Cats don't meow to each other

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But dogs do bark at each other.

That's not an absolute about cats.

Here's a reference:
Your cat meows mostly for you
Cats don't often meow to other adult cats, but they quickly learn to use sounds to talk to humans.
Elise Kjørstad journalist
Ingrid P. Nuse English version
Thursday 17. October 2019 - 10:52
https://sciencenorway.no/animal-kingdom ... ou/1578244

I heard an expert on the radio talk about "cat language". He said that that is true about cats.

The "meow" sound is really two seperate sounds in cat-speak that cats use on each other seperately.
And they only use them together when communicating with humans.

The "me" part, and the "ow" part.

The "me" part means "come hither" (as in mating). And the "ow" means "BACK OFF!".

So in effect cats are telling us humans to "come hither, AND back off".

I suppose the proper translation would be like "hey you! Servant! Open a can of food. But dont get fresh.".

That article makes sense though. That meows are what mom cats and kittens say to each other. So adult cats use it on humans to request things.

There were at most four adult cats in my family at the same time, so I would say this is true.

The interaction mode between domestic cats and humans largely continues the interaction mode between kittens and mother.
The kitten will attract the attention of the mother cat through its meow. Adult cats can easily find that this is equally effective in attracting human attention.

But somehow, one of my cats can't "meow". Her voice sounded more like a hoarse/shap "ah".

I used to have a cat that meowed at other cats in the same tone she meowed at humans. One time there was a cat stuck up a tree behind our garden, and our cat was walking around below the tree, meowing up at the cat up the tree, and she wasn't growling or anything. She seemed to be meowing like she would at us humans. And she didn't know we were there because we saw from out an open window. She was definitely meowing at the other cat.

Also she would meow at her brother. One time she was laying on the couch and her brother jumped up to join her and she meowed at him, as if to say "hello!"

What two words do cats know?

"me" and "ow"