Petfood manufacturer Del Monte Foods is bringing back its "Meow Mix" brand cat food jingle after 16 years to celebrate the launch of its new Meow Mix Tenders Centers cat food. Along with the launch of the new cat food and relaunch of the jingle, Meow Mix commissioned a study of US cat owners and their cats.
In a study conducted by Kelton Research, 31 percent of pet owner respondents said they would rather speak with their cat after a long day than their best friend, children or parents. The study found that a third (33 percent) of respondents believe they communicate better with their cat than their significant other and 39 percent said their cat is more likely to pick up on their current mood than a romantic partner.
“Cats are members of the family and we rely on them for companionship,” said Sue Resnicoff, director of cat food marketing for cat food maker Del Monte Foods. “There is a bond formed between pet parents and their cats that extends well beyond meows to an intuitive relationship that provides a deeper understanding.”
When it comes to communication between cats and their pet owners, 20 percent of owners believe their cat is trying to communicate with them through gestures or sounds, and on average, pet owners said they thought their cat knew 13 words. More than four out of five people (82 percent) said they felt they could identify their own cat’s “meow” among many others making the same noise. According to the survey, almost all (97 percent) of them can name at least one emotion or state of mind that they can easily decipher from the way their cats act, with the top cues being those that signify hunger (86 percent), happiness (82 percent) and fear (78 percent).