If you’ve ever seen your cat walk up to your boyfriend, roommate, husband, or brother and announce his presence as if he were complaining about the noise, you’re not imagining things. Cats meow more among men, according to a recent study.
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Ethology magazine published a new study examining how 31 domestic cats greeted their owners at home and found a very consistent pattern: When the person walking through the door was a man, the cats meowed more often. Not radically different, not with more affection, not with more anxiety – just stronger.
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The scientists leading the study filmed brief “welcome” moments between the cats and their owners. When a woman entered, the cat would perform its usual greeting routine (like raising its tail, rubbing its paw, and perhaps a soft meow).
When a man entered, the greeting was much the same, except that the cat meowed more frequently. The authors didn’t identify a single cause, but they floated one possibility: Male caregivers might need clearer vocal cues to perceive and respond. The internet, of course, has already translated this into a simple conclusion: men don’t listen.
They also observed 22 specific cat behaviors, including head rubbing, yawning, tail posing and stretching. But meowing stood out as the only behavior that differed between male and female owners. The increase in vocalization toward males remained consistent regardless of the cat’s age, breed, sex, or family size.
The team suggested that the difference could be because males interact less frequently or respond more slowly to the cats’ calls. Owners tend to talk to their cats more frequently and notice nuances in body language, causing cats to adjust their strategy to attract a man’s attention.