Dovedale/Forest Hill Rd Talking Cat

[yeknomyeknom]

There is a new cat in town, recently moved in. I know this because I hear it talking regularly across all of the gardens. It's noisy but I will forgive it as it's adorable. It pretty much say "hello" a lot. Sometimes, like just now "hello, how are you". Very polite. Clearly crying for some supper or to get in. I just want to know it's name and its colour so should I see it passing I can greet it appropriately.

[Borky]

It doesn't really speak you know. It is a dumb animal.

[IlonaM]

Borky Wrote:

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> It doesn't really speak you know. It is a dumb

> animal.

Animals are far from dumb, unlike some humans!

[Robert Poste's Child]

I wonder if it came from Woodwarde Rd? There was one there not so long ago whose meow genuinely sounded like 'hello'. Used to make me fall about laughing.

[Elphinstone's Army]

Borky Wrote:

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> It doesn't really speak you know. It is a dumb

> animal.

Borky, introduce yourself to Simon's Cat (youtube) then come back and repeat this slur

[TheCat]

old news....I've been talking for years....

[Zebedee Tring]

We had a cat who once said "Good morning" in an attempt at an Alistair Cooke voice, although sadly it wasn't the morning at the time. He also had a distinctive South London accent and said things like "wew", which would have sounded like "well" if his accent had been posher.

[edcam]

I strongly suspect that the cat is brighter than Borky.

[Borky]

edcam Wrote:

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> I strongly suspect that the cat is brighter than

> Borky.

to me

to you

to me

to you

and so it goes.

I blame grammar schools

[Lucy]

I think I know this cat. We live at the Peckham Rye end of Dovedale Road and we've been woken up a few times in the morning but this cat's chat.

Does anyone know what this cat looks like? We've recently noticed a cat which is ginger/black who doesn't have a collar & is looking very skinny and wondered if it had a home.

[yeknomyeknom]

Yes!! We are that end too! Must be the same cat. Oh,I hope it's not a homeless one, that's a shame. Mind you it cries for a bit and then it stops. I imagine that's because it's let in. Bloody racket, but amusing.

Lucy Wrote:

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> I think I know this cat. We live at the Peckham

> Rye end of Dovedale Road and we've been woken up a

> few times in the morning but this cat's chat.

>

> Does anyone know what this cat looks like? We've

> recently noticed a cat which is ginger/black who

> doesn't have a collar & is looking very skinny and

> wondered if it had a home.

[Mrs TP]

One of our cats says 'Mum' copying the kids he pronounces it 'Marrrrm', definite cross between a miaow and an attempt at speech. Hubby thought I was bonkers when I first mentioned it but has since heard it and finds it hilarious.

[NewWave]

our cat Boo says 'Meh' when he doesn't like something and also screams 'NO NO NO' when going to the vet...my neighbours kids witnessed a vets visit and thought it was brilliant

[Mrs TP]

Brilliant 'no no no' when going to the vet! Ours just wraps his front paws around a stair rod, like a big bear hug and refuses to let go. However when we do get him there is as compliant as you can be!

[Coach Beth]

This researcher is looking into cat vocalizations - personally, I feel my cat has learnt how to give an inflection to her meow to make it sound like a question.

http://vr.humlab.lu.se/projects/meowsic/catvoc.html

[Louisa]

I thought it was just me. I've also had conversations with cats and dogs in the street, and I am absolutely positive they can understand me. They do reckon some people give out positive vibes to pets, and is great to think I have this knack. Of course, I probably sound crazy here, these aren't full blown human conversations, only I and the animal can understand. It's quite primitive, but amazing to think that animals and humans can communicate on a friend level, especially strangers.

Louisa.

[Siduhe]

When we rehomed our two cats, the lady we got them from said that cats change their miaows over time when they get new owners, to reflect the way that the new owner talks to them. I have no idea if this is true, but would kind of make sense.

[redjam]

Cats definitely do try to 'talk' - they don't miaow to other cats, only humans.

I swear to God our cat says 'hello' to us, only she can't quite manage the 'l' sound, so it comes out sounding a bit Japanese: 'herr-ow'. She does it whenever she comes in from outside, so it definitely feels deliberate, like she's mimicking us saying hello to her when we come in. Cracks us up every time.

[pixysunflower]

We have a regular visitor to our back garden who is a b/w cat with distinctive markings like a moustache. For a while we nicknamed him after the German instigator of world war II esp as he seemed to boss all the neighbouring cats. Now we know his name and we call him ''D'' for short. Twice though I have filmed him having a long ''conversation'' with another cat. The first time was last year and the second was just a couple of months ago when he crossed paths in my neighbour's garden with a new bengal-looking cat. It was amazing to watch; he sat proprietorily while it appeared, the other cat was explaining his presence in ''D's'' area.''D'' gave some replies and then after 5-7 minutes the other cat rolled onto his side and back in what appeared to be a submissive gesture before skulking away while scrutinised by ''D''. To my knowledge that cat has not appeared again in ''D's'' territory again. It was early morning so their voices did seem very loud.

[Toby Tobias]

Dear Lucy, we also live at the Peckham Park end of Dovedale Road; you may be referring to one of our cats who is a tabby/tortie - effectively very dark with splashes of ginger. She is very thin but I assure you she is fine - she is 13 years old and eats on demand but never puts on weight. We have three cats - two ginger/white and as mentioned above - one of the ginger boys is the brother of the tortoiseshell and also very thin - just their age I think. All very well looked after and loved.

[Pugwash]

Our old cat was very vocal and you could have a conversation with her, different sounds and pitches yet she rarely talked to our other cats. When she died, the house was very quiet and the other cats missed her.

We have 3 cats - one who is dumb and cannot growl or purr, one who squeaks rather than meows, and the other who has varying tones.

[jaywalker]

My cat has taken to vocalising fridge noises when he is hungry. My fridge is gas cooled (or something) and makes a kind of rumbling sound from time to time, which he imitates perfectly. He knows I usually have cold chicken or something in there.

Makes a lot of sense: they cannot talk, but only because of their vocal architecture, not because they lack the neurons.

[yeknomyeknom]

Finally I have met the talking cat. It is a big tabby who basks in our garden occasionally. It's the first time he has spoken whilst actually in ours so finally I have my answers.

[ianr]

Can you record this prodigy for us?

[yeknomyeknom]

I would but I find the forum is a nightmare for downloading onto.