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Cat owners will tell you they can detect the difference between a contented meow and an annoyed meow, a scared meow and a playful meow, and so on. This is, perhaps, by design — cats, as it turns out, rarely meow to one another. Most often their meows are directed at their owners, and slight modulations can carry different meanings.
For instance, when I’ve been away for a few days, my cat starts in with the Hey, quit leaving, I missed you meows, which are clipped and rapid, and come out in a long stream that can last, maddeningly, for hours. (I appreciate the sentiment, cat — but shut up!) According to the ASPCA, these are other common meows:
My big male will sit in the window and whip his tail back and forth, usually while meowing. Then he'll come sit beside me and tell me what he saw, usually excitedly and loudly. Sometimes if he wants something (I'm not always sure what) he'll sit and howl and you can hear him from the other room.
My little fat female meows any time you touch her. She often meows when you look at her. And if you walk toward the dining room she'll run ahead of you and jump on her food table, usually whether she is out of food or not. She's always talking.
Her sister, meanwhile, rarely meows. I've seen her meow when there was a bug on the ceiling and she wanted it, but she rarely makes a sound.
Very interesting! Our one tuxedo boy is extremely vocal, a trait that I always blamed on our daughter (she could talk the hind leg off a donkey and she'll hold long conversations with anyone and anything, including the cat), but perhaps it's just an innate tendency of the species.
Finn has a very loud, demanding and insistent sort of "I AM HUNGRY NOW, DAMMIT, AND YOU MUST FEED ME IMMEDIATELY" sort of meow, of course, like most of them do, but boy, can he stretch it out. It's not a "meow," it's a "meeeee-oooooooooo-OOOOWW!" He's teaching the new adoptee, too, so now I have a chorus as the two of them berate me each morning while I get dressed, urging me to stop putting those silly clothes on and go out to the kitchen and feed them NOW.
His conversational tone, however, is a chirpy, light-hearted chatty tone, as he tells me in detail about the bird he saw on the tree in the yard and how the catnip toy winked at him. Col. Snuggledorf doesn't chat that way, or at least not yet, though as much time as he and Finn spend together, I expect him to start conversing, too.
Finn has a different meow when he wants up for some shoulder-cruising. More emphatic than the conversational chirps, it's not as loud and long as his "FEED ME" yell, but it still definitely gets the point across. Particularly as the meows are generally followed by a leap from the floor to my back.
The one that gets me every time, though, is the silent meow. Finn only pulls that one if he's angling for treats: he'll sit in the middle of the kitchen floor, looking intently at my face until I glance at him. Then, still staring soulfully at me, he opens his mouth in the most pitiful, mournful silent meow, clearly too weak to even vocalize and obviously in danger of imminent death by starvation if I don't get the package of dehydrated salmon nuggets out immediately. As of course I always do.
The one that gets me every time, though, is the silent meow. Finn only pulls that one if he's angling for treats: he'll sit in the middle of the kitchen floor, looking intently at my face until I glance at him. Then, still staring soulfully at me, he opens his mouth in the most pitiful, mournful silent meow, clearly too weak to even vocalize and obviously in danger of imminent death by starvation if I don't get the package of dehydrated salmon nuggets out immediately. As of course I always do.
That is so funny! I loved that part, and isn't it amazing to see the depth of personality and intelligence our felines have?
They have us all trained quite well, wouldn't you say?
That is so funny! I loved that part, and isn't it amazing to see the depth of personality and intelligence our felines have?
They have us all trained quite well, wouldn't you say?
Oh, you'd better believe it - I am a thoroughly trained catmom! My spouse finds it extremely amusing, but the funny thing is that he is just as well trained as I am: when Finn starts up with the silent meows, he is just as likely to hop up and get out the treat box as I am.
My cat is a free-feeder, so she rarely meows to convey hunger. And she's indoor/outdoor, so her meowing is very different (I think) than an indoor cat.
When she is outside, I will go out and "meow" for her to come in. She usually responds with a meow, comes running, and meows the entire time she is coming up the stairs as a way of maintaining my location. In fact, this is supposedly why cheetahs and other wild cats meow: to locate and stay in contact with other cats of the group.
Other times, she will meow to come in and then at me after she has come in. It seems to establish/maintain a connection in her mind. And still other times, she will meow to wake me up when she wants to go out. I really think that meowing patterns are different for every single cat.
My big male will sit in the window and whip his tail back and forth, usually while meowing. Then he'll come sit beside me and tell me what he saw, usually excitedly and loudly. Sometimes if he wants something (I'm not always sure what) he'll sit and howl and you can hear him from the other room.
My little fat female meows any time you touch her. She often meows when you look at her. And if you walk toward the dining room she'll run ahead of you and jump on her food table, usually whether she is out of food or not. She's always talking.
Her sister, meanwhile, rarely meows. I've seen her meow when there was a bug on the ceiling and she wanted it, but she rarely makes a sound.
What about yours?
Funny you should ask this as I'm listening to my one cat meowing at me right now. And I know exactly what she is saying based on that particular meow.
("Clean the litter box." No, that's not a joke. I'm dead serious. If she doesn't think it's clean enough, she will come to me and with a certain tone, meow at me to let me know.)
I have a little white cat that I've had for about 13 years. In that time, we have developed an extremely tight bond, (the girl has been through hell and back with me), and she knows certain words I'm saying, I know certain "words" she's saying.
I know when she wants her litter cleaned, I know when she wants me to play, I know when she wants me to turn on the heater, I know when she wants to go outside, etc.
She knows the words, "water", "warm box", (that's heater), "meowtside", (which means 'outside'), "up", "down" (duh), "fetch", "dog", "cat", (she knows the difference and has demonstrated that she knows the difference...if I say "dog" she does not go to a cat, she goes to a dog, if I say "cat" she goes to a cat and ignores the dogs), "plate", (that's her food bowl), and about 10 other words.
Sometimes, she'll just sit and listen and I'll talk to her and I swear, that cat knows what I'm saying. Something about the way she looks at me when I'm talking...if I think about it too much, it's quite unsettling.
I have accused her in the past. I'll be talking, I'll start to get a little unnerved because it seems she knows what I am saying and I'll stop, point at her and exclaim, "You sneaky little s**t! You know what I'm saying, don't you! I'll remember that the next time I catch you doing "x" and you act like you don't speak English!"
Her reaction is to either start grooming herself in an act of complete disinterest, (all lies), or get highly embarrassed and take off.
They're a lot smarter than most people give them credit for.
Very interesting! Our one tuxedo boy is extremely vocal, a trait that I always blamed on our daughter (she could talk the hind leg off a donkey and she'll hold long conversations with anyone and anything, including the cat), but perhaps it's just an innate tendency of the species.
Finn has a very loud, demanding and insistent sort of "I AM HUNGRY NOW, DAMMIT, AND YOU MUST FEED ME IMMEDIATELY" sort of meow, of course, like most of them do, but boy, can he stretch it out. It's not a "meow," it's a "meeeee-oooooooooo-OOOOWW!" He's teaching the new adoptee, too, so now I have a chorus as the two of them berate me each morning while I get dressed, urging me to stop putting those silly clothes on and go out to the kitchen and feed them NOW.
His conversational tone, however, is a chirpy, light-hearted chatty tone, as he tells me in detail about the bird he saw on the tree in the yard and how the catnip toy winked at him. Col. Snuggledorf doesn't chat that way, or at least not yet, though as much time as he and Finn spend together, I expect him to start conversing, too.
Finn has a different meow when he wants up for some shoulder-cruising. More emphatic than the conversational chirps, it's not as loud and long as his "FEED ME" yell, but it still definitely gets the point across. Particularly as the meows are generally followed by a leap from the floor to my back.
The one that gets me every time, though, is the silent meow. Finn only pulls that one if he's angling for treats: he'll sit in the middle of the kitchen floor, looking intently at my face until I glance at him. Then, still staring soulfully at me, he opens his mouth in the most pitiful, mournful silent meow, clearly too weak to even vocalize and obviously in danger of imminent death by starvation if I don't get the package of dehydrated salmon nuggets out immediately. As of course I always do.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Macrina
That is so funny! I loved that part, and isn't it amazing to see the depth of personality and intelligence our felines have?
They have us all trained quite well, wouldn't you say?
I am immune to every trick in the pet world except the silent meow.
If you two have not already done so, you might want to look for a book called "The Silent Miaow".
Ah, the silent meow. Perfectly crafted to be so pathetic that humans die of guilt just thinking about it. We are such suckers! LOL
I get the gamut at my house. Cookie's meow is always a question: Feed me? Pet me? Move off that chair so I can curl up and take a nap? She also chirps at the birds, in a kind of staccato meow series.
Checkers is a drama queen. He has in his arsenal the low, long mournful meow; the aforementioned pathetic silent meow; the hunger-stricken (yeah, right) whiny meow; a chirpy little "aren't I cute?" kitten's "mew", which precedes either his jumping on my lap, or his nudging his nose into my hand; and the most alarming is the loud, sharp meOW! that makes me think he's in tragic pain. Which of course he is not. *sigh*
Quote:
Originally Posted by Three Wolves In Snow
She knows the words
What a vocabulary! Mine know "treat" and "breakfast".
If only I could teach them "no" and "down". *sigh*
Carly knows 'No' and responds quite accurately to it. I use it very seldom ~ only when it's imperative that she cease doing something. She's almost always obedient to it.
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