Do you talk baby-talk to your cat?

When you call your cat, do you trill, "Here kitty kitty" in a comically high-pitched voice (and feel like a total dork when your neighbor hears you)?

Have wondered why so many people talk to their cats a silly baby-talk voice?

In The Past

While cats have a broad range to their vocalizations, their range is a much higher pitch than a human's normal range. At one time, it was thought that cats responded better to a high pitched voice. The theory was that the higher pitch of the human falsetto voice attracted a cat's interest because it was in the same frequency range as mouse squeaks - the feline's natural prey species. And so it was that people were validating in their choice to talk baby-talk to their fur-babies.

Recent Research

Recent research featuring frequency analysis shows cats actually respond better to a normal voice than one that is high-pitched. So, it is now suggested that cat owners no longer talk to their kitties in the somewhat silly high voice you assume when baby-talking.

Actually, research shows that human babies also respond better to being spoken to in a normal voice. :-)

Bottom Line

Some cat owners will talk to their pets in their natural human voice. Others talk to cats using a high falsetto range. Cats can adapt to whatever voice range and frequency we use.