Kitten "Chirping" when excited?

[meww]

My cats make this noise when they see a bug or when I use the laser pointer. If I see a spider and I'm too chicken to deal with it I make that sound myself and they both come rushing to me all excited trying to find it. If one makes that sound the other joins in and looks around. I always thought it was a social thing to alert other cats to prey.

 

[sammymom]

All my cats have done it, and I have had many over the years. Kittens seem to chirp when they see things that I never see. I would have a kitten in my lap, and it would see something that I swore wasn't there, but whatever it was, it excited him.

Now, my grown cats chatter away when they see a bird through the window. I think it is their way of exhibiting frustration at knowing there is good food out there, but they can't get it and are only stuck with dry cat food.

 

[multicatowner]

Hailey is our most verbal in our house.The smallest is the loudest,10lbs calico,Trouble,18lbs pure black, speaks in small sounds, especially in mornings,in your ear,to wake up and feed him!! Years ago, We had a huge grey mitten tomcat on family farm. He spoke like a mouse!! NO KIDDING!! He would come home ripped to pieces from fighting raccoons  and possums! Mom was a medical nurse,would take care of his wounds and fix him up.[She also visited local farms giving distemper and rabies shots] One finale night,J.R. never came home:[ Long live the memories of loved ones past:[

 

[kittylover23]

Cookie is our resident chirper. She loves playing in the bathtub with her mouse toy, and we can always hear her chirping away! :lol3:

 

[monicas]

My cat does the same thing but only under one circumstance: when she sits by the window and sees a humming bird flying up and down in the tree in front of the window, really close to her face. I've never seen her make that sound under any other circumstance. 

 

[roods ranch]

My orange cat does this too. In fact he does even "meow" - he sounds like an engine turning over!

 

[bigperm20]

My orange cat does this too. In fact he does even "meow" - he sounds like an engine turning over!

Yea, come to think of it, Beans doesn't meow much at all. She chatters more than she meows. She does sound a little like the old Buick I had in High School :-)

 

[pumpkin1966]

Some of my cats have done this.  Our current cat, Pumpkin, does this when he is birdwatching out the window!  It is funny, I love it!!

 

[shanef]

Thanks for posting the video - it was entertaining!

None of our cats have done this, although Ralph sometimes makes the same motion with his mouth when he's looking out the window, but without any sound.

 

[shadyferret]

My cats do it as well and I asked a vet about it once. According to my vet, it's theorized that cats do this because they are fantasizing about killing the prey outside the window and they are "chattering" their teeth to mimic the kill. Every morning they watch out the door and hide behind blinds, coffee table, etc and sometimes will back around a corner when they see a bird and watch it carefully from their corner. They will occasionally charge the door. I have notice it sounds remarkably similar to the birds outside the window on the balcony, so it could be meant as a trick. I didn't see the event, but a bird landed near a cat and she killed it before it could escape so it's possible she tricked it. The balcony is set up to make it impossible for the cats to get to the birds unless the birds come to them. However, one cat will do it if he sees any bird fly by so it's not just to trick them.

 

[mani]

My cats chirp at me when I sneeze.

The funniest was one of my first two cats threatening an RAF fighter jet as it flew low up the Great Glen and he perched on the back of the sofa watching it out of the window!

These two posts crack me up...

My domestics in the past have almost all done it, usually when they see birds, but my Russians never have.

 

[brenda sizemore]

I have a 2-month old kitten that does the same thing.  Her bottom jaw will sometimes even "vibrate" when she's doing this.  Had many cats over the years, and she's the first I've seen do this.  Kind of neat, actually.