Even Cats Need to Speak and Speak Often

I never thought that speech was important for cats until, one day, I found my Mommy Gracie utterly depressed. My family had just moved house and, since we couldn't cope with cats in our new house, we decided to leave her behind in the old house - we'd come back during the day but would leave for the new house come evening.

As a result, I hardly gave my Mommy Gracie any attention. Whenever she meowed, I would think that she just wanted fresh food.

Without thinking, I would look at her bowl, fill it up to the brim and walk away. Poor Mommy Gracie was heart-broken.

All she wanted was a little attention.

About a week later, Mommy Gracie disappeared. We searched frantically throughout the house and outside of the house, but she was nowhere to be found.

Then, when we had nearly given up, seemingly out of nowhere, Mommy Gracie appeared, looking weak and depressed. As much as I tried, Mommy Gracie wouldn't say a word.

She wouldn't eat, she wouldn't drink. She just sat in front of us, as though she was about to die.

That was when my wife said, "We're taking her with us to the new house."

And so we did.

About a day later, at the new house, Mommy Gracie started becoming happy again. She ate and drank and, most important of all, she meowed. And meowed. And purred. And meowed some more.

And we listened, and we meowed right back, making Mommy Gracie purr even harder.

I now have a completely new perspective on cats as pets. Yes, they don't really understand what we're saying, and neither do we humans understand what they're really saying.

But listening to them telling us something that appears important enough for them to meow is very important to cats. It makes them happy, because it makes them feel loved.