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.

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.

Not sure what you're asking. Most animals have some level of sentience and self awareness. Even bugs possess a rudimentary self awareness.

As far as the types of pets that most humans keep such as cats and dogs, these creatures are functioning at a fairly high level of sentience and self awareness (about the level of a 3 to 5 year old human).

You can't "make something sentient" which is already sentient. As for INCREASING sentience in pets, no I wouldn't do it. It seems to me as though most animals humans keep as pets are perfectly content right where they are.

I'm a dog person, and the reason dogs and humans get along so great is that dogs are at that level where a human child is at around the age of four. They love hanging out with mom and dad and they think that mom and dad are awesome. Why screw that up by turning them in to the equivalent of nihilistic teenagers or self absorbed adults?

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