Every pet owner is guilty of having a conversation with his or her pet. Whether they are speaking to the pet in a “baby voice” or bargaining with them to get a stolen piece of clothing back, the communication between a pet owner and their furry friend is a special aspect of their relationship.

At the moment, a group of researchers in Sweden are conducting studies to help owners figure out how to best communicate with their pet. This research, led by phonetics researcher Suzanne Schötz will focus on communication between cats and their owners.

Schötz, a professor at Lund University in Sweden, and a cat lover herself, wants to determine if cats prefer to be talked to in the high pitched “baby voice” or in a regular tone of voice. For her studies, Schötz will be recruiting cats and their owners from all over the country.

Schötz would like to study cats from various regions because she wants to determine if the cats can pick up the different dialects and accents from their owners in their individual meows. Some countries have more melodic speaking intonations and the research will also help determine if these speech patterns influence how the cat meows.

The research, which started during March of 2016, will take place over the course of five years and Schötz and the research team will collaborate with zoologists, linguists and clinical veterinarians to explore the topic from multiple angles.

The research team includes Schötz, Robert Eklund and Joost van de Weijer. All three of the researchers have a background in studying linguistics, and van de Weijer works with Schötz in the linguistics department at Lund University.

According to Schötz, cats communicate with each other through scents and visual cues and reserve the vocal communication for humans. Once cats grow out of their kitten stage, they stop meowing to get the attention of other cats and only vocalize for humans.

Cats have many different ways of vocalizing, the most common being purring and meowing. Other ways cats commonly express themselves, are through chirping, which is said to be the mimicking of bird calls, and chattering, which is the quick chattering of teeth.

Both of these methods are connected to defensive behavior, or are often seen when trying to lure in or hunt prey. Some cat owners believe the chattering comes from the cat’s frustration of not being able to get at the bird or squirrel outside of the window.

Schötz will also be studying if each cat breed has a different way of communicating compared to the other breeds. The research project, appropriately called “Meowsic," will determine how different cats communicate with their owners, and the type of communication cats prefer. Schötz and her research team will videotape the response of the cats to determine their reaction.

“We will look at ear movements, head movements, body posture, and things like that,” Schötz said.

By interpreting the vocalizations of the cats, Schötz hopes her research will help cat owners understand how to determine the needs of each cat, whether they are asking for another bowl of kibble or a scratch behind the ears.