Male tabby cat. I’m a woman. He and I have a good and close relationship. He also has a good relationship with my husband. Meaning, just extremely social/attached with us, spends all his waking time near us, if husband and I are in different rooms he’ll find a spot between where he can keep an eyes on us. No other cats in the house, no kids. He was a community cat that got picked up for neutering, then got an infection and needed fostering, and then he never left. This was during pandemic so for like the first year or so of having him, he and I were together ALL the time, while husband was doing hybrid working.

He just hates it when I talk! Like, when I’m just talking in a normal voice to my husband.

Often, husband and I across the table from each other. Let’s say the cat is on his lap. And I start having a regular conversation. Cat will get up and come over to me, very close, nudging or touching, or even gently taking my sleeve in his teeth. If I stop talking, he goes back to what he was doing.

It seems like he just hates it when I talk! He used to also do this when I had to do Zoom meetings in my home office, and would come over trying to bite me to not talk, but he seems to understand now that mommy has important business in that room and he leaves me alone.

He does not do this when my husband talks. I am thinking it’s just the tone/timbre of my voice somehow that he finds unpleasant or stressful (I have a nice voice! People love my voice lol). Or is he trying to tell me something else?

When I google the behavior, the results usually assume the cat is IGNORING me talking to him or fleeing the room. I have not seen results for cat pro-actively coming over to me to shut me up.

I am ready for the requisite jokes but some serious answers would be helpful too; I’m just so curious. When I talk to him directly, call to him, talk about the meal he’s going to get, or what a big boy and good eater he is, it doesn’t seem to bother him.