We created a bit of a monster. By responding & talking back to her as she meowed in the kitchen, we encouraged her to be more (and more and more) talkative. Now she goes in the kitchen when we do and just meows. A lot.
So, I've been trying to get her to be more specific about what she wants. In the morning, as we make the first (small) pot of coffee, she meows for either a trip out to the garage or "scoops" (a scoop of kibble). But it all sounds the same. So, we ask her to "stretch" (literally stretching along the door frame) to indicate she wants to go out in the garage. And we've put a bell on the pantry door so she can ring the bell to ask for her scoops.
Last night she had a breakthrough. She went into the kitchen (we were on the couch), meowed once, then rang the bell twice, then came back to where we could see her and waited for her scoops. I went and got her scoops for her and she was happy. I was even happier.
This all goes back to my first cat. She would meow at the door of my little travel trailer in the middle of the night. I'd get up, open the door for her to go out and she'd just sit there. At 2am I don't have a lot of patience. After several nights of this I pushed her out the door and went back to bed. It turned out she was thirsty and her water dish was empty. She quickly learned to push at the dish and meow and not be at the door. Communication. It can work wonders.
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