Day One Hundred Seventy One

Rooney Toons

The cats in this house are, for the most part, silent. Except for Fancy and Dash who try to communicate with me verbally, oh and then there's Eli's morning wakeup call, most of the sounds they generate are either hisses or growls. Up until recently, the only sounds emanating from the Bullys have been Jack's loud WOOFS when a perceived danger is detected; snores and an occasional gruff. That's about the extent of it. They never whine or yap.  So, imagine our surprise when Miss Rooney, out of the blue, decided to test her skills at "talking."

Rooney is unhappy because
nobody understands her...

Dad! Dad! Dad! Look at me!

Finally got her way and she is telling
Dad her problems. Look at her mouth...

Dad encouraging her verbal skills...

For about a week now, we've been noticing our normally silent girl talking up a storm. And there is no rhyme or reason to it. Out of the blue, Rooney will just start - I don't know how to write this phonetically - umummering. It's a deep murmur, kind of a cross between yawning and yammering. This sound is preceded by a "look me in the eyes" stare. Once she has your attention, she proceeds to "talk" to you in a very serious way. If you ask her what she wants, she will hop up and down and either go to the desired thing: back door to go out; kitchen for a treat or look at the couch where she wants to be, except that her brother is taking up the whole space.  

If you miss the cues, she will start all over again, or walk away in disgust at your stupidity or indifference. She has employed this technique to get food - a lot. She camps out next to her Dad at the supper table and tells him he really needs to share his meal. She will tell me, in no uncertain terms, it's mealtime - even when it's not for another hour or two. Rooney lets me know when the water bowls need a refill. On the flip side, our girl never alerts us to potential danger. I guess she figures her brother is doing a bang up job all by himself.

Now, some might say she's begging, except that I've had whiny dogs that beg and this is different. This is more like a statement. Like she's had enough of our cluelessness so now she's resorting to something we stupid humans understand - a command. Rooney is very much in charge when she's talking.

The grands were here this weekend and they got to witness it firsthand. At first they were shocked at our normally quiet girl making noise. Then they were rolling with laughter when she kept going. Pap was having breakfast and Rooney wanted some, too. The kids thought the whole thing was a riot.

Hey, I guess she figured what works for a cat would surely get her what she wants. Why not? Next, she'll be jumping up on the counters and using a scratching post. Come to think of it, there does seem to be a correlation between her new voice and sleeping on our bed! Maybe she does think she's a cat? How funny....