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This is quite a funny and also adorable trait that our seven year old cat has developed over the last year.

Every time I laugh loudly, when friends are over or watching something on TV, the cat rushes from whichever room he's at and looks me in the eyes and starts meowing loud. If I continue he even tries to climb on me.

He doesn't do it with anyone else in the house, just me. I feel like he's more attached to me in general and probably assumes something bad is happening to me and wants to help.

I'm wondering what could be causing his (adorable and funny) reaction.

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  • Is he distressed when he meows at you?
    – Richard C
    Jan 16, 2019 at 9:46
  • @RichieACC He probably is. When he's distressed he folds his ears a bit diagonally when he meows and he does that in this situation. But he's a very "talkative" cat in general.
    – Xander
    Jan 16, 2019 at 9:55
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    That is so cute! My previous cat was scared of laughing, so she'd flee whenever people were laughing loudly. My current cat, who's quite outgoing, doesn't care at all, and ignores it to keep doing whatever it is he's doing. It seems obvious that cats don't understand what laughing is, and so they may have many different reactions.
    – Kai
    Jan 16, 2019 at 17:22

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Cats are very interesting because naturally they are almost never vocal with other cats. Cats almost never meow at each other at all, instead they use body language and more subtle cues to communicate. However, they have learned that humans communicate via loud vocalization, so many cats will mimic their people by "talking" to us in "our own language." In general, cats meow because they know that people prefer to communicate that way.

So what is your cat doing specifically? Here is one theory, although you will likely never know for sure. I would suspect that your cat has noticed that when you laugh, other people laugh too. Cats have noses that are sensitive enough to smell human hormones and emotions, so he has likely noticed that when people laugh together, it makes you happier. My suspicion is that your feline friend is trying to be a good friend and "laugh" with you to be social and make you happy.

It sure is cute :)

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