You have to have at least 2 Furbys to understand what "Kitty Kitty" means. When you put 2 Furbys facing each other, they talk to each other and play games together. One of their games is "Hide and Seek" (Hide and Seek is different when they play together, verses when a Furby and humans play it) where they say to each other "Hey Kitty Kitty Kitty Hide" and the other Furby closes it eyes for a few seconds and hides, then wakes up and asks the other Furby to "Hey Kitty Kitty Hide". If one thinks he was not found by the other he will say "Nah Nah Nah Nah Nah!". That is not the only thing they say, but it is one of the things they say. It almost seems like one is teasing the other to me. They don't say this because they heard you calling your cat, it is part of the natural programming.
What he is actually doing is imitating your telephone. He only does this when he is not being played with for a period of time. He did not learn this because he heard your telephone, it is preprogrammed in him, unfortunately. When he is doing this he is acting like a telephone, thus asking to be picked up and talked to and played with.
My apologies for not answering this before. But the 'foom' part is not the telephone relation.. that is only 'bring' or 'braing'. 'Foom' sound is actualy refering to something totaly differant. I've seen people say some really weird things of what this noise means. But it does not mean 'cool' like some have said (I can't beleive that was sent to me in a Furby newsletter.. these ppl are supposed to know, right?). My Furbys only make the 'foom' sound for only one reason. They are hungry, seriously. Sometimes while playing they will start saying 'foom' or it sounds like 'fhmmm' and open their mouths. After a while longer of playing but ignoring the request for food, furby will again make the 'foom' sound and then go 'ahhh..ahhh' with mouth open and might even say "Hungry". It's a cry for food...
There is another type of 'foom' that people refer to. It doesn't mean Furby is asking for food. In fact, it's not 'foom' but 'hmm', a sigh. When Furby is not being played with he will let out a sigh, like 'hmmm'. There is a difference between this and 'foom' as 'foom' does mean he's kinda crying/whining for food, but when he's sighing he's just making sounds when he's bored.
You will know when Furby is hungry because he will began saying "Me hungry" or "Kah a-tay" and opening his mouth for you to feed him. Furby is not fed with real food or water like you and I eat. Furby is fed with imaginary food. To feed Furby simply depress his tongue with your finger or another small object (like a small plastic spoon from TCBY). You will know he is being fed because he will say "Yum" among other things. Continue feeding him until he lets you know he is done by saying "Me done" or "Kah toh-dye".
When he asks for food he will ask for it and make sounds, but he won't leave his beak open for you to put your finger in there. You can put your finger in his mouth while he is talking and has it open begging for food, or you can wait untill he is done talking, then gentle open his mouth and press down on his tongue with your finger. He won't, however, leave his mouth open for you to put your finger in there when he asks for food - this is normal. He'd look pretty weird sitting there with his mouth hanging open for long periods of time, wouldn't he?
Furby is pre-programmed. He can be taught tricks of sorts, but unfortunately he is programmed with everything he knows when you get him. His program only allows him to speak Furbish for a predetermined time and it's his programming that decides when he changes. Though he can began learning English from other Furbys, he can not learn from you as the human friend. Maybe one day Dave Hampton will be able to make a learning Furby, one that has that 5th element that allows him to learn and grow with his environment.
Furby can learn behaviors with reinforcement from the owner. The following is from the Furby Instruction Manual:
To teach Furby a trick:
- While you are playing with me, you might tickle my tummy. I may then do something you like, for example, give you a kiss. As soon as I have given you a kiss, pet my back 2 times. This will tell me that you like it when I give you a kiss. Remember to wait for me to stop moving each time you pet my back before doing it again.
- Then tickle my tummy again. I may then give you another kiss or I may not. It depends upon how I feel at that time.
- If I do, then you have to pet my back again 2 times. Remember to always wait for me to stop moving each time you pet my back before petting my back again.
- If I do not, tickle my tummy again until I give you a kiss, then pet my back 2 times.
- Then every time I give you a kiss when you tickle my tummy, make sure you pet my back two times.
- Soon, every time you tickle my tummy, I will give you a kiss.
- If you always pet my back 2 times when I give you a kiss, I will always remember to give kisses when my tummy is tickled. if you forget to pet my back, I may forget to give you a kiss when you tickle my tummy.
The example above is for an activity that I do when you tickle my tummy. You can do the same thing for an activity you like that I do if you cover my eyes, make a big sound, pick me up and rock me or turn me upside down. The important thing is that you tell me that you want me to repeat the action by petting my back 2 times after the first time I do it then 2 times after every other time.
If you want to change what I do, you can pet my back after another activity and I will begin to replace the original trick. Therefore, if you taught me to give you a kiss when you cover my eyes but decide you wane me to make a raspberry sound instead, just remember to pet my back 2 times after I make the raspberry sound when you cover my eyes.
Well that depends on what you want to beleive in. Some people decide to call it he or she based on it's colors (eyes, body or feet), while some base it on the name thinking some names sound more male or more female and another way is basing it on the voice pitch. As there are 3 voice pitches one high, one low and one right in between the two. Some people don't care and some people really care. It is all a personal choice though. No Furby is officialy female or officialy male (by word of Tiger).
Bill, Project Manager from Tiger Electronics answered this question...
MSN Question: "Are there boys and girls? If so, how can you tell?" Bill: "No, there are not boys and girls. We thought it would be better to leave that to the person's imagination."
I'd say that's the official word on that. So you choose for yourself what you want your Furby to be :)
Disclaimer: I only try to help, anything you do that harms your Furby is your own fault. I give my advice but I may not always be right. You are responsible for your own actions. Furby, Furbish, and all related is ®, TM,& ©Tiger Electronics, LTD. USA
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