Felines are noticeably noisier when greeting male owners, a study finds — suggesting they have learnt to turn up the volume for humans who are slow to respond

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A study has found that cats become much noisier when they greet a man than when they say hello to a woman.

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Only one behaviour consistently differed between the male and female owners. When the returning human was a man, the cats became noticeably, and sometimes dramatically, noisier.

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Why the extra miaowing? The authors suggest a pragmatic feline adaptation to life with male humans. Women, previous studies have shown, tend to speak more to their cats and respond more quickly to miaows.

Men, on average, pay less notice. So, faced with an emotionally unavailable man, a cat that wishes to be acknowledged may be forced to become more vocal.

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