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Clough · Feb 10, 2010, 11:09 PM

Hi, All!

Cats make all sorts of different sounds, from actual growling to meowing as well "innocent" purring.

What do you suppose your cat means when they make various sounds, please?

Thanks!

FlyYakker · Feb 13, 2010, 08:06 PM

I am reasonably sure that cats make sounds appropriate to the situation. Their questioning Meow... which in every cat I have hears has the same questioning intonation as in human speech, is questioning ("where is food). A sad meow, is just that. The first cat I had would always make a kind of "plurrp" sound in his throat when he walked by that definitly indicated that he was annoyed when I didn't let him back in the house in a timely manner.

I have read that cats will actually tune the tone of their purring so that it will generate a response in humans. In addition, aside from indicating contentment, there is evidence that the act of purring has some healing properties for the cat, possibly through relieving stress, and so injured cats will purr as well.

It is also my understanding that cats learn from us how to "communicate" with us. When we talk to them they learn that we expect them to talk back to us.

I don't go overboard on this. They likely are communicating fairly basic stuff... emotions more than thoughts. But at some level they are communicating, and probably wondering why we don't respond properly. Stupid humans!

Wondergirl · Feb 13, 2010, 08:17 PM

My soulcat Thomas Jefferson was part Aby and had an entire dictionary's worth of sounds. If he was making faces at another of our cats and driving him nuts (Thomas was the top cat and liked to do this), I would call out his name in a stern voice. He would take one last longing look at his "foe," and then come trotting over to me with his tail held straight up in the air and while making a noise that sounded like, "I'm coming! I'll behave now!" He'd sit in the bathroom window and chatter while he watched the squirrels and birds in the nearby magnolia tree. When I gave him food he didn't like, he would say "Nooooooooooooooo." When I told him I had to leave for work, he would say, "Noooooooooowwwwwwwww?" He had a comment for everything, and each vocalization was different. I could write a book about that cat.

Clough · Feb 13, 2010, 10:05 PM

My cat actually seems to yell at me! He'll meow much louder than usual and frequently!

He does this especially after I've been house and dog sitting for a number of days. This is after I've been away from home for awhile.

Wondergirl · Feb 13, 2010, 10:09 PM

Originally Posted by Clough

My cat actually seems to yell at me! He'll meow much louder than usual and frequently!

He does this especially after I've been house and dog sitting for a number of days. This is after I've been away from home for awhile.

He's scolding you for being away and for smelling funny when you come home again. (Who takes care of him while you're gone?)

Next time you house sit, be sure to tell your cat a little story (in simple terms) that you are going away and for how long to do what and that you will miss him very much and will think about him all the time.

Clough · Feb 13, 2010, 11:27 PM

Originally Posted by Clough
My cat actually seems to yell at me! He'll meow much louder than usual and frequently!

He does this especially after I've been house and dog sitting for a number of days. This is after I've been away from home for awhile.

Originally Posted by Wondergirl

He's scolding you for being away and for smelling funny when you come home again. (Who takes care of him while you're gone?)

Next time you house sit, be sure to tell your cat a little story (in simple terms) that you are going away and for how long to do what and that you will miss him very much and will think about him all the time.

I try to come home everyday when I'm house and dog sitting. I'm sure he must smell the scents of the three dogs that I take care of.

I do talk to him when I'm home, when I'm leaving and when I come home on a daily basis.

He's a great cat! But, he's definitely getting to be old!

Thanks!

Wondergirl · Feb 13, 2010, 11:36 PM

Originally Posted by Clough

I try to come home everyday when I'm house and dog sitting. I'm sure he must smell the scents of the three dogs that I take care of.

Maybe then he's telling you about everything that happened while you were gone.

morgaine300 · Feb 14, 2010, 01:05 AM

Cats want to smell everything on you, not just other animals. My cats would smell me every 3 seconds if they could, just to make sure there's nothing there that wasn't there 3 seconds ago. I tend to hold out a finger to them, and they'll sniff it intently every single time.

As for sounds, I know my cat's different meows. I can generally tell one cat from the other. (Except occasionally they fool me.) They have different "voices" like people do. One is most vocal when I'm in the kitchen getting her food ready, at which point she does more of a high-pitched kitten-sounding mew. When the other one wants food, he does more of a long "mraaaaant."

The one with the high-pitched mew (the female) doesn't make a lot of sound. The other one (the male) is more vocal. Sometimes if I'm in another room, he does a guttural mrrrrrrrr that sounds much like a female in heat. If I yell his name he stops. I think he just wants to make sure I'm still there. His purr is more of a rumble. The female's purr is more normal and quiet. The male's is loud and rumbles. I can't say that it's very comforting when he does that.

About all cats I've had will sometimes chirp. I've never quite figured out what that means, but they seem to do it when I let them inside (back when I let cats outside), or when I pick them up... I sometimes wonder if that's some type of greeting to me. My male, sometimes when I pick him up, he makes a sort of quick "popped" mrw, as though I popped it out of his lungs when I picked him up.

Mine rarely growl.

The male does, however, has his "I'm pissed off" smell. Yup, a smell. I've never smelled that on another cat.

Speaking of which, he is starting his guttural "I need to know you're still there" meow...

Clough · Feb 14, 2010, 11:34 PM

Originally Posted by Wondergirl

Maybe then he's telling you about everything that happened while you were gone.

Could be...

Clough · Feb 14, 2010, 11:37 PM

How many cats do you have, morgaine300?

Thanks!

mariajoanne · Feb 15, 2010, 06:14 PM

When my little ladies are "calling" they make very loud "RAHHH, WAHHHH, ROOO!" sounds. Too adorable.

Clough · Feb 16, 2010, 12:29 AM

My cat will sometimes meow in the same key as the piece that I'm playing on the piano!

morgaine300 · Feb 18, 2010, 11:55 PM

I have two cats, Clough. Night and day to each other.

Clough · Feb 19, 2010, 02:33 PM

Originally Posted by morgaine300

I have two cats, Clough. Night and day to each other.

Let me guess...

One's the epitome of the "scardy cat" and the other is super friendly.

Correct?

It's just a guess...

Thanks!

morgaine300 · Feb 22, 2010, 08:16 PM

Nope, you guessed wrong. <buzzer sounding>

Neither is "super friendly" towards strangers.

The female is friendly with me and anyone she knows really well, which is, oh, about one person. She's also very affectionate when she knows you. Lap cat, though she's young and still hyper so not always in the mood to be a lap cat, but it's in her. And she doesn't like being shut up in rooms without me. She's also gutsy and agile like a cat should be. And playful.

The male doesn't care so much about strangers but isn't "friendly" either. My brother called him aloof. He isn't typical for a cat and has to learn cat behavior from the other one. (Like he's too chicken to jump and that sort of thing.) And rather than affectionate, he's needy. He's off by himself a lot, but when he decide he wants attention, he pretty much wants it NOW and can be a big baby.

Clough · Feb 22, 2010, 11:39 PM

Darn! I guess that I don't win the $5,000 prize, morgaine300! :(

Are your cats related?

morgaine300 · Feb 23, 2010, 12:33 AM

I don't feel like giving up $5000, even if you get it right. :p

They are not related in any way whatsoever. The only thing they have in common is that they are cats (and in the case of the male I'm not even sure about that), and that they both came from the humane society as lost souls.

One is almost nine and I got him as a, um, well not quite a kitten. The other is around three years old and I got her when she was about a year, but we're a little unsure of her. She is sitting on my lap and says she doesn't care.

Clough · Feb 23, 2010, 12:40 AM

The reason that I asked whether they were related, was because if they are related, that can have a big influence on the sounds they make or not making sounds.

When my cat Boots' mother was still alive, he didn't meow hardly at all. Of course, his mom ran the place!

After she died, he would meow more and more, and at times now, it's hard to get him to be quiet!

morgaine300 · Feb 23, 2010, 12:46 AM

Are you up late again?

I think that would be true whether they are related. If they've lived with each other long enough, behavior can change when one dies. And also one can be more dominant and if that ones dies, then dominance changes.

These two do play together sometimes, and sometimes it verges on fighting. But they don't act like siblings. I think the male is very aware the other is female, despite both being fixed, and sometimes I wonder if he's trying to dominate for that reason. But sometimes she gets her way anyway. Hey, they're like a married couple.

Clough · Feb 23, 2010, 12:54 AM

Yes, I'm up late again! But, need to go to bed shortly because I have a piano tuning in the morning.

His mother was a much smaller cat then he is. But, she would always win the fights!

My daughter is now living with me for a couple of months. She has two, major cats that live in her bedroom. I have yet to hear either one of them meow at all!