“We’ve seen many cats at our shelter over the years who can understand and learn words in more languages than one. Most recently, we had a wonderful feline resident, Beasley, who learned to respond to “high five” and “sit” in both French and English,” says Kristina Vesk, CEO of Cat Protection Society NSW.
Associate Professor in Animal and Wildlife Genetics and Genomics at Sydney University, Jaime Gongora, has similarly revealed in a video that his very own feline friend is trilingual, fluent in English, Spanish and of course Meow!
In culturally and linguistically diverse Australia, many cat owners speak languages other than English at home. Cat Protection Society has created a number of cat care and health resources in community languages, including factsheets and a directory of veterinary clinics where languages other than English are spoken.
Cat Protection has also created a series of videos in Arabic, Cantonese, Korean, Mandarin, Vietnamese and English featuring some curious cats discussing the benefits of desexing and living indoors.
According to Vesk, early-age desexing reduces the risk of feline diseases including some cancers, and prevents the development of anti-social behaviours like spraying; it also means a cat is less likely to wander and get into fights. And with the new annual permit requirement from 1 July for cats not desexed by four-months, early-age desexing will save owners money on registration fees as well as vet bills.
For assistance with discount desexing and vaccination, call Cat Protection on 9519 7201.
To view the videos and for more information on cat care and health in community languages, visit Cat Protection.
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