What's got into that cat?

July 10, 2006 8:32 AM

Why does my cat go a little crazy when I whistle?

Ollie is a good natured, but not terribly playful, manx. I recently got some (good) headphones for my ipod and discovered she has a near instant curiousity when I whistle. She will play bite my arm, get up in my face, sit on my arms (if I'm typing on my laptop) -- it's very cute and very abnormal behavior for her.

I wonder, does this bother her and she's trying to get me to stop? Or do cats respond to whistling in a similar way to dogs and I just never noticed it before?

posted by 10ch to Pets & Animals (17 answers total)

If I whistle near either of my cats, they will smack me in the mouth. They hate it.
posted by unknowncommand at 8:44 AM on July 10, 2006

Many cats just seem to hate whistling. A cat's hearing is around four times more sensitive than ours, remember.

My old cat Oliver would meow at you, getting progressively louder and more in-your-face until you stopped whistling. Only two of the four current cats in the household hate whistling though.
posted by chuma at 8:47 AM on July 10, 2006

It's probably from overtones that you can't hear but your cat can. Ours go crazy when we blow across the mouth of a beer bottle.
posted by Dipsomaniac at 9:23 AM on July 10, 2006

She's curious because you're making a funny noise?

My cat reacts very cutely when sung to, but I'm pretty sure she's just momentarily mesmerized by the interesting sounds, not that she's asking to go to the next Neko Case show.
posted by desuetude at 9:50 AM on July 10, 2006

I just tried whistling at my cat (I never whistle because it hurts my ears). He bared his teeth and growled the way a dog does! (and he NEVER does that).

I'm willing to bet it's either just high pitched tones or some ultrasonic element driving her batty.
posted by zerokey at 9:53 AM on July 10, 2006

Odd, for some reason we started whistling to our family cats when they were young to call them in if it was their feeding time or something, and though they don't come if they don't want to, they don't appear to mind and will come running if they think food's involved.
posted by fvw at 10:17 AM on July 10, 2006

That's interesting, my cat exhibits the exact same behavior if I clinch my teeth together, open my lips and breath quickly, in and out, through my mouth.
posted by drleary at 11:09 AM on July 10, 2006

Everytime I turn off my TV, my cat goes up to the screen, reaches around the left side with his right paw [not the near paw, mind you] and swats. Then he licks the screen.
posted by yeti at 11:21 AM on July 10, 2006

i'm just curious (no snark, really!) - what do the ipod/headphones have to do with it?
posted by casconed at 11:26 AM on July 10, 2006

My cats get quite irritated when I whistle -- not enough to provoke violence but enough to get dirty looks. However, if two people whistle at different tones, the looks get really dirty. Hee.
posted by sugarfish at 11:34 AM on July 10, 2006

Certain high pitched tones, similar in pitch to the mews of a kitten, can provoke odd maternal reactions in some cats. They feel compelled to come investigate whether you're in distress and why you're acting like a kitten. If you seem fine, they'll paw and poke and prod you to figure out what you're up to. (Read this a long time ago in a book about cats, sorry no handy online reference).
posted by rhiannon at 1:07 PM on July 10, 2006

@rhlannon: How interesting. Thanks for sharing.

@snark, er casconed: My (sarcastic, but good spirited) apologies for too much narration. :-P I mentioned them to explain why I was whistling.
posted by 10ch at 1:44 PM on July 10, 2006

We've always trained our cats to come to a whistle. Never got problem reactions from them. If you want them to really go nuts, try 'mewing' at a very high pitch. They'll react exactly as Rhiannon described.
posted by Meep! Eek! at 1:46 PM on July 10, 2006

If your cats are used to whistling, then try playing a harmonica for them. Many cats and dogs HATE live harmonica music.
posted by RussHy at 3:30 PM on July 10, 2006

I had a great cat with three legs and one eye named Spots (because she had, ahem, spots. Creative, Mom.), who seemed to really get off on it if I sang along with Sinead O'Connor. She'd come galumphing from where ever she was, get in my face, flop over, purr and generally make a fool of herself, which was quite out of character. I preferred to think of it as admiration, rather than a cat's way of laughing.
posted by thebrokedown at 3:53 PM on July 10, 2006

"That's interesting, my cat exhibits the exact same behavior if I clinch my teeth together, open my lips and breath quickly, in and out, through my mouth." -drleary

Blowing in a cat's face is a sign of hosility. Think hissing, without the sound. That's probably only a small part of why whistling annoys them, though, provided none of you are whistling right at them. But yeah, if you blow in their face, clenched teeth or not, they will probably hate you.
posted by Juliet Banana at 5:38 PM on July 10, 2006

If I whistle very shrilly and loudly, like the way that some people do with two fingers stuck in their mouth, my cats will often run to me and get very affectionate, but stop almost as quickly and wander off again.
posted by stavrogin at 9:21 PM on July 10, 2006