Study Finds Cats Meow More At Men Than Women
If you’ve ever wondered why your cat seems to talk more to your dad/male partner/male friend than to you you might be onto something.
A new scientific study suggests cats really do meow more when greeting men than women. Let’s explore what’s going on.
What’s the study?
The research, published in the journal Ethology in November 2025, observed 31 pet cats and their caregivers during the first 100 seconds of a welcome-home greeting. Caregivers wore small cameras to record the interaction.
The result? On average, cats produced 4.3 meows when the returning caregiver was male, more than double the 1.8 meows they produced when the caregiver was female.
The effect was consistent regardless of the cats’ age, sex, breed, or household size suggesting it’s the human side (male vs female caregiver) driving the difference, not cat-specific traits.
Why might cats meow more at men?
The authors of the study propose a plausible explanation, it’s about attention and communication gaps:
They note that in many households, female caregivers tend to talk to cats more frequently, respond more promptly to subtle feline vocalizations or body language, and generally maintain more interaction.
By contrast, male caregivers may less often respond to soft meows or subtle cues. So to ensure they get noticed, especially in greeting, when cats likely want attention or reassurance cats seem to ramp up their volume. In short: Meow louder, and more often.
The authors interpret this as a form of adaptive communication cats adjusting their signalling style to match what works best with their human companion.
So, it’s not necessarily that cats love male humans more, but that they’ve learned different communication strategies depending on who they’re dealing with.
What this says about cat-human communication (more broadly)
As described in the general research on feline behaviour, adult cats rarely meow to other cats, meowing is largely a human-directed vocalization, developed through domestication.
Meows can convey many different intentions, greeting, calling for attention, hunger, discomfort depending on context, tone, and repetition.
Studies in the past have shown that humans are generally not very good at correctly interpreting the precise meaning or emotional context of a cat’s meow. For example, when listeners tried to guess whether a meow was associated with waiting for food, grooming, or isolation, less than half could guess correctly, often with women performing slightly better.
This means cats don’t just meow for the fun of it, they’re using a flexible, learned signalling system that takes into account who they’re talking to, what works, and what they want.
What to make of it and what it doesn’t say
This isn’t strong evidence that cats prefer men over women in affection or bonding, what seems to matter here is communication dynamics, especially who tends to notice and react to a meow.
The study was fairly small (31 cats though the finding was consistent) and limited to a specific cultural context (caregivers in Turkey). As the authors themselves note, this raises the question of whether the same pattern holds worldwide.
More meows doesn’t necessarily mean better relationship, a cat might meow more at a male caregiver simply because it needs to be more assertive to get attention, not because it’s happier or more comfortable.
What this might mean for cat owners or future owners
If you live with a cat (or plan to):
Recognise that cats adapt their behaviour to how you behave. So if a male caregiver notices fewer meows or misreads signals, the cat may keep turning up the volume.
Try responding to your cat’s quiet meows or body language even if you don’t naturally talk to pets a lot. That could build trust and reduce the need for louder, repetitive communication.
Understand that every cat is different this is one study, and it doesn’t mean all cats will act the same way. But it does highlight how perceptive cats can be about their human’s responsiveness.