I, for one, welcome our feline overlords

Proof positive that cats own us.

Researchers at the University of Sussex have discovered that cats use a “soliciting purr” to overpower their owners and garner attention and food.

Unlike regular purring, this sound incorporates a “cry”, with a similar frequency to a human baby’s.

The team said cats have “tapped into” a human bias – producing a sound that humans find very difficult to ignore.

Ah-ha! So that’s not a “Good morning, glad you’re awake!” purr. It’s a “Feed me, slave” purr.

Admit it. We always knew it.

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11 Responses to I, for one, welcome our feline overlords

  1. geoffc says:

    I have seen my cats do this to my wife. Totally real! She cannot seem to resist them when they want food. She answers every meow, around food time.

    It has yet to be effective on me, or so I am allowed to believe!

  2. Rahel says:

    Figures. In any case, I’ve been a lost cause for years….

  3. Elisson says:

    I, too, will confirm that this is a very real phenomenon.

  4. Pamela says:

    I don’t get the “feed me purr” from mine. Orange just sits and eats, Simon looks at the bowl which translates to “mix it up and add a bit more” and Shadow circles my legs at 4 am, nudging me to add more…even if it is full.

  5. TMA says:

    We call it the im-purr-ative form, and we hear it all the time…

  6. Susan says:

    I swear mine smacks his lips and wacks me on my nose in the morning when he’s waited long enough.

  7. someone says:

    My cat nibbles ever so slightly on the back of my leg when she is hungry and im not paying attention… lol

  8. Lisa Mustard says:

    I have had cats my whole life and have found this to be very true. I have three right now, and each one of them has their own way of letting me know exactly what they want and when. My tom cat Midnight will come get me when it’s bed time, turning his back to me and “snubbing” me if I’m not quite ready. He will also awaken me with persistant cries when he needs to go out. They all have their very own personality, just like people.

  9. RC says:

    As if we needed “science” to confirm that The Cats Are In Control! I have one that does that screechy-purr. The other one just meows in a very loud and demanding manner. Unless I’m in bed, in which case he pokes me in the eye. (But all his purrs are “I Love You” purrs.)

  10. Antoine says:

    “Come and play with me,” proposed the little prince. “I am so unhappy.”
    “I cannot play with you,” the fox said. “I am not tamed.”
    . . . “I am a little bored. But, if you tame me, it will be as if the sun came to shine on my life. I shall know the soud of a step that shall be different from all the others. . . . One only understands the things that one tames.” said the fox. “The Little Prince”

  11. John M. says:

    I’d like to remind them that I can be very useful in rounding up other humans to work as slaves in their vast underground catnip mines.

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