• somethingsomethingidk@lemmy.world
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      5 months ago

      From wikipedia

      Adult cats rarely meow to each other. Thus, an adult cat meowing to human beings is generally considered a post-domestication extension of meowing by kittens: a call for attention.

      • Auli@lemmy.ca
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        5 months ago

        Cats are not domesticated though or not fully domesticated. They are tame.

        • sparkle@lemm.ee
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          5 months ago

          this is a stupid take especially considering that “tame” usually literally just means domesticated

          1. Not or no longer wild; domesticated

          adjective: 1. (of an animal) not dangerous or frightened of people; domesticated.

          verb: domesticate (an animal).

          reduced from a state of native wildness especially so as to be tractable and useful to humans : DOMESTICATED

          in fact the first definition for “tame” in every dictionary i’ve looked up just has the word “domesticated” as the meaning for tame. “domesticate” and “tame” are also indirectly cognates, they both ultimately derive from PIE *dem(h₂), just “domesticate” is Latinate and “tame” is Germanic, but that’s more of a fun fact than a relevant indicator of meaning.

          we selectively bred cats to fit our wants/needs, they live in our house and pester us to support their lifestyle, what about that isn’t domestication

  • ThatWeirdGuy1001@lemmy.world
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    5 months ago

    I keep seeing this “factoid” and I’m pretty sure it’s just bullshit.

    Cats meow to each other all the time. They can meow in frequencies humans can’t hear but they didn’t start meowing just to “manipulate” humans.

    Cats did however develop a specific type of meow that does in fact mimic the frequencies of a baby crying but it’s not the cats normal meow.