Can You Answer Your Cat's Questions?
@owlwings (43910)
Cambridge, England
January 22, 2019 5:09am CST
Today, 22 January is "Answer your Cat's Question Day".
I don't know who invented this 'celebration' or why, except that all cats frequently ask questions of us in various ways. Just look for the raised eyebrows and wide open eyes, looking directly at ours and you'll recognise that he or she is ASKING you something!
Finding out what, exactly, Puss is asking for is another matter! Sometimes it's fairly obvious ("Is it time for food?", "Will you come and play?", "What are you doing - and why?" are some of the easy ones), but at other times you feel that gentle paw on your arm and look down to see a little questioning face and have NO idea what he or she wants, though there clearly is an urgent need for an answer of some kind.
Who knows what deep questions a cat really needs the answers to? "Tabby or not Tabby? That is the question!"
My cat often just comes up, puts his paw on my arm and clearly asks "Why?". What answer can you give to that?
28 people like this
26 responses
@owlwings (43910)
• Cambridge, England
22 Jan 19
My cat apparently sees it as his duty to remind me when to come and have breakfast (and he actually supervises me when I count out the medications for the day), he clearly comes to tell me when he thinks I have been on the computer too long and is very insistent about bedtime, which has its own routine. That's apart from his requests for food at the allotted times! I sometimes wonder whether he has a clock inside him because he is almost always correct in his timing, nearly to the minute.
3 people like this
@LadyDuck (472004)
• Switzerland
22 Jan 19
I have no cats, but my two closest neighbors both have cats, one a ginger kitten, the other 2 young cats. They all come to visit me, they come inside when I open the door and they all look at me with a questioning face. Hard to know what they are asking. For the moment I understand when they want food, or they ask that I pour more water in the outside bowl. I am doing my best to understand them more.
5 people like this
@owlwings (43910)
• Cambridge, England
22 Jan 19
Cats clearly think that humans are mentally deficient. All this ya-da-ya-da and ba-ba-ba is what kittens do, really. Grown up cats rarely talk to each other with their voices (well, there are notable exceptions, of course, when they are courting). They mostly use telepathy, facial expressions and body language and can EASILY read humans. Most are constantly concerned that humans are so dull-witted and most can't even understand the lift of an eyebrow or the particular flick of a tail!
3 people like this
@LadyDuck (472004)
• Switzerland
23 Jan 19
@owlwings I fully agree with you. Cats are many facial expression. I was observing the kitten yesterday, he was playing outside, the ground was frozen, he slipped down the hill and he could not understand the reason. He also had a weird look when he wanted to drink and the water was frozen. I went out immediately with hot water to thaw the ice. I gained a little point as a bit less dull human
2 people like this
@changjiangzhibin89 (16785)
• China
22 Jan 19
I haven't fed a cat ,but I have nothing against them,even I would imitate their voice "meow,meow" when I see one.I guess If you keep them long enough, you can know what they want through their voices and behaviour.
3 people like this
@responsiveme (22926)
• India
22 Jan 19
When Ember asks me When's dinner,I can answer that easily and even go and do something about it. But with age catching on , when she asks me whether it should be mandrake root or liquorice as she stirs the cauldron ,I do admit I got to think a bit.
3 people like this
@Happy2BeMe (99380)
• Canada
22 Jan 19
My big cat is always asking "Where's the food?" That is all he thinks about.
lol
lol3 people like this
@owlwings (43910)
• Cambridge, England
22 Jan 19
@Happy2BeMe So, according to them, can we be! 
1 person likes this
@Sreekala (34312)
• India
22 Jan 19
I don't have cats as pets. At times cats may seen nearby area for stealing food from dustbin. They messed up the dustbin by spreading all the wastes so have to be careful at night with this.
Regarding the topic, I think they may ask food on the first instant. No idea if they ask any further questions.
2 people like this
@allknowing (137553)
• India
23 Jan 19
I have only understood it as asking for food. The cats that visit us do just that
1 person likes this
@owlwings (43910)
• Cambridge, England
23 Jan 19
Clearly you just run the local snack bar. People don't normally engage in deep philosophical discussions with their regular restaurateur, so it's unlikely that your customers will do more than order food. They probably aren't aware that you are 'allknowing' and therefore probably have the answers to the knottier questions such as "Why is a mouse when it spins?"
1 person likes this
@allknowing (137553)
• India
23 Jan 19
@owlwings I forgot all about the mating call and that is loud and clear
1 person likes this
@rebelann (112962)
• El Paso, Texas
22 Jan 19
Yes, I've noticed that 2 of mine are constantly voicing their questions and when one of them puts his paw on my arm the tips of his claws let me know he is there, not really all that gentle but when he does that I realize it's the 'Feed Me Now' demand I must attend to.
Max is an orange tabby and much like the cartoon character Garfield he always wants food.
2 people like this
@owlwings (43910)
• Cambridge, England
3 Mar 19
My cat seems to have been born with an alarm clock in his tummy. Every morning at 6am precisely he scratches at the door to be fed and every evening at 6pm precisely, he asks for his evening meal. It's when he comes scratching at the door at other than fee times and just comes in and puts a paw on my arm, looks soulfully (or pleadingly) into my eyes and is clearly asking something that I'm stumped for an answer!
1 person likes this
@JESSY3236 (20046)
• United States
22 Jan 19
Lily (my black cat) has been really talkative today. Maybe this celebration is why she's talkative. I keep asking her what is wrong and she wouldn't tell me. I thought it was food, but to me I thought she had enough dry food in her bowl. I gave her more though. She still was meowing. Right now she's silent and looking at computer screen.. I can hardly read what I'm typing or read posts.
2 people like this
@owlwings (43910)
• Cambridge, England
22 Jan 19
My cat (Mr. Mephistopheles but usually called Misty for short, also black) has talkative days and silent days. He usually will give a barely audible mew when he wants my attention or answers my questions but occasionally he gets quite vocal and insistent.
1 person likes this
@owlwings (43910)
• Cambridge, England
26 Jan 19
My cat only uses his voice occasionally. Mostly he communicates with stares or looks or the slow lowering of the eyelids but sometimes (mostly when he says that it's long past his food time) he can be quite vocal. I talk to him a lot, of course, and he understands quite a few words.
1 person likes this
@Sheali (7461)
• India
22 Jan 19
I don't have cats but I have pet dogs, actually they are strays..
Sometimes, it happens that one eats before and again comes with the other, when I feed the other. It has a weird expression, as if trying to say, "Where is my food. I don't remember eating." 
2 people like this
@pumpkinjam (8770)
• United Kingdom
21 Jun 19
My cat's questions might be "why haven't you fed me yet?" or "Why am I not allowed to bite you?" or "Why is my paw stuck on this chair that I know I'm not supposed to scratch and should have learned my lesson after getting stuck on it every other day for the past four years?"
1 person likes this
@owlwings (43910)
• Cambridge, England
21 Jun 19
My cat asks very much the same questions (and he also has a sticky-out claw which will always get stuck). He only bites when he's feeling skittish or is really frustrated with this idiot of a human and even then it's not a real bite and hardly ever scratches the skin. Those, anyway, are the ordinary sort of questions which it's usually quite easy to discern (though not always to answer).
The ones which most puzzle me are when he comes quietly up, gently puts a paw on my arm to attract my attention and looks me full in the face with imploring eyes. Perhaps he's just saying "Are you OK? You seem to be ignoring me!"
1 person likes this
@psanasangma (7281)
• India
20 Jun 19
I am not aware such kind of celebration ! How big is this kind of celebration?
1 person likes this
@moffittjc (121659)
• Gainesville, Florida
17 Mar 19
I saw a video on Facebook just last night where a cat is looking at his owner and meowing, clearly asking a question. The owner says No, and the cat meows again. The owner keeps saying No, and each subsequent meow keeps getting noticeably angrier. Finally, the cat just hauls off and attacks the owner. It's hilarious!
1 person likes this
@owlwings (43910)
• Cambridge, England
17 Mar 19
Cats are very good communicators and understand a great deal of what is said to them - easily as much as dogs do. They can also get very frustrated by their humans' stupidity and pig-headedness. I have been attacked by a frustrated cat many times!
@karibe (686)
• Venezuela
24 Feb 19
I have had dogs, now I have a female dog and I also have a turtle, once I had a cat, but an evil person wanted to send him to the domain of the grave ... I know what he is talking about. I have seen these domesticated animals talk to their owners to ask for food and attention. Sometimes I eat lunch in the front yard of the house, I sit under a tree and I am surrounded by three or four stray cats who insistently ask me to give them what I eat, and when they do it very close to me, I scold them. They leave, but they stay waiting somewhere to receive something later.
1 person likes this
