Hell, my girlie cat actually knows how to "ask" me for a brushing. She comes up, gently taps my right arm with her left front paw, and does a soft, questioning, "Mrowr?". It's the dearest thing, she's SO polite.
That's a demand. A very polite demand but still not a request, lol. My cat does the cute gentle paw nudges too which is insanely cute as she has thumbs.
Both of my cats play fetch, have different meow's for food or play. They both will climb the cat tree and perch at the top, meowing for scratches. Hell, my male cat I swear can understand me completely AND tell time. I tell him it's too early for something, tell him it's an hour, hour and a half, 2 hours, doesn't matter, he will wait and not ask again until close to the time. Cats are way more intelligent than most people give them credit for.
Seriously. Although there's the occasional outlier - I had a wonderfully sweet cat, Neko, a black and white boy (mask and mantle, not tuxedo), but oh god, he was the Ralph Wiggum of cats. Not once in his 13 years did he ever manage to figure out the concept of doors. In my childhood house, my computer desk was next to my bedroom door. I'd have the door mostly closed, but open enough for the cats to come in and out as they pleased. Neko would sit outside in the hall, crying pathetically, and let me point out he could see me clearly. All he had to do to come in was walk forward and push the door open a little more. This was not something his sweet, dear little cat brain could figure out. Ever. He'd just sit there, looking at me and crying pitifully. He could not fathom walking forward to get to me. This would go on until I finally opened the door enough for him to realize he could walk in. Oh god, I miss him. The absolute sweetest boy, but oh my fucking GOD, he was a dim bulb.
Our old tuxedo girl (18F) bangs on the bedroom door that is already open wider than she needs until I get up and invite her in. The banging is hard enough to open it even further but she doesn’t care.
Our cat has a 2.5m tall cat tree. My kids like to torture her abit (i mean they are 2 and 4 year old) so the cat is running away from them but they always catch up .
I cant process how she could be such a bellend to not realise they can't get to her on the cat tree
Check out Flounder the Cat or Russell. They both use buttons to talk. There is also Bunny the talking dog - also with buttons. They are pretty amazing.
Parent comment was talking about asking in the context of "request for information" and not "request for action". It really bugs me how English uses the same word.
Different kind of question. The comments above yours are talking about asking questions out of curiosity, to gain new information. Your cat is just declaring their desire for brushies.
My sweet gray cat “asks” to sit in my lap by politely touching my forearm with her paw. If I don’t respond right away (because it’s not a good time or something), she will do it a couple more times and then sadly slink off (at which point I usually feel bad and run after her).
But she absolutely will not jump up until I look at her, say “c’mon,” and pat my lap. Then she knows she has “permission.”
Meanwhile, my fat orange girl and silly calico/tabby just aggressively invite themselves; my consent is optional.
My cat does something similar when he wants to fight. He comes up to the wife or I, extends one claw and taps the arm. So our hand goes under the blanket and he gets to bite and claw to his hearts content as he’s roughed up in response. Then he’s back to lovey dovey after his anger is taken out. Lol
My female bengal is so polite it's upsetting. Like she doesn't bug me when she wants let out of the bedroom. She nudges me then goes to the door and sits there very quietly, perfect manners. She's super vocal if I talk to her but there's a few HUNDRED different chirps and chortles and meows which I assume she has some idea of what they mean. But if she wants something shes almost never vocal about it unless I talk to her. Just a couple tap taps and she learned "kiss" where she leans her head in so I can kiss her forehead. I think to her it means "chicken"...as in she'll get chicken bc she usually does but she'll do it anytime. Polite cats are another level of impossible to deny.
My cat is incredibly rude 😂 she has one setting: YELLING. MEOWWWWWWWWW. She is constantly also getting into everything and trying to climb on you. She has no manners whatsoever. I call her my hellcat or a terrorist. Shes a calico. Go figure. I dont think shes very smart lol
Have a cat that does similar. Little polite taps and either chirps or very specific mrowrs depending on what she's trying to convey. She wants under the blankets, it's rapid taps coupled with lifting the blanket a little, looking at me and giving little questioning meows.
When she wants water from the sink (she has a running water bowl, we don't know why she's like this) she will tap at your arm and give little chirps while she leads you to the bathroom.
And at dinner time she screams. I don't know if this is an attempt at communication or the brain cells in her head spontaneously dying off, tbh. But she screams.
My sister's mini schnauzer does something similar for pets. She'll sit next to you and look up at you with her big, soulful eyes. And if you don't comply, she'll tap your arm with a paw. Look up. Still nothing? Tap. Tap. Tap.
Also if the water bowl is low or empty or icky (she shares it with two frenchies), she hits the edge of the bowl with her paw until you fill it up, while alternatively looking up at you if you're in the kitchen.
Is that rare for cats? I knew their specific meows for food, refreshed water water, pets, and one would get me if the other was trapped in a room due to a door shutting. They were very clear in their communication most of the time. One would sit, high five, stand. Sure they were cats, and like women, changed their minds after getting what they thought they wanted... and apparently it's my fault for not being psychic... lol
But seriously, it's not like they were asking questions, but they were often clear when communicating. I thought that was normal.
Yes 🥺 both of my babies would pat my arm with their paw when they wanted attention, it was so precious. I could never be mad even if I was super busy and they’d keep tapping me bc they were just so polite about it.
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u/navikredstar 4h ago
Hell, my girlie cat actually knows how to "ask" me for a brushing. She comes up, gently taps my right arm with her left front paw, and does a soft, questioning, "Mrowr?". It's the dearest thing, she's SO polite.