Ask Lemmy

I have conversations with my cats all the time and I honestly think he understands at least 70% of it. they have great inflection and comedic timing.

I saw some article years ago that found dogs cant, or at least have a hard time differentiating between consonant sounds in words; for example the word ‘outside’ might sound the same as ‘grout-side’ or ‘shout-wide’, just because they rhyme.

After some fun experiments, I found that to be true with my dogs, and my vocabulary with them has devolved into some really silly shit that makes me cackle, but would probably make others question my sanity a little..

+ bonus points for the silly voices

It's so funny. I don't think I've ever taught a dog our rituals. They always taught me. The most endearing one, I think, was my soul dog who passed in '21. When I came home she'd bring me her Kong with a wildly wagging tail. I'd hold out my hand and she'd drop it there, but she fully expected me to give it back. Once done, the greeting was complete, and she'd lay at my feet.

God I miss that dog.

Talk to them like they understand what the fuck I'm on about

Yes, I sing to my pets

All the time! I love to sing little snippets of songs with their names swapped in. To the tune of Whatever Lola Wants

Whatever [pet name] wants, [pet name] gets, don't you know you, can't win?

Or just something to describe what they're doing. Big fan of Been caught stealing by Jane's Addiction for that

Every morning my spunkier cat greets me in the bathroom and we quack at each other until one of us gets tired of it.

I got my cat during the covid lockdown, around the same time I decided to refesh my French with the downtime. Now I have a french cat.

Yes. My cats are my children.

Yeah my dogs like when I make up stupid songs and make a fool of myself dancing. My deaf one does this head wobble thing and when I do it back she wobbles more vigorously and gets excited.

We have a purple tang named Prince because my wife always sings "purple tang... Purple tang" to him.
Our midas blenny and firefish are collectively known as "b-b-b-blenny and the jets" for the same reason.

I have a snail named Herbert. He is a Mystery Snail and I love him dearly. I didn't think Id form such an attachment to a snail, but here we are. Every day when i get home from work, I put my hand on the glass of his tank and talk to Herbert. Just talking about my day or whatever. He doesn't seem to mind and generally hangs out on the glass around my hand. I know Herbert probly doesn't even know im there most of the time but it doesn't mater. Talking to him helps me and I will continue to do it... At least until i get some more snails/shrimp/fish, then they will have to endure my talks as well. Muahahahhaha

Does anyone not?

I hold conversations with my pets all the time. And sometimes I sing to them while sometimes I sing with them. Doing harmony with my husky is tricky, but fun.

I have full on conversations with my cats. They don't disagree with me!

I sing My Little Buttercup to my cat. Lol
https://youtu.be/Zh7eAG2jJkA

Was watching TV with the dog next to me on the couch. A song I like came on and I sang along and my dog stared at me in amazement. Since then, she doesn't care when I sing. I think it was just a one time surprise.

Last time I sang to my cat, she hissed and walked away.

"Stupid cats need the most attention."

My Yorkie really likes "krusty kraaaaaab, pizza, is the pizza for you and meeeee."

Absolutely.

I read a study years ago that concluded that dogs love baby talk, so I give them what they want.

My partner dances and sings for our cats. They love it.

I have a bunny named Felix. He likes to lick things, so I called him "Licky Bun" for a bit, that turned in to "Felicky", which turned into "Licky" and finally "Licker".

When I come downstairs to work in the mornings, I when I walk by his enclosure and whisper "lickerrrrrr". The other day my partner told me they hear this every morning, and it's like an alarm lock.

I sing Pizza Mozzarella to my husky Bella except I say "Iiit'sa Little Bella."

Yes, it's super cathartic and fun.

I argue with our guinea pigs when they demand their cookie (hay+vitamin C tablets with molasses for a binder) before 5:00pm.

I insist that they can see the clock from where their enclosure is, so they should know what time it is.

My dog and I mostly have normal conversations but sometimes he gets in moods and is just goofy.

I absolutely sing to my deaf cat.

Why have pets if you can't be silly with them? I have full conversations with them (my kittens are vocal so I don't have to pretend as hard)

I've been talking to my cats in Japanese as practice a lot of the times, although I'm very much a beginner so it's pretty basic. I think they don't understand me, but they also might just be refusing to understand "wait 15 minutes" before they can eat lol

Occasionally I get in to a whistling mode, as we all do. One day as I did, Yanni-kitty was in the area and came rushing up, squeaking up a little squeak-storm. Sadly, she's passed on now, but I look back fondly of our many, pleasant little 'duets'... a counterpoint of whistles and squeaks, if you will.

And then Bunny (her fleece as white as snow), she was a great goalkeeper. We would situate at either end of a long hallway, and my job was to speedily roll and hop pennies past her, in order to score a 'goal.' To her credit, she had a ~99% save rate.

But in general, here's a song I enjoy singing to my pets:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gyxuFUiNPPE

(Funnily enough, I first heard it on Futurama, on the Bender's origin story ep!)

Yes, of course. And I am deeply suspicious of anyone who doesn't sing silly little songs to their pets.