Kitty has no voice

Wondered if anybody knew why my cat doesn't have a voice. He was a stray and we took him in for shots and neutering, but I never realized till now that he just doens't have a voice. He will open his mouth to meow, but nothing comes out....sometimes a little tiny noise...but 95% of the time, nothing!

Just an opinion, but maybe he doesn't know how. Alot of strays/ferals, if they're born in the wild, are taught by their mothers not to meow, to lessen the danger of being found from predators. (I learned that here. )

How old is your kitty?

Hi there and welcome to TCS. I have a cat Hister who was ferral. He chirps in a little tiny voice. He does not have a natural meow. I also had a cat Coopers who did not have a voice and he was not a ferral. Sometimes I wish people I know did not have a voice!

We think he is about a year old. Don't know how long he's been on his own. The neighbors took him from the town close to us (supposedly to save him), but then just dumped him off here in the country. So we took him and and got him all fixed up and he is a wonderful beautiful loving cat. Also when he plays he hisses, but isn't mad, he just does it when he plays. He must be all mixed up with everything. What you say makes sense about his mother teaching him that. Wonder if in time, he will learn. Thanks for your input!!

Awww....I'm glad you've given him a good home where he'll feel safe and protected.

My cat Larry was a feral, and he meows very rarely. It took him a long time to even get to that point. And it's this teeny little meow. I just figured he'd come around and do it if he felt like it.

There is a chance he will learn with time.

My Berlin was the same way when I got her.She had no voice.Either she would squeak or nothing at all would come out (which was usually).She is 7 months now and about a month ago she started meowing.She rarely meows still,but she does have a voice now when she needs to use it.

A friend of mine has a cat that is about 7 yrs old that has never had a voice and still doesn't...so who knows if yours will?

Deaf cats also don't meow. I grew up with a deaf cat we called "Spurs" which was actually short for "Whispers", the sound he made intead of a meow. He was a light golden color instead of white (like most deaf cats). It wasn't easy to tell he was deaf...his other senses made it nearly impossible to sneak up on him or take him by surprise. Hopefully your kitty is NOT deaf, just hasn't learned to meow...but if he is, rest assured it won't affect his happiness as a house cat in any way, and keep him inside and safely away from cars.

Some cats are just silent. I have several that are quiet - three are silent and one never made any noise except hissing for a couple of years, and none are deaf as they do answer their names; two more are really quiet, soft meows at feeding time, and two are chatterboxes but have soft voices although one is rather annoying with his insistant 'wow wow wow' (nope, they cannot meow 'properly'). The two ferals, on the other hand can yell pretty good when it's cat feeding time

SOME deaf cats do meow.We used to have a deaf cat and boy would she holler.She couldn't hear herself.

Diesel never meowed, unless someone stepped on his tail. In his later years, he learned how to meow at feeding time, 'cause the other cats would stand around me and meow like crazy.

Thanks everybody for your thoughts. I guess it's just a wait and see thing. Either way, it doesn't matter, he is a loved, sweet guy no matter what. And to koffeewitch....I do wonder if he is a bit hard of hearing. Don't think he is totally deaf but there is something about him that I can't put my finger on, and I have comtemplated some hearing difficulty. Don't worry, he is an indoor cat for good now and he loves it!

Originally Posted by Finsterhead

Thanks everybody for your thoughts. I guess it's just a wait and see thing. Either way, it doesn't matter, he is a loved, sweet guy no matter what. And to koffeewitch....I do wonder if he is a bit hard of hearing. Don't think he is totally deaf but there is something about him that I can't put my finger on, and I have comtemplated some hearing difficulty. Don't worry, he is an indoor cat for good now and he loves it!

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What color is he?

My deaf cat, Clyde, has a VERY loud voice, LOL. He often gets "lost" in the house and hollers until someone "finds" him. Also, Elsa, who used to be feral, barely meows at all. Extremely softly. Also she does not purr that you can hear either.

Originally Posted by 709Juggalette

SOME deaf cats do meow.We used to have a deaf cat and boy would she holler.She couldn't hear herself.

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I was going to say that every deaf cat I could met screams, I think its because they cant hear themselves

Autumn didnt meow when we got her, she could hiss, spit and growl but never meowed. As she settled in and felt comfortable, we couldnt shut her up, she still walks around meowing for the other cats to go to her.

And some cats are just mute, we had one returned to the shelter once because they were worried the cat would get locked in a closet and not be able to meow to get out (scratching at the door or throwing himself against it like most cats obviously didnt enter their minds)

My two 1 1/2 year olds formerly feral kittens: Fancy the girl is a DSH sealpoint who looks just like a Siamese, but is absolutely silent. Her all black litter brother is slowly becoming more talkative, but when he meows, he sounds like a lost soul crying in pain (he isn't either lost or in pain, but it is painful to listen to).

My other two kitties talk up a storm, but they were rescues from rescue organizations.

Go figure!

I have one that barely meows. For years I wasn't sure that he could, he's make the motions and you'd hear air moving but no meow.
He finally started making tiny almost inaudible meows at DH, and let out a very loud meow when his tail was stepped on one time. A couple more cats later and he'll fuss at them - it's still the barest meow unless they touch him, then he screams like someone is trying to kill him.

All the other cats never shut up. Even my semi-feral kittens make more noises (grunts, kitty sighs, mews, pained cries that wake me up in the middle of the night).

Well, I've had a feral male kitten (complete with tipped ear) for a few weeks now and before we named him "Possum," we were calling him Opera Man. Not all ferals learn not to talk! He performs long arias about unrequited food. But then he "lost" his voice. It's not gone, it's just hoarse from a URI. He sounds like something in a haunted house.

Sometimes cats get laryngitis from throat inflammation. I have another cat who also talked his head off but has been silent for 2 weeks because he caught the kitten's virus. I'm assuming your vet has checked your cat's mouth and throat, and that he's eating, drinking, and purring normally.

If you want to test his hearing, stand behind him where he can't see you and whistle as high as you can. If his ears go back at your high pitches, he can hear you.