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#2
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Broken meower
In article , Marek Williams wrote:
Has anyone ever run into a cat that never meows? I had a cat that hardly ever mewed. He would tune up when he was in distress, as when he was in his carrier for a trip to the vet. Then he sounded like a case of cat abuse. Otherwise, not a peep. When he wanted something he would sit and stare at you. Long hair breeds tend to be quieter than short hair breeds. Some kinds of cats like the Chartreaux cat have the reputation of not "talking." |
#3
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In article , Marek Williams wrote:
Has anyone ever run into a cat that never meows? I had a cat that hardly ever mewed. He would tune up when he was in distress, as when he was in his carrier for a trip to the vet. Then he sounded like a case of cat abuse. Otherwise, not a peep. When he wanted something he would sit and stare at you. Long hair breeds tend to be quieter than short hair breeds. Some kinds of cats like the Chartreaux cat have the reputation of not "talking." |
#4
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"William Hamblen" wrote in message hlink.net... I had a cat that hardly ever mewed. He would tune up when he was in distress, as when he was in his carrier for a trip to the vet. Then he sounded like a case of cat abuse. Otherwise, not a peep. When he wanted something he would sit and stare at you. That's exactly what my cat does! She's the only cat I've had that does it, too. It's quite disturbing, actually. She can stare without blinking (like most cats, I guess) for a very long time. And she stares so intently, as well. Last night she wanted to sleep on my bed but wouldn't while I was still awake. She sat next to my bed and stared at me until I turned off my lights turned my back to her. She jumped up right away and made her little nest beside my head. She's a strange one, she is. Long hair breeds tend to be quieter than short hair breeds. Some kinds of cats like the Chartreaux cat have the reputation of not "talking." Kitty is a DSH. I think she doesn't talk much because she was a stray for so long, then stuck at the humane society. I watched a segment on a science show about cats. They said cats in the wild rarely meow, and domestic cats rarely meow unless they are around humans. The current thought is that domestic cats have more developed vocal systems in order to get what they need from humans. The researchers also noted that cats in shelters who meow (especially plaintively) tend to attract more attention than cats that don't meow. I'm thinking that's why Kitty was there for so long (3 long months!). The first time I saw her she was in the top row, just staring at me and not a sound came from her. I think I've mentioned this here before, but the same researchers noted that humans rely heavily on visual clues to understand cats' meows. Contrary to what most humans believe, they can't really understand what their cats want by listening to their meows. rona |
#5
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"William Hamblen" wrote in message hlink.net... I had a cat that hardly ever mewed. He would tune up when he was in distress, as when he was in his carrier for a trip to the vet. Then he sounded like a case of cat abuse. Otherwise, not a peep. When he wanted something he would sit and stare at you. That's exactly what my cat does! She's the only cat I've had that does it, too. It's quite disturbing, actually. She can stare without blinking (like most cats, I guess) for a very long time. And she stares so intently, as well. Last night she wanted to sleep on my bed but wouldn't while I was still awake. She sat next to my bed and stared at me until I turned off my lights turned my back to her. She jumped up right away and made her little nest beside my head. She's a strange one, she is. Long hair breeds tend to be quieter than short hair breeds. Some kinds of cats like the Chartreaux cat have the reputation of not "talking." Kitty is a DSH. I think she doesn't talk much because she was a stray for so long, then stuck at the humane society. I watched a segment on a science show about cats. They said cats in the wild rarely meow, and domestic cats rarely meow unless they are around humans. The current thought is that domestic cats have more developed vocal systems in order to get what they need from humans. The researchers also noted that cats in shelters who meow (especially plaintively) tend to attract more attention than cats that don't meow. I'm thinking that's why Kitty was there for so long (3 long months!). The first time I saw her she was in the top row, just staring at me and not a sound came from her. I think I've mentioned this here before, but the same researchers noted that humans rely heavily on visual clues to understand cats' meows. Contrary to what most humans believe, they can't really understand what their cats want by listening to their meows. rona |
#6
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In the meantime, I am curious because he never meows. He's been around
the neighborhood for several years, and no one has ever heard him meow. He doesn't even try. His sole vocal ability seems to be hissing and purring. If he lost his voice at some time, I would think he would still make the attempt, even if nothing came out. He doesn't growl either. I've never heard of a mute cat. Has anyone else? Most books on cat behaviour seem to say that miaowing is a *learned* behaviour for *pet* cats. Cats, left to themselves, would vocalise a lot for sexual behaviour but not for social behaviour. I've also read that cat vocalisations among-themselves are too high for us to hear. It's assumed that on discovering that the Large Hairless Tin-Opener cannot understand tail/ear talk, they learned to put their voice into a lower register. Our Murray (sadly missing) would miaow for feeding and in distress, but would generally not miaow to go out (had flap, preferred to have the door opened). He would just sit in the hall and stare at the door intently. -- Woof B |
#7
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In the meantime, I am curious because he never meows. He's been around
the neighborhood for several years, and no one has ever heard him meow. He doesn't even try. His sole vocal ability seems to be hissing and purring. If he lost his voice at some time, I would think he would still make the attempt, even if nothing came out. He doesn't growl either. I've never heard of a mute cat. Has anyone else? Most books on cat behaviour seem to say that miaowing is a *learned* behaviour for *pet* cats. Cats, left to themselves, would vocalise a lot for sexual behaviour but not for social behaviour. I've also read that cat vocalisations among-themselves are too high for us to hear. It's assumed that on discovering that the Large Hairless Tin-Opener cannot understand tail/ear talk, they learned to put their voice into a lower register. Our Murray (sadly missing) would miaow for feeding and in distress, but would generally not miaow to go out (had flap, preferred to have the door opened). He would just sit in the hall and stare at the door intently. -- Woof B |
#8
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Marek Williams wrote in message . ..
Has anyone ever run into a cat that never meows? There is a stray I am in the process of adopting. When I started with him he was semi-feral. He wouldn't let anyone get close enough to touch him. If anyone was successful in touching him he hissed at them and lashed out with claws and mouth. After a month of playing the cat-whisperer, I have gotten him to the point where he loves to have me pet him, rub his ears, and talk to him. He comes running, tail in the air, as soon as he sees me coming. He's actually starting to act just like a cat. I have a ways to go, and there are other worries -- like when I get him to my house will he understand about litter boxes and such. No way to tell yet. In the meantime, I am curious because he never meows. He's been around the neighborhood for several years, and no one has ever heard him meow. He doesn't even try. His sole vocal ability seems to be hissing and purring. If he lost his voice at some time, I would think he would still make the attempt, even if nothing came out. He doesn't growl either. I've never heard of a mute cat. Has anyone else? Our cat never meows. I've never heard him do it (he did hiss once, though). What the little boy does do is to 'argue' with either me or my wife when he is ordered away for the nite (away to his own seperate bedroom where his active enjoyment of the nitelife will not disturb our sleep, that is). Anyway, when he is told "Chop-Chop!!" (he knows this means away to bed), as he trots by, he will 'mouth' little sounds, almost like he is back-talking us! It's so funny! Sometimes, he goes on and on as he jumps off the bed and makes for his exile. I've never heard of an animal back-talking before. He's so cute! IBen |
#9
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Marek Williams wrote in message . ..
Has anyone ever run into a cat that never meows? There is a stray I am in the process of adopting. When I started with him he was semi-feral. He wouldn't let anyone get close enough to touch him. If anyone was successful in touching him he hissed at them and lashed out with claws and mouth. After a month of playing the cat-whisperer, I have gotten him to the point where he loves to have me pet him, rub his ears, and talk to him. He comes running, tail in the air, as soon as he sees me coming. He's actually starting to act just like a cat. I have a ways to go, and there are other worries -- like when I get him to my house will he understand about litter boxes and such. No way to tell yet. In the meantime, I am curious because he never meows. He's been around the neighborhood for several years, and no one has ever heard him meow. He doesn't even try. His sole vocal ability seems to be hissing and purring. If he lost his voice at some time, I would think he would still make the attempt, even if nothing came out. He doesn't growl either. I've never heard of a mute cat. Has anyone else? Our cat never meows. I've never heard him do it (he did hiss once, though). What the little boy does do is to 'argue' with either me or my wife when he is ordered away for the nite (away to his own seperate bedroom where his active enjoyment of the nitelife will not disturb our sleep, that is). Anyway, when he is told "Chop-Chop!!" (he knows this means away to bed), as he trots by, he will 'mouth' little sounds, almost like he is back-talking us! It's so funny! Sometimes, he goes on and on as he jumps off the bed and makes for his exile. I've never heard of an animal back-talking before. He's so cute! IBen |
#10
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Thank you, Rona and Woof, for that fascinating info, I don't remember ever
hearing that about cats not meowing much in the wild (though I had heard about the higher register thing, which explains why sometimes my cats meow, and it looks like they've got laryngitis and nothing's coming out)! Really interesting stuff, thanks again for sharing. Ann http://www.angelfire.com/ca/bewtifulfreak |
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