My cat has stopped talking to me 😿

[Comeinupto40]

She’s 3.
She used to ‘chirp’ at me all day long. To say hello… ask to go out… get me to come downstairs… get me to come upstairs… make me play with her…
To be honest it was a little bit annoying! But also adorable.

Anyway I noticed recently- she’s stopped doing it, completely. I can’t put my finger on when exactly it stopped, but I noticed a few days ago that she is entirely silent, except for an occasional meow at mealtimes. Never, ever a chirp and it’s been over a week since I noticed… it might even be longer since she stopped talking. In all other ways, she seems her normal self. I’m wracking my brains to think what might be ‘up’:

• she got in a nasty fight about 2 months ago and went to the vet (which she hates) - but she’s been before, this want the first time.

• She went to mum’s house for 3 weeks while I was on holiday (yes stressful for her, but again, not the first time).

• The thing that breaks my heart is that I have been working at home a lot more since Easter, which means that a lot of the time I have been on Teams calls and have had to ignore her when she called me to play or sit with her or feed her treats. I also spend far too much time on my phone. I deep down worry that she has given up because I didn’t respond to her enough 😿

She still greets me at the door with a tail quiver and comes to lie on me when I am in bed (sometimes). We still do slow blinking and play most evenings. But she doesn’t follow me around as much or ‘call’ to me. And she gets bored of playing sooner.

What do you think? Have any of your cats gone ‘silent’ on you? Could it just be age / maturity? She has the best food (untamed and katkin), access to the outdoors, countless toys, I love her to pieces.

Going quiet can be a symptom of boredom, do you do lots to stimulate your Dcat? Maybe buy some interactive toys or make some new hideouts for her.

Thanks for answering, she honestly has sooo many toys! She has a cat tree, a tunnel, a play mat, puzzle feeders galore as well as free access to the outdoors. I also have all the usual springs and balls and fishing rods which I will use to play with her, but she doesn’t seem as interested as she used to. She’ll play for a bit and then just watch.

She may just be growing up a bit more, think of the energy differences between a teen/early 20s and then 30s in humans for things like playing.

She obviously still loves you by her reactions when you come home, but she may also be having a bit of a confusion between work time & relax time if you're in the house for both.

Do you talk to her?

She sounds a bit bored - does she go outside? Being cooped up in four walls all day is no life, really.

I can hear how much you love her . Cats can definitely go through phases with their vocalization, and it doesn’t necessarily mean something is “wrong” — especially since she’s still showing affection (tail quiver, slow blinking, coming to bed).

But if she ever seems lethargic, hides more, or changes eating/toileting habits, a vet check would be wise.

Our previous cat went from vocal kitten to quiet adult and then became very vocal again when he got a bit senile in his last year. Always thought that was just natural growing up

No she has full access to the outdoors.

Yes, although maybe I should talk more?

I talk to my girl a lot. I basically narrate my life because I want her to hear my voice and be used to it. And I always talk to her about feeding her and what’s on the menu. I’m sure she thinks I’m nuts.

Definitely talk to her. The more you talk the more likely she is to respond.
Have you tried chirruping at her? As well as twittering on as you go about your day, chirrup and meows might get her talking back to you again.
My cat was a silent kitten, didn’t meow much or anything and the more I chatted and tired my best to speak cat, she chatted back.

I do this! I think it stems from my mum going from two kids to a dog, and just carrying on talking to him like he was a toddler. As soon as we got our last cat my DP was bewildered at me chatting away with her, “now we’re going to get a cup of tea, then it’s time for us to sit down and watch Coronation Street” type nonsense, constantly. To me it was normal interaction based on living at home with my parents and the family dog as a child.

We sadly had to have her pts last year and now have a wee boy cat who was a stray kitten - it was even more important to talk to him when he arrived as he’d had a lot of changes in a short time. He is a VERY chatty boy now.

Both cats have come in to their name with no bother, no idea if that’s connected.