Last edited Tue May 17, 2022, 09:45 AM - Edit history (1)
a Mexican American friend found huddled under her car. She took him in, cleaned him up and lavished affection on him. She (my friend) was very verbal and demonstrative with him. But she had taken in other strays, too, so after a few months her husband said to find another home for that kitty. I took him.
My friend often spoke Spanish at home, and her husband understood her, but he spoke English most of the time. The cat was bilingual! When I first got him at about 7 months old, I used English and he responded to words like "hungry." Then, just to see how he would react, I tried some Spanish words of endearment with him that I knew my friend had used with him.
When I said, "que gato guapo" or "carisimo" to him, he rolled on his back and wiggled with joy, then snuggled up to me. Since my friend was not present, the cat was responding to the words that he had heard before and associated with affection.
Whenever I asked, "¿Donde esta´ el gato?" he would come out from wherever he was and look at me. Not sure what that was about. Maybe he just understood the word gato and thought I was calling him.
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