A look back at 2025

In other news: Cats speak to every person differently. Dogs are getting smarter. Another country bans fur farming. Another week, another pet food recall. Agency to end primate studies. Between a fish and a frog. Communities are looking for someone to run their animal shelters. Lawsuit: Los Angeles pound fails to protect dogs from cruelty.

These are some of the stories making headlines in animal protection:

Cats speak to every person differently

Researchers studying human–cat communication find that cats adjust their meowing depending on the person they are addressing, and one consistent pattern is that they tend to meow louder and more persistently at men. Researchers determined that cats do not “prefer” or “dislike” men; rather, they often perceive men as less responsive. As a result, cats increase the volume and intensity of their meows to make their needs understood.

In these studies, cats communicated with women using a wider range of quieter vocalizations — soft meows, chirps, and trills — which seemed sufficient, as women (on average) responded more quickly. When interacting with men, however, cats tended to use stronger, more attention-grabbing meows. Researchers interpreted this as a compensatory strategy: cats learn through experience which signals get results.

While the sample sizes of these studies were modest, the findings were consistent with a larger body of research indicating that cats are highly socially attuned. They track human habits, voice tones, footstep rhythms, and gaze patterns; they always know where you are in the house; and they develop individualized communication with each household member. The tendency to meow louder at men appears to be one manifestation of that flexibility — an example of cats fine-tuning their vocal toolkit to get what they want from different people.