the skinnier the cat the louder the meow

[lljkk]

and conversely, the fatter the cat the more pathetic its meow.

True in your experience, or just mine?

Not in mine sorry! I have a skinny lady with no meow at all! She mouths it but no sound (vet thought I was crackers taking her in because she'd lost her meow).

The Snowshoe is built like a racing snake in the summer and he's very very loud. Still loud with his winter paunch though. The Lion doesn't talk much at all, just stares grumpily. He's definitely fat.

Isn't it more to do with chest/ribcage size than blubbery?

Got more to do with attitude in my experience - and thinking back to cats I have known, lljkk's notion holds moderately true. Although, of course, a goodly number of those cats were Siamese who tend to be both lean and mouthy.

Not in my case. One of mine is really large and has the loudest meow ever, and she uses it a lot! She was v skinny as a kitten though if that makes a difference?

Ah - a skinny soul inside a 'full figured' adult body.

my huge big hairy monster has a loud diva meaow
his equally big half siamese pal has no meow
the little four month old foster kitten (skinny )shouts and has a gob like the mersey tunnell
his brother (long and lean) has a quiet mew
the tuxedos (boy long and lean girl short and dainty) have a im talking to you chirruppy meow

Both my cats are fairly loud when they put their minds to it - not Siamese standard, but loud enough. Neither is fat, one was described as 'stout' on his vet notes, but he's lost weight and has had the vet seal of approval. The other was bigger to start off with, and has not lost weight, but no one's calling him stout ... he's a little scary, which might explain it