kitten meow is not normal???

Hi!

I never mentioned this about my new kitty because I thought it would go away but after 2 weeks, it is still the same.

Snowball didn't meow at all when I got him. I noticed while driving back home with him the day I got him a very strange kind of meow, it was practically faint and didn't even sound like a meow. It's almost as if he 'tries' to meow but can't; like he has an EXTREME case of laryngitis (sp?) It has to be almost silent in my house to hear him.

That was 2 weeks ago and it's still the same today, nothing is changed. As anyone ver heard of that?

Minou

Some cats/kittens just have a quiet voice. I've had loud and quiet kittens in the same litter. I would not think it was weird.

It could be a perfectly normal thing due to age. When we got Jazzy at 9 weeks she didn't make a peep. When we got home we realised she had catflu and we had to take her back for meds. Once she got better she was meowing her head off.

I could count on one had the times our Lizzie meowed...and when she did you could hardley hear her.
I asked the Vet about it one time and he said there was nothing at all wrong with her and not to worry about it.

Yep, as with people, some are loud and some are quiet. I wouldn't worry unless you believe there is something medically wrong

I remember one of my high school friends had a cat who had underdeveloped vocal chords (or something like that) and couldn't meow. It doesn't cause any problems for the cat.

What a relief, thank you so much!! I had never heard of or seen such a thing as a kitty not meowing. I though maybe he was somehow handicap LOL...Even if he was, I'd still love him! Thanks again!!

Minou

I wouldn't worry about it. One of my cats can't meow (if he tries REALLY hard, sometimes he can get one out, but you can tell that he's working really hard at trying to make the noise) He usually just makes a noise that sounds like 'brrrrrrr?'

I wouldn't be too worried.

My cat, Bestia, only meowed twice in the first year we had her! Her meow is quiet and petite. She also purrs so quiet that you can't hear it at all. The only way you know she's purring is if you put your hand on her throat and feel for vibrations. lol.

Cats can miaow without us hearing a thing - because they can make sounds that are outside of our normal hearing range. To us it can just look as if they are opening their mouth without any noise!

What you need to watch for are changes in behaviour - if he's never made a sound, it may well be nothing to worry about. One of my boys did lose his voice when he was ill with a sore throat, but it was other symptoms (lethargy and off his food) that I noticed first, I only noticed that he'd lost his voice when the vet took his temperature using a rectal themometer because he normally wails when that happens (wouldn't we all!) but I didn't even notice that he had lost his voice until then because he has always been a quiet cat with a very tiny miaow.

So how are his energy levels? Is he eating, drinking, and using the litterbox ok? Some cats are naturally quiet vocally, or have a voice that is outside of our hearing range, but if he has always been that way and everything else is normal then don't panic. Of course if you have any other concerns he should see a vet.

My boy cat Pudders has never had a meow either and I have had him since he was about 6-7 weeks old. He is about 10 months now.

It is like you said, it seems as if he has laryngitis. Every once in a while he manages to squeek something out that kind of sounds like a meow.

But other than that, he is just fine. Runs, plays, eats and gets into stuff just fine. We just see his "squeek" as a sign of his uniqueness!