Why does your cat mew ?

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PIXIE : I am a chatterbox, Claire, Momo, and Zorro all agree on this point. I often express myself by mewing, in particular if I want to play.

Grown-up cats rarely communicate among themselves by mewing ; kittens, them, use much more the mewing to indicate to their momcat that they have a problem or that they need something.
The verbal communication among grown-up cats occurs most of the time in situation of conflict, but we cannot really speak about worldly conversation : they are rather growls and hostile hisses !

However, Zorro explained me that the humans were not generally very talented for nonverbal communication : they know how to interpret the movements of tail or the position of ears, but decipher with more difficulty subtle expressions, visual marking, or olfactive signal. On the other hand, humans are particularly susceptible in the mewings and learn quickly, because to make noise is the main way of communication of their species.

The mewing of the grown-up cat is thus favored to address a human. And as I said it, it works very well ! A well-trained human can recognize about ten different mewings : hello, play with me, give me food, cuddle me, leave me alone, I am bored, I want to go out, I am going to vomit, I bring you an alive present, I bring you a dead present, I am afraid of the vacuum cleaner…
The more the human quickly reacts, the better he’s trained, and the more a cat as me is encouraged in the fact to mew to express her needs.

An excessive mewing can however indicate a medical problem, or a beginning of senility by an old cat. It’s the moment to go for a checking at the vet !

A cat can also mew because he’s bored, in particular during the night. A good play session followed by a meal (for the cat!) just before the extinction of the lights should be enough to insure a quiet and restful night to your human.

Finally, certain breeds like Siameses for example are more talkative than others : it’s necessary to expect that these cats share in detail all that they do during the day !

And you, how do you communicate with your human ?

Zorro’s second Gotcha Day

We counted 52 comments, which means that we’ll give 52 CHF to the Haut-Léman shelter, and we’re delighted too to announce that Connie from Tails From The Foster Kittens is the lucky winner of our giveaway ! Thanks for celebrating with us !

28 thoughts on “Why does your cat mew ?”

da tabbies o trout towne 20 February 2015 at 18 h 21 min

guys…way kewl on yur gotcha day commintz total !! we noe de shelterz will troo lee
appreecaitez this !! YAY !!

N yea, we due a lot oh mewin…but we think de food serviss gurlz watchin what we iz typin sew we canna say…what we iz mewin bout….ewe guys noe what we meen !!

heerz two a corydoras & cherry salmon kinda week oh end ♥♥♥

Timmy Tomcat 20 February 2015 at 19 h 28 min

Hi there Pixie. We have Dad pretty well trained to our meows but I admit Einstein and Rumpy are the talkers. Maybe that Rumpy took Einstein under his paw when he was tiny is the reason. Einstein calls to Dad from the cat perch and when Dad responds Einstein knows he can run over and play. Rumpy wants, well, everything all the time so is non stop meowing. I get a cat headache from that boy
Great post
Timmy

Ellen Pilch 20 February 2015 at 21 h 33 min

Cute photos. I like it when my kitties “talk to me”. Congrats to Connie on winning the giveaway.

Cathy Armato 20 February 2015 at 21 h 57 min

This is really interesting! I always thought my cat only meowed excessively to annoy me, now I know better. LOL!! I only wish my cat would have meowed to warn me she was about to vomit!

The Island Cats 20 February 2015 at 23 h 33 min

We like to mew just for the heck of it…and to keep the mom guessing! Congrats on a successful commentathon for Zorro’s Gotcha Day!

Georgia and Julie 21 February 2015 at 0 h 30 min

YAY for the good success on the commentathon
We always like to meow because we love attention and meowing works on Mom
Purrs Georgia and Julie,
Treasure and JJ

LP 21 February 2015 at 0 h 55 min

Congrats to the winner and hurray for the comments collected on your commentathon! We know the shelter will be pleased

We all enjoy talking. Malou talks the most and lets us know every little thing that is going on.Levon twirps and chirps (very adorable!). Esme talks a lot when she is hungry or when she is annoyed with LP! Mitalee doesn’ t talk often but when she does it sounds like a croak!

the critters in the cottage xo

Flynn 21 February 2015 at 1 h 06 min

Concats on a great commentathon.
I talk a lot and always have done. Mum says I must have some Siamese in my distant past because I am so vocal.

Just Ducky 21 February 2015 at 1 h 50 min

I loves to give quick mews to mum, sometimes she mews back!

Savannah's Paw Tracks 21 February 2015 at 2 h 31 min

we are VERY verbal here…and our meows are heard by the humans and we use our hisses and such to communicate to each other

Summer 21 February 2015 at 3 h 59 min

Humans always seem to need a good meowing to! Concatulations on a great commenthon for Zorro’s gotcha day.

Deb Barnes - Zee and Zoey 21 February 2015 at 14 h 01 min

What a great post, Pixie! Very informative. Our human is quite in tune with how we communicate. She just finished writing her second book and it is done in the voice of our dearly departed furfriend, Mr. Jazz.

Happy Gotcha day to Zorro!

Purrs from the Zee and Zoey Gang!

Dezi and Lexi 21 February 2015 at 20 h 26 min

Gweat posty. Yeah we meow to mommy all da time. In fact mommy calls me hers chatty caffy. MOL As much as mommy knows bout cats she dusn’t seem to speak pee or butt scent. And she’s not fond of us twyin’ to use dat furm of communication wiff her. MOL

Luv ya’

Dezi and Lexi

Chuck Huss 22 February 2015 at 1 h 35 min

Cats are very smart to learn to adapt to the ways of humans.

Just Ducky 22 February 2015 at 1 h 41 min

Hi, Sorry you got snow. I live in the frozen north of the United States in Whiskerson. Just outside the big city of Milwaukee. It got above freezing today. That was nice but only for today, tomorrow back to the nasty cold.

Kitties Blue 22 February 2015 at 3 h 40 min

Pixie, these are the most adorable photos. Most of us talk when we want to go out on the catio or we want our breakfast or dinner. Otherwise we are fairly quiet, except for Mauricio who talks non-stop if he is not sleeping. He makes Mom rather crazy. Please join us tomorrow for our Sunday Selfies Blog Hop. XOCK, Lily Olivia, Mauricio, Misty May, Giulietta, Fiona, Astrid, Lisbeth and Calista Jo who sends a kiss to Zorro

Cathy Keisha 22 February 2015 at 4 h 09 min

You are so tiny and cute, Pixie. I’m very vocal. I’ve always been. TW is always afraid cos I sing at night that I’m getting as senile as her but I’m way too young.

Clooney 22 February 2015 at 5 h 17 min

I mew more than Neytiri but my Human does not recognize 10 different mews, she must need more training!

Athena 22 February 2015 at 18 h 22 min

Athena always meows when she wants something. Sometimes she sounds like she’s calling out ‘mum’.

Purrs xx
Athena and Marie

Gattina 22 February 2015 at 18 h 54 min

My oldest cat Pookie (16) started to be a real chatterbox since a year ! She meows for no reason the whole morning and in the afternoon she doesn’t say a word !

Layla Morgan Wilde (Cat Wisdom 101) 22 February 2015 at 19 h 40 min

Concats on the commentathon. Every cat meows in their own unique way. Our Siamese, Merlin is typically loud but it’s important as a pet owner to be alert to changes from aging or illness.

Kitty Cat Chronicles 22 February 2015 at 23 h 39 min

We are all mewers over here! Sampson is the most talkative – he has full conversations with Mom and Dad all the time. Mom and Dad say that they like it when we mew. And you’re right — they pay attention to us every time!