[catman]

what's your kitty saying? some inventors in Japan are selling a new device that's supposed to tell you what your kitty is trying to say :roll:


http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/3074163.stm

 

[Jeanie]

I just read that story this morning! I don't know how scientific it is, but I imagine it would be fun. There's no doubt that a mother cat talks to her kittens and us, but I don't know if that language has yet been translated. I think there's a lot in their "tone of meow." I often told one of my cats with attitude (which cat doesn't?) not to speak to me in that tone of meow!

 

[Majicou]

It's a cute idea, but something tells me it picks a phrase at random! I can't help thinking what would happen if you put it next to a really angry, growling cat and it said something like, 'Hi, how are you?'
Anyway, you can usually tell what a cat is saying from the tone of its meow. Still... I'd like to try one of those out on Jet, just to see what it said he was saying!
Talking of cat speak, I read something interesting that a French scientist who had been observing a mother cat and her litter discovered. When the mother brought a mouse for the kittens to practise killing, she made a certain noise, but when she brought a rat, she made a slightly different noise. When the kittens heard the 'rat noise' they acted more apprehensive. Clever cats!

 

[Richo]

Remember the magic 8 ball? And we all though that thing was genius with its random response... :wink:

Somehow I think only a cat could invent such a device that could be truly accurate. Cute idea though.

 

[Cyprian]

That would be a cool thing to have, I wonder if it can interperet mrrrrrrs tho lol, my cats mrrrr more then they meow.

It could be the real deal and not just random, I know that a different company made one that is supposed to tell you what your babies cry means. (human babies) I watched a study about it on tv, the main drawback was that it took a while for the machine to process the cry, and by then the mothers had usually found out for themselves what their baby needed

 

[Jeanie]

The whole idea is fun, but to get serious about it, this "science" is in its infancy. Scientists have been working with Dolphin sounds for many, many years, and much as I hate to say it, dolphins have larger brains and are considered more intelligent than cats. Of course, dolphins can't purr, climb trees, or sit in your lap!