What does this sound mean?

[IronHippo]

Our third cat, ʻUlu, is our most vocal cat. He wails wherever he goes like he's announcing his arrival and it's always fun to try to figure out what he wants when he comes up to you and taps you and wails. (Usually it's food or pets.) He is also very chatty with our other two cats, who aren't very chatty themselves, and I'm not entirely sure they understand what ʻUlu wants when he murps at them. I don't either, but my theory is that he's trying to be friendly? He's our only cat that we're pretty sure had a good chance to socialize in a cat colony before he got picked up by the Humane Society so we think maybe it's something he picked up when he was living outside.

Anyway, this morning he and our other boy, Radish, were having their daily wrestlemania and I got a video of ʻUlu doing something a little bit different and being very chatty with Radish while they were winding down wrestle time. This lasted for about 4 minutes and pretty much consisted of ʻUlu merping at Radish, attempting to tackle Radish, getting owned, and melting to the floor before getting back up to try again on repeat. What does the sound ʻUlu is making mean? It's not his bird watching chatter but somewhat similar I guess? My top theories are 1. "I'm just playing," 2. Begging for mercy, and 3. "Hey I'm just trying to get around you." What do you far more experienced cat owners think?

Ulu is the orange one)

 

[FeebysOwner]

Hi. Based on the video, I am thinking Ulu's 'merps' are just encouraging Radish to rough house with him some more. Kind of like - C'mon, c'mon - one more time! I couldn't see any 'hostility' from either of them.

 

[IronHippo]

Hi. Based on the video, I am thinking Ulu's 'merps' are just encouraging Radish to rough house with him some more. Kind of like - C'mon, c'mon - one more time! I couldn't see any 'hostility' from either of them.

Really?? That is really cute, haha! ʻUlu always "loses" when they wrestle (he never "wins" against Marple either, but he always instigates wrestling) and I was starting to wonder if it was getting him down, but I'm glad to hear that he's still game even when he can't seem to get the upper paw! I think this just confirms that he really is our sweetest cat. Thank you for your insight!

 

[Mamanyt1953]

I agree with FeebysOwner . "C'mon! I dare you! I can beat you! PLAY WITH ME!" Although there's a bit of tail-twitching, it never becomes lashing, and their ears and whiskers say "this is play."

 

[DreamerRose]

I don't have sound on this computer, so I will have to agree the other posters. Lily and Mingo play a lot, and that's what Mingo often does - he chirps at her telling her, "C'mon, let's play" while he's lying down with one paw raised. She's not so enthusiastic about it as he is, so she waits a long time, then jumps on him.

 

[IronHippo]

I agree with FeebysOwner . "C'mon! I dare you! I can beat you! PLAY WITH ME!" Although there's a bit of tail-twitching, it never becomes lashing, and their ears and whiskers say "this is play."

So cute. ʻUlu Bear loves to play and Radish loves to wrestle. They are a match made in heaven! Thank you for your reply!

 

[IronHippo]

I don't have sound on this computer, so I will have to agree the other posters. Lily and Mingo play a lot, and that's what Mingo often does - he chirps at her telling her, "C'mon, let's play" while he's lying down with one paw raised. She's not so enthusiastic about it as he is, so she waits a long time, then jumps on him.

So cute! Lily and our eldest cat, Marple, have the same style--Marple likes just ambushing ʻUlu and Radish even when ʻUlu is clearly asking her to play. She pretends to ignore him and then just whaps him out of nowhere haha. Thank you for your reply!