Thread: Chirruping

All four of our MCs chirp and trill, and definitely have different sounds for different purposes. Only the kitten has something like a meow, and only when he is upset about not getting something he wants. He seems like he imitates the other cats (when he first started talking he sounded just like the bigger male), and the meow sound appeared after he spent a week at the vets (he was very sick) and was around non-MCs. When we kept hearing him do this at the vets we were very concerned that this would be his new sound, but he reverted to more typical MC vocalizations right away. The other sound that he makes (which he just did) is a cry or wail. He does this when he cannot find us or just wants us to do something (like get him food). It is just pathetic sounding--like a young child. One of the girls will go to the front door and "shriek" if she wants me to take her out. She also does this very squeeky purr sometimes--combination of purr and high pitched sounds. Actually ran across a research paper on this type of sound, that claimed it was a very needy sound that humans couldn't resist. Ours seems to do it when she is trying to really show affection, however. The MC mix we had developed a particular trill that he would use only when I came outside to do something with him. He would run up to me and do that trill, and those were the only times he ever did that exact sound. He was a brilliant cat!