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You may not necessarily be aware of the fact that your kitten will use, in order to make contact with you, all the communication techniques that are particular to the species. It will therefore expect you, its new parents, not only to adequately be able to understand its messages, but equally expect you to answer them as clearly as the members of its natural family. If, following a number of fruitless attempts, it becomes obvious to the cat that it's all to no avail, discouragement will ensue, since there is no more hope for communication, outside the basic topics of « I am hungry » or « I am thirsty ». At that point, the cat will no longer be living with you, but merely be near you. This is, sometimes, how « cat-fathers » or « cat-mothers » have the feeling that they live in the home of their cat's as opposed to the other way round.
You do not need to be a specialist in animal behavior to develop a rapport with your feline companion. I am inclined to think that, the more empirical your approach is, the more fruitful the outcome.
The first principle is as follows: Like most (or all) animals, your cat will never be equipped with speech abilities. Cats will manage to understand a lot of what you tell them (and probably more than what you think). And if you address them directly, you are then in a better position to get a response. If you are trying to communicate with your cat, you have no option but that of accepting what is proposed to you. Since, to start with, you do not actually know your cat, you will have to invest yourself in some education in that field. It consists in a thinking process, similar to that of learning a foreign language, at the same time, simpler and more complex.
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