Maine Coon Question

The way I understand "trilling", it sounds like a meow while the cat is
purring. Tiger does this when I ask him if he wants a particular treat.
The sound cats make while watching birds is usually called "chattering".
This common with most cats although mine don't seem to do it. I think
Tiger is part Maine Coon. He has the extra hair on his paws and ears,
long bushy tail, the britches, extra fur around his neck AND he weighs
19 pounds.


-MIKE

As I have posted previously, my recently adopted cat appears to have a
lot of Maine Coon characteristics. Until now, the only features I
thought he was lacking were the long squared-off face and tbe
trilling, and at 10.1 lbs. he's on the small side for a Maine Coon.

Well, I just heard him trilling, or what I think was trilling. I've
had lots of cats over the years, but I've never heard a cat make this
sound before. It was sort of like a soft, high-pitched meow with a
tremolo. He was sitting on the table in front of the living room
picture window, his favorite perch because it gives him a panoramic
view of the yard and street scene. A crow was hopping across the yard,
and Cat-Boy's tail was vigorously switching back and forth, in
anticipation of having it for dinner. As he made the sound his jaw was
trembling. When I first heard him and observed the situation it almost
sounded like he was trying to make a bird sound.

So my question to those who are owned by Maine Coons, does this
describe the trilling sound?

No, that's not trilling. That's chattering. That's the sound that comes out
when the kitty is practicing the killing bite he's going to inflict on the
verebrae of the prey, as evidenced by the jaw action. Cute, huh?
The trill is more like "brrrrrrrrmmmpppp??" Like a purr/meow with a question
mark at the end.

Sherry

As I have posted previously, my recently adopted cat appears to have a
lot of Maine Coon characteristics. Until now, the only features I
thought he was lacking were the long squared-off face and tbe
trilling, and at 10.1 lbs. he's on the small side for a Maine Coon.

Well, I just heard him trilling, or what I think was trilling. I've
had lots of cats over the years, but I've never heard a cat make this
sound before. It was sort of like a soft, high-pitched meow with a
tremolo. He was sitting on the table in front of the living room
picture window, his favorite perch because it gives him a panoramic
view of the yard and street scene. A crow was hopping across the yard,
and Cat-Boy's tail was vigorously switching back and forth, in
anticipation of having it for dinner. As he made the sound his jaw was
trembling. When I first heard him and observed the situation it almost
sounded like he was trying to make a bird sound.

So my question to those who are owned by Maine Coons, does this
describe the trilling sound?

No, that's not trilling. That's chattering. That's the sound that comes out
when the kitty is practicing the killing bite he's going to inflict on the
verebrae of the prey, as evidenced by the jaw action. Cute, huh?
The trill is more like "brrrrrrrrmmmpppp??" Like a purr/meow with a question
mark at the end.

Sherry

Sherry wrote in on 14
Dec 2003:

The trill is more like "brrrrrrrrmmmpppp??" Like a purr/meow with a
question mark at the end.


Bonnie makes that sound often (I call it chirping) mostly when she sees
Shamrock and wants to play. She's a black cat with the shortest, tightest,
thickest fur I've ever felt. Not a spec of white on her, though her guard
hairs (is that the underfur?) is gray and very thick. I think her father is
Lightning, the former stray here, and he resembles a Russian Blue with is
thick blue/gray fur and vivid green eyes, small and stocky build. She looks
just like him, but is black and her eyes vary from gold to green.

--
Cheryl

"I am only one, but still I am one. I cannot do everything, but still I
can do something. I will not refuse to do the something I can do."
- Helen Keller

Sherry wrote in on 14
Dec 2003:

The trill is more like "brrrrrrrrmmmpppp??" Like a purr/meow with a
question mark at the end.


Bonnie makes that sound often (I call it chirping) mostly when she sees
Shamrock and wants to play. She's a black cat with the shortest, tightest,
thickest fur I've ever felt. Not a spec of white on her, though her guard
hairs (is that the underfur?) is gray and very thick. I think her father is
Lightning, the former stray here, and he resembles a Russian Blue with is
thick blue/gray fur and vivid green eyes, small and stocky build. She looks
just like him, but is black and her eyes vary from gold to green.

--
Cheryl

"I am only one, but still I am one. I cannot do everything, but still I
can do something. I will not refuse to do the something I can do."
- Helen Keller

Bonnie makes that sound often (I call it chirping) mostly when she sees
Shamrock and wants to play. She's a black cat with the shortest, tightest,
thickest fur I've ever felt. Not a spec of white on her, though her guard
hairs (is that the underfur?) is gray and very thick. I think her father is
Lightning, the former stray here, and he resembles a Russian Blue with is
thick blue/gray fur and vivid green eyes, small and stocky build. She looks
just like him, but is black and her eyes vary from gold to green.

--
Cheryl

That's just the cutest sound. I only had one cat ever who did it regularly. He
would trill only as a "greeting"...when I'd just walked in the door, or he
would just come in from outside. Bonnie sounds really pretty.

Sherry

Bonnie makes that sound often (I call it chirping) mostly when she sees
Shamrock and wants to play. She's a black cat with the shortest, tightest,
thickest fur I've ever felt. Not a spec of white on her, though her guard
hairs (is that the underfur?) is gray and very thick. I think her father is
Lightning, the former stray here, and he resembles a Russian Blue with is
thick blue/gray fur and vivid green eyes, small and stocky build. She looks
just like him, but is black and her eyes vary from gold to green.

--
Cheryl

That's just the cutest sound. I only had one cat ever who did it regularly. He
would trill only as a "greeting"...when I'd just walked in the door, or he
would just come in from outside. Bonnie sounds really pretty.

Sherry

And, if I were being attacked by a gigantic animal who wanted to eat me, I
think I could easily resort to scratching their eyes, out, too.


lol, I was just getting ready to respond to that comment. I don't think, when
you're being savagely attacked and murdered, that it's all that "unreasonable"
to defend yourself in any way you can.

Candace
(take the litter out before replying by e-mail)

See my cats:
http://photos.yahoo.com/maccandace

"One does not meet oneself until one catches the reflection from an eye other
than human." (Loren Eisely)

And, if I were being attacked by a gigantic animal who wanted to eat me, I
think I could easily resort to scratching their eyes, out, too.


lol, I was just getting ready to respond to that comment. I don't think, when
you're being savagely attacked and murdered, that it's all that "unreasonable"
to defend yourself in any way you can.

Candace
(take the litter out before replying by e-mail)

See my cats:
http://photos.yahoo.com/maccandace

"One does not meet oneself until one catches the reflection from an eye other
than human." (Loren Eisely)

That's just the cutest sound. I only had one cat ever who did it regularly.
He
would trill only as a "greeting"...when I'd just walked in the door, or he
would just come in from outside. Bonnie sounds really pretty.

Sherry

My 17 year old cat, Cory, does it regularly, even now. He mostly does it as a
response when we say something to him. It is very cute.

Candace
(take the litter out before replying by e-mail)

See my cats:
http://photos.yahoo.com/maccandace

"One does not meet oneself until one catches the reflection from an eye other
than human." (Loren Eisely)