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Feline Follies - Cat Behavior



Excessive Meowing


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Cat Calls: What do They Mean?

Anxiety is the key to many cat behavior problems, including excessive meowing. Cats express their needs through vocalization. The pitch, intensity, frequency, rapidity and volume of the meowing reflect different emotional states or physical needs. Frequently with both dogs and cats, the more rapid, intense and loud the speech is, the more panicked, scared and anxious the animal is. Conversely, the slower and less intense the vocalizations are, the more confident or potentially assertive the cat or dog is.

It's the same with people, if you think about it. When we are angry or scared, we might scream loudly with great intensity. However, when we are relaxed, we speak slower, lower, less quickly and with more of a natural rhythm. We verbally express various needs and emotions: hunger, thirst, fear, shelter and sex. It's the same with our feline friends.

In family systems therapy, how we qualify or disqualify our words through our voice's tone and volume and by our body language is called meta-communication. At my seminars on dog and cat behavior, I often illustrate this point when talking about the "come" command (or come "request," in the case of cats). If you stand tall and yell: "COME HERE YOU BEAUTIFUL CREATURE AND GET SOME CHOW!" your cat will flee for its life! Conversely, if you squat down and say in a soft, soothing voice: "Go. Scat, you little monster," your kitty may well come up to you purring and rubbing itself against your knee.

Several experts on cat behavior have addressed feline communication and meta-communication. Veterinarian and author Michael Fox notes that up to 16 different voice patterns have been distinguished in cats. These fall under three main categories:

  1. Murmur patterns, indicating a calm, friendly state.
  2. Vowel patterns, indicating a need for food, to be let outdoors or other relatively minor frustrations.
  3. Strained-intensity sounds -- hissing, growling and screaming -- associated with mating or aggression toward or from a human or other animal.

Cats in the wild actually have two vocabularies -- one set of sounds for the mother-offspring relationship and another for adult life in the jungle or on the range. Domestic cats, being tame, retain their infant vocalizations right through adulthood. Zoologist Desmond Morris categorized seven distinctive sounds domestic cats make:

  1. "I am angry." What we would call "caterwauling," an aggressive but not sexual sound.
  2. "I am frightened." When a cat is cornered, it will frequently emit a "throaty yowling" noise or spit and hiss. Morris believes the reason cats hiss stems from the fact that many mammals have an inborn fear of snakes, which when cornered also spit and hiss. He believes cats are performing a "mimicry display," imitating a snake in an attempt to repel a perceived enemy.
  3. "I am in pain." An agonizing scream or screech.
  4. "I want attention." The familiar "meow," which stems from the mewing sound kittens use to alert their mothers that they need help.
  5. "Come with me." A "chirruping" that mother cats frequently emit when they want their brood to follow or be near.
  6. "I am inoffensive." The famous purring sound cats make when in a friendly mood and are submissively enjoying their owner's caress.
  7. "I want to sink my teeth in you." A little clicking noise made by cats when they spot a prey animal.

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