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Do cats understand the words we speak? That will long be a debate. Do they understand our intentions and what we mean? That on the other hand is something that so many cat owners have noted, that it ceases to even be a contention.

I do need to retract a phrase: Cat owner. People don't own cats, cats own people. Few people who have had cats will dispute this. While a dog is happy to lay at your feet, any time, any where, a cat chooses who it will bond with, under what conditions, and when it will grace us with its love and adoration.

We've had so many cats that I've long since lost track of the number. At one point, being the only home on a long road, we had 42 cats. Most of these were cats people 'dumped'. Inevitably, they found their way to our home. They seemed to know that we wouldn't put any animal out without making sure it was well fed. How did they know this without a measure of understanding?

We've had feral cats, those that were half wild. We've had them in our home. They've been coaxed in with nothing more than an open door. Again, a person can ask why?

In a couple of cases, the cats were taken for treatment by a very good vet who loved animals and understood our problem. In those instances, the cats were taken in a cat carrier. I defy anyone to put a cat in a cat carrier if the animal doesn't want to go there, without receiving scratches and having a heck of a time getting them inside. Yet why were we always successful in getting the cats in the carriers without being shredded in the process? Could it be that the cats understood that our intentions were to help?

We've also had cats that seemed to respond exactly to our words. For example, we had a cat that wandered in, obviously very pregnant. We fed her, and for our trouble, she had 6 kittens under our dining room table the following day.

It was a good mother, but it constantly wanted one of two things; to go outside, or to eat. She had plenty to eat, but always wanted more. One day, when she was begging to go outside for about the tenth time that day, my wife said, 'Why don't you go out and catch some food for your babies?'

An hour later, when momma cat wanted back in, there were three dead mice and a dead rabbit on the porch. Did she understand what my wife said? It is pretty clear that if she didn't understand the words, at least she understood the intention. From that time on, she brought back food each time she was let out. I do admit that we ate the pheasants, quail, and rabbits she caught, but we always gave her canned cat food for her efforts, and she liked that a lot better than the game.

In another instance a cat that we still currently have, wanted to eat and yowled her displeasure that she had nothing in her bowl. I told her that if she wanted to eat (we fed all the cats two times a day) she would need to go out and catch something. Less than an hour later she jumped into the room with a dead starling. She dropped it in the middle of the living room, prompting me to tell her that if she wanted to eat 'that', she had to do it outside. We didn't want dead birds in our living room. I was slacked jawed when she picked up the bird, jumped back out the window, and proceeded to devour it in the front lawn.

'Dumb animals' is a myth. We've had far too many encounters with cats that have shown us that they do indeed understand us. It may not be scientific, but who cares? I'm certain that I'm not the only one who has had similar experiences. Nay Sayers can believe what they will, but cats do understand us.

Learn more about this author, Rex Trulove.
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