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The litter tray

Join our community of cat lovers on the Mumsnet Cat forum for kitten advice and help with cat behaviour.

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Original poster

Anyone else have an un talkative cat?

31 replies

Bogburglar99 · 15/05/2016 08:15

Just curious! BogBastard at one year old is remarkably quiet. He does possess a perfectly serviceable miaow but only employs it for really urgent matters such as when his tail got caught in the cat flap, or when he wants to play with DS in the garden and the cat flap is shut! He didn't think to shout when he was accidentally shut in the understairs cupboard for three hours, and when he wants food he gives me a dirty look and bites my ankles.

We get a single greeting miaow through the window as we approach home, and he has a nice discreet little chirrup every so often, but generally he's just not a talkative cat. I'm used to chatter boxes so it's quite a surprise. Anyone else got one that doesn't talk much?

OP posts:

Oreocrumbs · 15/05/2016 08:35

Mine started off like that, for a good few years iirc. So polite and well mannered. Was no bother at all. He is 9 now, and boy has he found his opinions .

When I come home from work I get a hell of a bollocking for not being home to provide his food at a time he deems appropriate. When I open the door to let him out, and the wind is blowing in the wrong direction, well I'm left in no doubt that it's is all my doing and totally unacceptable.

He is still working on training me wrt to dreamies provision. To be fair he is succeeding.... After enough mewing and ankle swirling I do tend to give in and give him more.

Actually I've had 3 cats and he is the most vocal, the other 2 were female and much more refined.

I love my little dictator though, he's the only man ever likely to make me jump through hoops

TheGirlOnTheLanding · 15/05/2016 08:41

BiteyCat isn't a talker either. And when he does decide to use his voice, it's a deep monosyllabic grunt - he doesn't do anything resembling a miaow. It takes a bit of getting used to after LandingCat, who would hold lengthy conversations if anyone in the family spoke to him. I think some cats, like some people, are just creatures of few words. BogBastard can clearly communicate his needs without conversation!

cozietoesie · 15/05/2016 08:54

The Lodger doesn't talk much. That's just him though and I guess he would have some way to go to reach the levels of the Siamese boys. (They provide a running commentary on the Meaning Of Life throughout the day.)

It used to worry me a lot. Not so much now though.

iloveeverykindofcat · 15/05/2016 09:01

Zara only meows for 'reasons': food, protest at something like the carrier. She has a quiet, subtle purr you have to listen for.
Bibi never shuts up so it evens out.

Heyheyheygoodbye · 15/05/2016 09:02

I had one like this. He was a great brute of a British Blue and had a deep, scratchy, curt 'mow' that he only employed in an emergency.

My current cat wails for England

Original poster

Bogburglar99 · 15/05/2016 09:18

Perhaps it is all just in the personality then! He certainly communicates - has a very polite paw on the knee when I'm eating fish and chips or Marmite toast, for example

Maybe it's just also a matter of prioritisation. Being shut in the understairs cupboard for hours was a mere detail but being separated from his beloved garden/ small humans is cruel and unusual punishment!

OP posts:

DameDiazepamTheDramaQueen · 15/05/2016 09:20

You lucky, lucky thing!!! Be grateful

AwkwardSquad · 15/05/2016 09:31

Current cat is not very vocal at all, but more now than when she first arrived from the RSPCA. She gives little meeps rather than full-on meows, but she does have quite a wide range. Especially when she wants one of us to feed her and we are dilly-dallying - she goes from polite requests to firmer reminders then to imperative commands. She does have extremely expressive body language though, so she does communicate very effectively.

Previous two, sisters, were part Siamese and very chatty. We do miss that, and were quite surprised by current cat's quietness at first.

AwkwardSquad · 15/05/2016 09:33

Oh and she never purred out loud at first. She does now, sometimes,but she has a good strong internal purr! I can hear it if I rest my ear on her side. Although she's not crazy about that... Doesn't like being used as a pillow, apparently. Sauce for the goose, I say

flanjabelle · 15/05/2016 09:35

My cat never ever miaows. She is completely silent other than a slight chattering noise when she is watching birds outside. If she wants food she tries to trip me up then tries to lead me to to her food bowl. I find it odd when I meet a vocal cat now. Dd (2yo) was also confused when a local cat came running up to us the other day miaowing it's little heart out. She asked me what was wrong with it!

YesItsMeIDontCare · 15/05/2016 09:37

I used to have 3 cats.

One was gobby, didn't shut up.
Other two were quiet.

Gobby one was rehomed (to parents - they needed a mouser)
GirlGat became gobby, BoyCat was quiet.

GirlCat passed away, and yep - BoyCat rarely shut up!

I think it was a case of who could get a word in edgeways!

cozietoesie · 15/05/2016 09:39

I'm the other way round now - quietness rather unnerves me. (I'm so used to a running commentary on the weather, the carpets, food, the state of the Chinese economy, whatever. )

TondelayaDellaVentamiglia · 15/05/2016 09:41

my first cat NEVER shut up, he was a black and white cat, but very siamese in shape and attitude. Yowls, chirrups, miaows, demans, abuse, rebukes and plain old conversation too
second cat was much more a Cat of Few Words.....just let us know when he had caught something

Next cat was less chatty, just really yowing for attention or food

and the two we have now are really vocal...one (idiotcat) has just come in, checked in with everyone (me and the dogs!) and i can hear him looking for ds2 who is still in bed. He also does a kitty version of that grunty ouffy noise you hear lions do on wildlife programmes!

His sister is not quite so bad, but she gets really cross if she is yowing and no one answers her, idiotcat knows this and ignores her and you can see her getting crosser and crosser until she finds him and he gets a vigorous face clean as punishment.

Original poster

Bogburglar99 · 15/05/2016 09:42

Ah, BogBastard does have a purr that you can hear for miles. A grand operatic Russian bass (he's Siberian). Which is quite as effective at 6am as yowling in your ear

OP posts:

changingagain · 15/05/2016 09:43

Mine squeaks occasionally and purrs. We've had her 6 years and I can only recall one single miaow. I keep thinking of the confusion there's going to be as DS gets older and they end up talking about animal noises at nursery.

Original poster

Bogburglar99 · 15/05/2016 09:44

flanjabelle I know what you mean - if BogBastard does meow we all come running as we are convinced there is a major emergency that might be his cunning plan

OP posts:

Vinorosso74 · 15/05/2016 09:47

Ours doesn't say much, we get the odd meow "hello" but not much more. She purrs a lot, current trick is to climb on sleeping human at 6.15 and purr loudly at them.

Fluffycloudland77 · 15/05/2016 12:14

Ours is queit when he wants food. He just sits there like a totem pole staring at you. It can go on for ages and progresses to sitting in the loaf of bread/last turkey in the shop position.

Noisy the rest of the time though.

FuckOffJeffrey · 15/05/2016 20:04

It took my cat about 10 months to find his voice and to sit on my lap - he's just a year old now so it's only been the last 2 months. His meow is very gentle and and soft so it doesn't quite match his large size. He doesn't meow for food but will meow to get back in if he's in the garden and wants back in (no option for cat flap as we are in a flat with shared entrance). He is a purrer though and it's very loud. Not sure if it's to do with his breeding, his mum is a ragdoll and his dad some random moggy.

RubbishMantra · 16/05/2016 00:16

I like the loaf of bread analogy Fluffy I call it the resting duck position.

MCat' will announce when he's woken from a snooze, or wanders about the house, yowling onto corners.

Little Monsieur is a bit more random, odd noises, usually accompanied by a riverdance of joy. Especially if he's just had a poo. He rarely purrs, apart from when I'm on the loo.

RubbishMantra · 16/05/2016 00:21

...and when debasing his Shag-Bag.

missnevermind · 16/05/2016 00:32

My sisters cat doesn't make a sound if anybody else is in the house. nobody's ever heard that cat meow squeak or anything.
Unless you're on the telephone to her then its full blown conversation. As the cat thinks as there is nobody else in the room my sister must be talking to her and answers her all the time.
Telephone conversations can be difficult but hilarious

coffeeisnectar · 16/05/2016 00:33

Boy cat doesn't meow, he makes this weird frog like croak. Except at 4am when he yowls loudly to be let out.

Girl cat 1 has a very quiet meow, not even a meow but a mew. She uses it when I'm putting her food down and when she hasn't seen me for a few hours.

Girl cat 2 just chirrups. All the time. She's a very funny cat.

wickedlazy · 16/05/2016 00:47

My 3 year old female is very quiet. Only miow's when she wants food. She makes the weirdest sound when confronted with another cat, or any dog except ours. Like a crying sound.

cozietoesie · 16/05/2016 09:34

Seniorboy doesn't yowl if he meets another cat - his eyes narrow in a quiet and deadly sort of way.

If he had been just 5 years younger when he met The Lodger, I'd have been wiping down the walls.

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