achieve only the imitation of the speech of a one-year-old child.
3. Dolphins and seals. Particularly gifted individuals can imitate simple words and even small phrases on exhalation.
4. Elephants. Kosik lives in a zoo in South Korea, able to clearly pronounce 5 words.
5. Cats. These fluffy creatures can do more than just meow. Masi from Azerbaijan gained world fame, having learned to pronounce more than 10 words.

Imitation of human speech and communication are different concepts. The exception is the parrot Alex. As part of Dr. Irene Pepperberg's research, he has shown the ability for basic analysis and logical reasoning using the simplest verbal constructions.

Social animals are considered much more talkative than loners. Although felines do not live in a community, they can still be taught a few human words.

Sound baggage of felines

The communicative arsenal of cats is quite diverse. When pets want to express any emotion, they use the following techniques:

• meow;
• purring;
• snort;
• nagging;
• chirping;
• hiss;
• clattering of teeth;
• grunt;

Depending on the emotional state, they can increase or decrease the intensity of the signal.

Table 2 Key Messages

Undomesticated cats in their natural habitat do not meow. Only kittens are endowed with this ability.

Cat language deciphering

The main reasons that prompt a pet to enter into a dialogue with the owner are boredom, hunger, fear, pain, a request to open the door and the joy of meeting.

Table 3. Sound combinations

Given the sounds available in the arsenal of fluffy pets and the manner of their pronunciation, you can try to teach them simple words. It is desirable that they contain hissing consonants and the letter "M".

General learning rules

Not all cats can imitate human speech. The learning process is lengthy and requires maximum endurance and patience on the part of the owner. Before you start training, you should familiarize yourself with the following rules:

1. It is better to train males. Females are harder to train.
2. You can only train kittens up to 1 year old. It is useless to train adults.
3. Before each lesson, it is necessary to isolate the pet from other animals and eliminate any annoying and distracting factors.
4. Lessons should take place on a full, but not full stomach.
5. To study one word, spend at least 6 months. It must be repeated every time before feeding. It is desirable that it be associated with food, such as "meat".
6. Do not exhaust your pets with long workouts. Cats are stubborn creatures and will never be forced to train. If imitation of human speech is not interesting, they will never learn to speak.

It is important to listen to what sounds the animal makes more often. If “meow” - it is advisable to start studying the word “meat”, if “murrr” - perhaps the cat will learn to pronounce “eat”.

Step-by-step instruction

The most famous talking cat in the world is the Azeri Mesi. He is able to pronounce several dozen words both in Russian and in his "native" language. The pet's vocabulary includes such etiquette expressions as "thank you" and "goodbye".

Table 4. Teaching a cat to speak

Before you start training, you need to be patient and imbued with confidence that the pet living nearby is unique. Without these components, it is impossible to achieve success in such a complex process.

Video - Talking cat

If cats could speak humanly, they would probably have something to tell us. There is an interesting application on the smartphone: Talking Cat Volume-2. A good program to cheer yourself up. This funny positive cat can be stroked (he reacts so cute to touch), stylishly dressed and even talk to him. This domestic cat with a funny voice sarcastically repeats everything you say to him. Probably, many already have such a talking cat on their smartphone. And I had a question, are there real talking cats? Well, there are talking animals in nature. There are many videos of how parrots are good at imitating human speech, but about cats it’s somehow not particularly heard. More often, cat owners say: “My cat can’t talk, but how it listens…”. But after watching jokes about cats, it turned out that a talking cat is not so rare.

Simply, if you love your pet and give him enough time to talk to him, then the cat can be made a speaker. Of course, don't forget to reward your pet with some of his favorite food and a kind word when he tries to talk and especially when he succeeds. You need to start learning to speak when the cat is still small. Watch videos from enthusiasts trying to get their cat to talk. Try it yourself, maybe your cat will start talking to you.

Cats are trainable and this is not news to you, but many owners are tormented by the question “How?”. How to make this "striped face" perform tricks and understand commands? To begin with, forget the word “force”, training a cat, like training a dog, is a team work that brings pleasure to the animal and its owner. Interested in how to teach a cat commands? Did you see the talent of performances in your "fluffy"? 10 minutes of theory and you are ready to practice.

Naturally, training cats is a more difficult and painstaking process compared to training dogs. Dogs enjoy the execution of commands, service and approval of the owner, cats appreciate other benefits - praise, reward, their own positive emotions. Also, in the “cat world” there are no usual gradations - it is easy or difficult to train, two pets of the same breed can be completely different in terms of training.

About the pleasant, even if your purr is a “phlegmatic champion”, you can still teach him tricks, but it’s unlikely that he will be able to teach functional commands. The main principle is that in order to teach a cat commands, it is necessary to create the illusion of a game, the pet will not do what he does not like - this applies to all mustachioed - striped. Look closely at the behavior, habits, leisure and addictions of the pet, you can’t put a strict collar and leash on a cat, you have to find “weaknesses” and use them.

Functional commands such as sit, come to me, or lie down are more difficult. Cats with the character of companions do an excellent job with training - they constantly look into the eyes of the owner and beg for an approving nod of their heads.

Important! The cat does not work, the cat plays - you can't force it, but you can negotiate!

Read also: Two cats in the house: make up, make up and don't fight anymore

How to start training a cat

Catch and praise - requires a certain attention of the owner, but still the method is simple. Many owners do not even think that the cat memorizes more than 50 human words and fills the potential field of activity with “unpresentable” or useless commands like “Kys-kiss”, “Shoot” or “I went to work”.

So, the most quickly remembered team is “Eat!” and 80% of "average" cats know it. The animal builds a logical connection - he heard "Eat!", ran to the bowl, got dinner, and positive emotions, in turn, reinforce the conditioned reflex. By the same principle, the cat is taught the command “Sleep!” - the pet is comfortably laid, stroked and cherished, repeating the command. In the future, the cat goes to the bed on command and does not interfere with vacuuming or receiving guests, while the owner is happy and the pet experiences positive emotions.

By observing the daily behavior of the animal, you will notice what fascinates the cat - jumping into boxes, rolling on its back, jumping over "chasms", jogging on its claws, or any other non-standard actions. The cat executes commands, reacting to the sound and tone of voice it hears. Take care of the "preparations" of voice commands in advance - the meaning of the word is not important, the main thing is that it be short and sonorous "Atas!" - jump into the box, "Hello!" - somersault, "Face!" – attack by hand or toy.

Seeing the desired action - give the command in the process or after execution and praise the animal, as if the command was executed. Repeat "catching" until the cat develops a logical connection and a conditioned reflex. Keep treats with you at all times and reinforce the reflex with food rewards. Almost all commands for cats are tricks. For a piece of meat, the audience will not judge you, and you will not have standards and judges evaluating the quality of performance.

Read also: How to make friends a cat with a dog?

Teaching your cat functional commands

Functional commands are understood as the performance of a natural action or the adoption of a certain posture on the orders of the coach. During classes, punishment, severity, monotony are contraindicated. Be sure to take breaks between hikes, dilute your sessions with “catch” and games. Conduct training at home, the pet feels more confident in its territory.

Note! The success of training depends on the cat's ability to concentrate. Kittens get tired quickly, while young and temperamental adult cats fully absorb long sessions.

Remember that you can come up with a voice command yourself, the article uses "dog names" for convenience. Praise and generously reward your pet for the slightest success, while at the same time, an incorrectly executed command should not be encouraged. Further, training methods, instead of a treat, you can use a toy or other irritant that your pet likes.

"Sit" command

Raise a piece of treat above the pet's muzzle, with your free hand, stroke the back with a little pressure in the croup area. Bring the treat over your pet's head, the cat will instinctively sit down.

Team "Give me a paw"

Squeeze the treat into your fist and let the cat sniff your hand. Wait until the animal tries all the ways and tries to get a treat with its paw. With your free hand, hold the paw placed on your fist and say the command loudly, immediately give the reward. In the future, with proper practice, on command, give a paw, the cat will raise the limb into the air without support and, as it were, “wave your palm”.

Team "Serve"

Let the cat sniff the treat and slowly raise your hand from the nose up. The pet will reach for a tidbit and stand on its hind legs, say the command and give the treat. Didn't work the first time? - Repeat, but do not give away the treat until you achieve the desired pose.