Cats talk more with men: a study explains why they react differently depending on the owner’s gender

After reviewing hundreds of recordings in real homes, scientists have reached a curious conclusion: cats “converse” much more when the person entering the home is a man.

The study was based on videos recorded by the owners themselves using chest-mounted cameras, which captured the first moments after returning home. The experts analysed only the first 100 seconds of each encounter and assessed up to 22 different behaviours, from the number of meows to body gestures or mild signs of stress.

The data were clear. On average, cats produced 4.3 meows when the owner was a man, compared with only 1.8 when it was a woman. Variables such as age, breed, the animal’s sex or family size did not alter the pattern, which was consistently repeated.

According to the authors, the explanation lies not with the cats but with people. Men tend to interact less verbally with their pets, which would lead felines to compensate for that lack of response by using more sound signals to attract attention. In other words, if the human says little, the cat takes the initiative.

The work reinforces the idea that cats adapt their behaviour to that of each person. Their greetings express not only joy, but also a flexible strategy for communicating and managing the relationship with the person in front of them.