Cats meow more frequently to male owners, Turkish study finds

ANKARA

A new study from Türkiye suggests that cats adjust their vocal communication depending on whether their owner is male or female — and they meow significantly more often when greeting men.

Led by Bilkent University’s Department of Psychology and conducted in collaboration with Ankara University, the research examined the greeting behavior of 31 cats in their home environments.

Because laboratory observation of cats is often difficult, the team designed a method that allowed them to analyze natural interactions inside participants’ homes.

Owners were asked to attach a body-mounted camera before entering their homes and to behave normally for the first five minutes after stepping inside — a moment when cats typically display clear greeting behaviors.

To standardize the evaluation, researchers coded the first 100 seconds of each video. They identified and recorded 22 distinct behavior types associated with feline greeting patterns.

The researchers also examined demographic variables that might shape feline behavior.

These included the gender of both cats and owners, the number of cats in the household, whether each cat was adopted from the street or purchased and breed information.

According to the project leader’s, Assistant Professor Kaan Kerman, the data revealed a notable gender-based difference: Cats meowed more often at male owners — an average of 4.3 times per 100 seconds — compared with 1.8 times for female owners.

Kerman said one possible explanation is that male owners may have more difficulty noticing their cats’ needs, prompting cats to vocalize more to get their attention.

However, he also specified that this vocalization behavior was for the purpose of greeting their owners, noting that there was no link between the cat's frequency of calling and its action of moving toward the food bowl.

Overall, the study does not offer conclusions about men globally or across cultures, as the behavior could be influenced by cultural factors specific to the study group, according to Kerman.