My cats communicate with me without words. I can tell by the tone in their voice what they want. Once tone means, "I want you to open the front door for me, even though I now the cat door on the back door is accessible" Another mewo means, "my food dish is empty, you need to refill that" Yet another tone means, "I want a nap, so lay down and read so I can sleep on top of you"

Granted we dont'e4xactly discuss politics ro world affairs, but cats liek their lives to be simple.

Geez, if I had that ability there's a laundry list of people that need that gift; most of them politicians.

They're not?

Sentience is defined as having the ability to experience qualia - that is, sensations such as fear, fun, excitement, upset and so on. Cats, and many other animals, have that ability and are therefore considered to be sentient.

Incidentally, I've long believed cats probably can talk; they just don't consider mere humans to be worth talking to.

my cats are sentient. they just can't speak english. i try to speak feline to them sometimes but i am miserable at it. they do understand a lot of my english -- nothing complex of course, but we get by. the dog... not so much.

i think you mean if the cat could communicate in english and express its thoughts and feelings, which it already DOES have, which makes it sentient. oh yes, i would love to know who my cats think i am, for one thing!

g