Meow; Nature or Nurture???

[claydust]

I am interested to know about anyone's experiences or opinions as to whether meowing is something adult cats do by themselves or mostly practiced by those kept as pets.

Here is a quote of one online comentary:

"The 'meow' (also spelled 'miau', 'miow' or 'miao') is a vocalization used by kittens to signal a request to their mother. Adult cats do not normally meow to each other, and so the meowing to humans that domesticated cats exhibit is likely partly an extension of the use of this plaintive signal, this time to an unrelated caretaker of a different species"

Our two cats, Taz and Morgan were both raised, here at home, from an early age, both meow, frequently for many reasons.

Kasey does not meow. She "eeps & squeeks", goes "maaa" and purrs. She also makes a noise that sounds like a (small) cougar when she wants down, sounds nasty but she doesn't try to harm you and rubs around your ankles when you set her down so it doesn't seem like a threat sound, even if it sounds like one.

Kasey was not "house raised", she was at an industrial setting, from an early age, where she never knew which person at any given time would treat her. Some were good, some were very bad.

I guess I will never figure it out but I wonder if that the sounds she makes is just her voice, or given her upbringing, she just never retained the meow sound as an adult.

 

[goldenkitty45]

Probably both. Cats are more solitary creatures in the wild - they have little interaction unless to come together for mating. So meowing is not really needed that much.

Its used more for communication with mom and babies till they are on their own. When cats are confined to the house and in a multiple cat setting, they tend to meow a lot more for most of them.

I've had cats that didn't say much, but others that chattered a lot. Charlie was not that talkative unless you were addressing him (calling him for dinner or asking where was he - then he would answer). Jack is a chatter box but at least he has a quieter voice then what Charlie did. Ling only talks when she is complaining to be picked up or to be put down.

 

[lisar]

Isie is a little talking one. She'll go ahead and meow-chirp at you for a long time. As long as you keep up the conversation. EG however, meows when he wants food.. or he is scared out of his mind. Pretty much the only times EG meows. On that note I really hate the scared meow cats do.. it has a similar effect on me that a baby crying does.

I think it just depends. Isie started talking after being with us for about 3 years. I tend to think she just wanted to be in the conversations in the house.

 

[ldg]

I think humans encourage the meowing.

Our first four cats were all feral born and raised. Only one of them talked - and when the mom took her litter on excursion, he got left behind. Our theory is that he was noisy, and she didn't want to endanger the rest of the litter.

None of them - other than the one left behind - talked when we brought them in. He talked rarely, and we didn't encourage it. We had a pretty quiet household. ...until we rescued a deaf kitty, who talked all the time. After about a year, they all started to find their voices, because they learned from observation that her talking got her attention. They had squeaky unused voices - it was so funny! None of them talk much, and only directed at us, never each other.

 

[strange_wings]

^ You should tell my feral borns to be quiet. They didn't get that memo.

I have two very loud ones and another one with a quiet meow unless she's alone in a room.

I've heard other semi-ferals softly mew,hrrmm. and brrr at each other, but not the "pay attention to me now!" that pet cats do at us. I suspect they probably have a lot of very soft verbalizations that we probably can't hear since our frequency range is not as good as a cat's.

 

[sk_pacer]

Most of my cats are silent more or less. They make peeps, mews, ows and eees for the most part. The one that moved in from down the road doesnt even do that, but the Skinny (a stolen kitten) was raised with Streak who is somewhat noisy and Tippy who is mostly silent yells and he yells long and loud when he sees the tin opener in my hand - personally, I think it is a distraction so the rest can quietly trip me

. Da Magpie, born in the barn to a loopy and noisy and very wild mother whose only other surviving offspring is silent, learned her manners from Da Lip and he shouts at me when he thinks he is starving so she learned the same behaviours. From my observations, it is a combination of both nature and nurture. Any of the mostly silent cats can and will meow at me through the window in summer, and hearing a meow from Tippy is mildly startling because he mostly just does silent meows and purrs a lot, but for the most part, these guys just sit on the tractor and stare at the windows every morning that is nice enough to be designated as tractor sitting weather.

 

[gloriajh]

I'd say it depends on the cat. They seem to be as different as humans.

 

[icklemiss21]

I am not sure if its by choice, but my ferals rarely make a sound, but it is probably a survival thing, not letting predators know where they are.

However it doesnt take long for them to learn to meow once they are socialised and I often find myself wishing Autumn would shut up when she is nattering away at absolutely nothing (she also cries if she can't find the boys because they are sleeping in cupboards etc, or if they dont come when she meeps for them, or if she has a toy in her mouth...) until I realise it means she trusts us and have to go hug her

 

[auntie crazy]

All of mine are feral-born to abandoned females, trapped, socialized and adopted by me. All of them talk, but primarily with chirps and brips and stuff like that. The three older siblings will meow when they want attention and Allen meows quite loudly and plaintively when he believes dinner is late.

My favorite sound is the little bbriipp they do along with the quick chin lift to greet me. Kinda like they're sayin', "heya, long time, no see, what's up with you?" It's such a warm, affectionate sound that I've taken to briipping right back at 'em.

 

[sharky]

My biggest talker is the likely bottle baby( I adopted him from the HS and was likely his 4th home at 6 months old), who must have a oriental relative

as he is heard accross the house... My two raised by humans from a young age talk but only when I or the other one is in the room... My feral born raised in a open no cage shelter from 6 months to 4 yrs of age is a squeaker .. My other feral born but her kittens reared in the shelter hardly makes a peep outside of being right next to me

 

[stephanietx]

What an interesting thread!

My Callie was a stray and she meowed at our back door because she was starving. After she moved in with us, I hardly ever heard her meow or purr. She doesn't really meow, anyway, she sorta makes this croaky-sounding "maaaaa" thing. As she's gotten older and lived with me for 11 years now, she's more talkative.

Hannah, who we adopted from the pound when she was 7 mos old has been a meeper, squeaker, chirper, and "mwaaaa"-er from the get go. She's always talking to us and greets us with her cute little noises. She even "cries" for us when she can't find us in the house with a very LOUD & frantic sounding meow.

 

[strange_wings]

Originally Posted by Auntie Crazy

It's such a warm, affectionate sound that I've taken to briipping right back at 'em.

I wonder how many other people are meowing at their cats? I do it with all of mine, brrr-ing at the kittens was one of the things that helped calm them down.

I made the shyest kitten of the bunch mew for a piece of tuna yesterday. She needs to learn to speak up since about a week ago she accidentally got shut in a bathroom.

 

[otto]

Part of it is nature, I've had cats who rarely spoke, but I am a firm believer that the more you talk to and interact with your cats, the more they will talk to and interact with you, and with each other.

It's never quiet here! Even if they are sleeping I can usually hear purring, and Mazy speaks (prrt?) if I so much as look at her.

Cats really aren't solitary creatures, as many people think. They live in colonies when living in the wild, and rely on each other for many things, including companionship. Cats are actually very social animals.

 

[gen]

When Calico had her kittens I listened to the sounds she made. I have been able to copy her (sort of) and so now the cats and I have 4 "communication" words.

"come with me" is a soft brrip and usually works.

"I have food" is a loud, ascending brrrip and always works.

"don't bug me" is a whine... and doesn't fully work.

"look" is a sharp meow. I can't quite get my voice into the right tones and I have to remember to look AT what I want the cats to look at.

They also seem to have a "sound effect" . When they run around they say "rrrrararrrrarrrarrr" and when they jump down they add in "ugh". jumping up has a different "ugh"

 

[fulpmes]

Originally Posted by strange_wings

I wonder how many other people are meowing at their cats? I do it with all of mine, brrr-ing at the kittens was one of the things that helped calm them down.

I made the shyest kitten of the bunch mew for a piece of tuna yesterday. She needs to learn to speak up since about a week ago she accidentally got shut in a bathroom.

I meow at mine *all* the time. I have one big talker & we'll go back & forth sometimes dozens of times -- and not even always when wer're in the same room. It amuses my niece & nephew endlessly to see Aunt Crazy talking *with* the cat. My super verbal one has been from the start; my other one is increasingly so, because she never likes to be left out of the action. She was almost mute when I got her, but now, if adequately motivated, she can positively shout.