Hey, don’t be bringing dogs into this! Of course I’d be embarrassed to be heard talking to a cat. It has all the intellectual rewards of talking to a brick.
But try talking to a dog. Ask him if he wants to go out for a walk, or if he wants to go the park, or if he wants to go out and play ball. If it’s any sort of even reasonably semi-intelligent dog, be prepared for an eruption of the Doggie Dance of Joy. If he’s a large enough dog he may even knock you over, or clean off the entire contents of the coffee table with one wag of his mighty tail while doing the DD of J. In contrast, ask a cat if she wants to go play in the park and see what happens.
See, dogs understand what you’re saying. And even if they don’t, they try. I was looking after a friend’s German Shepherd for a few days, and whenever I sat on the couch she sat in front of me and watched me intently to see if I might do something that was of canine interest. Whenever I babbled about something going on in my life, which the dog couldn’t possibly understand in canine terms, her bright eyes grew even brighter, and she cocked her head in that wonderful way that Shepherds do, as if to say “I don’t understand what you’re saying, but I really want to, and I’m really trying!”
I do understand that cats are capable of a sort of primitive instinctive Pavlovian response to simple cues. Back centuries ago, before I was converted to Dogs to the point of becoming practically an honorary dog myself, I maintained a cat, so I know that a cat that is used to being fed canned cat food will come running when it hears the can opener. But that is mere knee-jerk reaction. Furthermore, if it turns out not to be cat food, and the cat doesn’t get fed right there and then, the cat will plot to kill you, a plot that has been fomenting in the backs of the brains of all cats for thousands of years. They don’t really even need a reason.
Speaking to dogs is like speaking to Paris Hilton. Speaking to cats is like speaking to Bobby Fischer. (i.e. Connecting with dogs is easy, but vacuous. Connecting with cats is difficult, but rewarding).
Ella is nearly deaf, so if I call her she seems to be ignoring me. If I clap and SCREAM her name she obeys. Loki has great hearing and will look directly at me when I call her name, but then she’ll sit down and just stare at me. Kali (the good dog) hears her name, turns on a dime, comes to my side, and sits.
I am mostly embarrassed by the condescending looks I get from the cats when I try to tell them something. OTOH, they have agreed to be in charge of everything that happens around here so I have that going for me which is nice. Whenever something goes wrong-doesn’t matter what-it is the cat’s fault. They blandly accept blame and everyone moves on. This seems like a great plan to me. My wife doesn’t think much of it, but now I don’t get blamed when I forget to do something.
That’s the way I took it to start with. And I was going to repeat that no, I’m not embarrassed to have other humans hear me talk to the cats, or dogs, or plants for that matter.
But it then occured to me that, while I certainly say in front of other people something like ‘You’re a cat! I don’t suppose you want to be fed. Whoever heard of a cat wanting to be fed!’, I’m a lot less likely, if other people are there, to continue into a long repetitive discussion of the probability that they’ve previously heard of such a thing as humans feeding cats, that I’ve previously heard of such a thing as humans feeding cats, that they’ve previously known me in particular to feed them in particular, and so on. So I suppose that, while I’m not embarrassed about the fact that I talk to the cats, I might be a bit embarrassed about how.
I really don’t think I use a silly voice, though. I just say silly things in a normal voice.
I don’t use a silly voice, exactly. Slightly higher than usual but not exactly like when talking to a baby.
The cat is usually ridiculous versions of her name, though. Hello Moo-moo-boo-ba-di-doo, have you had your dinner? Who’s a good little moody-boody-moo-boo? I end up sounding like a jazz scat singer. Sometimes she gives me a disdainful look, but she does that all the time anyway.
I guess yeah, I might be reticent to talk like that around someone else unless I knew them well, Most friends would be fine, but a workman or something might only hear the cat’s real name.
Only when someone thinks I was talking to them. But that’s always when I use my normal voice, which I do often.
I do use the cutesy voice, too. But only in certain situations. I like having my dog be able to pick up one whatever cues are in my normal voice (or body language) for the most part, and use higher pitches mostly for praise and comforting.
The only time anyone hears me talking to cats (well, these days) is when I’m outside talking to the neighborhood cats I feed. And usually that is “you just ate 10 minutes ago - every time I come outside does not mean food!” or “get out from under my damn feet!” (because every time I go out they only think of food). My neighbors are used to it. And I might as well call attention to myself because one of these days those little assholes are going to trip me up and I might need help.
Do your little assholes also give you stink eye when you demand they move, or are you such a sucker that you step over them? (Not that I have a life time of dealing with the furry little jerks or anything.)
I don’t get a chance to step over them as all 3 are the “wind through the legs” type. I have stepped on more than a few tails. And that’s totally their fault. They don’t care, though, because I am Food Bringer.
