Squawking when picked up

siggav

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Nikita always makes a noise when I pick her up when she doesn't want to be picked up. If she's happy with being held for a bit she'll be silent but whenever she's not up for it she'll make a rather funny sounding squawking type of complaining meow when I start lifting her off the ground.

It's actually quite nice, means I don't have to worry about picking her up when she doesn't want to be held 'cos she always lets me know and I back off. It's also a type of meow she uses pretty much only for this. She's otherwise a very vocal cat with lots of different meows, chirps, trills and chatters.

I haven't encountered this in other cats but I'm curious how common it is. Do your cats do this?
 

leslie301

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We nicknamed my girl "Squeaker" for awhile because she always squeaks when you pick her up.... just like a kid's toy.
She hates being held. My boy, however, doesn't mind at all. I guess it just depends, but I'm definitely familiar with the "holding squeak".
 

snosrap5

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Takoda does this but his is more of a grunt sound, like I've knocked the wind out of him. It's just his way of telling me he isn't happy with me messing with him.



Now Magnum chirps/trills/grunts/meows constantly and you can never tell just what his commentary means at any given time.
 
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siggav

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These are all bengals, interesting. Does anyone have a non-bengal cat that does the protest meow/grunt/squawk when being picked up when they don't want to be picked up?
 

diego

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Originally Posted by Siggav

These are all bengals, interesting. Does anyone have a non-bengal cat that does the protest meow/grunt/squawk when being picked up when they don't want to be picked up?
Yes since we got Diego, Neko does a whining meow, like "just leave me alone would you"


Diego on the other hand only needs to be picked up to put in his room. He makes it quite clear when he wants to be held and never protests.
 

howtoholdacat

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Friday (non-bengal) whines if he doesn't want to be held. It sounds just like a human teenager going "uhhhh"! I worry that he may have learned that from me...
 

calico2222

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I get a low warning sound from Little One. Gizmo screams like I'm trying to kill him, but usually when I pick him up, I'm picking his up OFF something to put him back on the floor. He doesn't like that, but mommy really doesn't need him to walk across the still hot stove!
 
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My sister's tortie does a sort of squeak when you pick her up. She doesn't necessarily hate being held.. but seems rather unhappy about the being picked up part of things.
 

meow meow

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My cat also makes that noise most of the time when I pick him up. I also think it is a protest noise although he does nothing to stop me from picking him up.
 

Moz

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Originally Posted by Siggav

These are all bengals, interesting. Does anyone have a non-bengal cat that does the protest meow/grunt/squawk when being picked up when they don't want to be picked up?
My Squee makes that noise when she doesn't want to be picked up and she is a torbie.
 

isadora44

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Spot squeaks most of the time when we pick her up, if she really doesn't want to be picked up she'll protest with a meow.

Isadora doesn't like to be picked up in general, so she'll almost always growl and/or hiss when picked up (UNLESS it's right after I walk in the door from work...that's the only time she'll let me pick her up).

Neither of mine are bengals
 

lechatnoir

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oh yes! I wish my Kitty made only a protest noise....she is such a drama queen she wails like an ambulance when i pick her up!
 

fhicat

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Old thread, but I was looking up info about protest meow, and Jed definitely squeaks occasionally when I try to pick him up. He'd bug me for food, and then protest when I pick him up, and doesn't eat when I put him down at his bowl. Silly cat.
 

chasetheblue

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Mum's cat (not a bengal) squeaks when she's picked up. She doesn't like to be held (though if you pick her up and hold her gently and pet her, she will purr, and squeak, and purr, and squeak like she can't make up her mind if she likes it or hates it hahaha). She also does the "uhhhhhh" whine if you persist in holding her, and it escalates from there until she sounds like she is being tortured lol. 

I still pick her up (I just only hold her for a few seconds, and then put her back down again). 

She is a squeaky cat in general, though. She always has something to say, usually in a squeaky tone. 
 
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