My entire family has ALWAYS talked to our cats. Heck, my dad has had SEVERAL who could tell time and we would tell them what time to come in and within 3 min of the time they would be at the door. Five min early? Never there. Five min after? Climbing the screens because we were making them wait too long.
ALL of our cats do what they are asked. Well, Capn Morgan does for ME and for Jess but husband and thank you tend to ask if he minds doing blah blah blah and of course he doesn't want to so he mostly doesn't. husband does the same koi with the kids when I am not around. Do you wnat to clean the kitchen? Who asks a kid that??? Of COURSE THEY DON"T!! DUH!! But he still does, and he still can't figure out why they ignore him (kids and cat).
Why would talking to your furbabies be odd? in my opinion it is your husband who has something loose up there. Animals are the most awesome listeners. My dad had a friend when I was little who had a boa constrictor who was the most loving baby and conversationalist. Just a total sweetie.
My great Gma loved living on a farm. At one point she had cows, pigs, chickens, horses, a mule, and a few other assorted critters that usually are not pets and sort of were to her. She fed the one at a time. They came when she called their names, alerted her to strangers, were super protective and just amazing from the stories I have heard. LOTS of people told her they were not smart enough to know their names, but Great Gma knew different.
My Grandma had cats. Usually 3-4. When I was little she had a mean one who adored her. No one else but he tolerated me because I told him if he bit me again I was going to take a bite out of him. This cat bit EVERYONE but Gma. Not me, not ever after that. I didn't have to bite him to teach him - a verbal warning was enough.
My folks had a cat who had been abused, run away from that home and lived iwth possums for about a year (he made noises like possums, NOT like cats when we first had him), and then decided that my dad was okay. My cat was dying and she brought him home to care for us after her passing. THis cat was NOT in good health and getting close to him was NOT really possible for quite a while. But when he needed medical care we would tell him that we were trying to help and what we were doing and he did not fight or bite even when it had to really hurt. He understood. When Mom would get really upset with Dad over something the cat would start working on Dad, leading him to whatever needed fixing or cleaning and being a general PITA to my dad until he took care of it.
Why would you talking to your furbabies bother your husband? Is he jealous because the furbabies give smarter answers than he does? Or does he think he can't get a word in edgewise?