Cats 'exploit' humans by purring

BBC News ^ | July 13, 2009 | Victoria Gill

[dragonblustar]

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.

[freekitty]

I know. It is hard. I also have a black kitty left.

[HungarianGypsy]

They are impossible to resist when they sit up and meow, "Please"

Now a human baby cry. That sound would be when we have to put them in the bath and they sound like baby girls crying, "Mama!"

[Titan Magroyne]

I feel so...

so... USED!

:-D

Actually, my puddy has food available 24/7. Saves her from becoming a furry lil rocket when Mommy is hostile to waking.

[dforest]

And to think I told my kitty to hush it up.

[Slings and Arrows]

Mine free-feed too, but still sometimes wake me up to be loved on. It’s nice to be needed.