Cat Trills Constantly

[kikilove]

Our most recent rescue is a 10 mo old lynx point siamese... (see my avatar photo). Gorgeous and sweet as can be.
In addition to all of the usual cat awesomeness, she has an additional interesting quality. She talks CONSTANTLY. I mean, CONSTANTLY. Trills and chirps when playing, when eating, when waking up, when going to sleep, when using the box. It's like, as if she were a person who voices their inner monologue aloud. "Oh boy I'm awake, oh wow I'm in that neat house and oh hey there's my favorite toy but wait, there's that lady who gives me things to eat oh I'm totally going with her first then maybe OH food! nom nom nom this is great! I love this stuff! but you know what sounds good now? that feather thing... that thing with the feathers... I'm going to drag it over to that lady and LADY! HEY LADY!!!! oh good she sees me and OH YES! playtime and now I'm running and running and I jump! and I run and run and I jump!"
Etc etc
I truly find it adorable, BUT it makes her hard to ignore. Right? "Normal" cats mostly mill about and, say I'm reading or something, will do something to specifically get my attention. But Bunny is like a child running around incessantly saying "Mom, mom, Mom!! are you watching? MOM! MOM!!!"
I guess my question is... was this developed as some kind of coping skill due to her months and months living alone under a porch? I'm watching her right now. She was just sitting and then decided to go look at something... the entire sequence reflected in her trilling and chirping. It's crazy! Is this something she might outgrow? Maybe she's just excited to have a family after all of that alone time? She finally has some companions to talk to... maybe that?

 

[Kieka]

I love the dialogue,

On to the question though, since she is a pointed cat she has a Siamese ancestor somewhere. Siamese are well known for being talkers. Congratulations! You have a talker on your hands.

My boy likes to talk to himself or talk to us all the time. It is fairly common to hear Link doing low level trills throughout the house or for him to walk around the house meowing with a toy in his mouth when bored. Link is now 3 and his talking has moments when it is non-stop and moments when he sneaks up and scares you with a random meow out of nowhere. He talks even when we aren't in the room and I know it isn't directed at anyone because he startles when I move so he hadn't noticed I was there. Oddly, Link doesn't talk as much outside unless he sees us and wants something (like opening the door, coming to pet him, or to show us his prize). Your girl is likely not going to outgrow the talking but it will probably change as she gets older.

I have another pointed cat, Rocket, who is likely further removed from her Siamese ancestor not only by body and color indications but also because she is super quiet. Rocket even jumps quietly and eats quietly (Link on the other hand you can hear every lick when he is grooming or bite when he is eating, noisy boy). But Rocket was also feral and raised by a feral mom so quiet could be learned as a survival instinct. If I had to guess your cat was likely a stray not feral and abandoned as a kitten or had close human contact or a mother with human contact to retain the talking aspect through being outside. Or just feels safe and can talk so does.... who knows. But the talking isn't likely a coping skill because survival means being quiet so predators can't find her and prey doesn't hear her. I don't see a kitten surviving long if it was talking all the time.

 

[kikilove]

Interesting point re that it isn't a survival skill... makes sense that it would be a stupid one if it was! Link... what an hilarious cat. Was showing my bf your "link survival guide." Too good.
OK, so the sounds of little miss chatter head shall fill our home for years to come!

 

[susanm9006]

I have had three part Siamese, two weren't talkers, but one never shut up. There was a running commentary going on throughout the day at blast volume. I always said that Murphy's voice could break glas and peel the wallpaper off the walls it was so loud. It definitely took some getting used to, and as a kitten she was catered to beyond belief because you either made her happy or listened to her incessant meowing.

 

[kikilove]

as a kitten she was catered to beyond belief because you either made her happy or listened to her incessant meowing.

hahahhaahahaaaa... nice

 

[danteshuman]

My punk is part Siamese (the grey & white one.) Sadly I only really hear the Siamese in him when I'm brushing him. The hyper bit and only loving one person? That he has hands down. Plus he wiggles his tail when he gets hyper and wants to play. *shrugs* Enjoy your chatty kitty and try mimicking her meows back to her

 

[jcat]

I think it's mainly a matter of personality, though some breeds are chattier than others. Our last cat rarely shut up when I was home; he'd converse for hours. There's a 5-year-old domestic short hair at the shelter that's the same way. As soon as anybody goes into the room she shares with 2 other cats, she starts meowing, chirping, trilling, purring, etc., and is very happy when you answer her.