Can't black cats meow "normally"

I lived on a horse farm growing up, and people were always dropping off cats (which we always cared for and loves!) Over the years we had three different black cats, two long hair and one short. All three meowed normally. Via, the last, huuuge boy, meowed very loudly and insistently, but normally!

My little panther Isis, issues a soft murmur/trill when she wants my attention.
She chirps at birds but other than that I don't think that I have ever heard her really meow.
She sings.

My Mischief has a normal meow as far as it being a drawn out, meow sound. But it's the pitch. He does it in the highest, squeaky sounding voice. He sounds almost cartoonish.

Originally Posted by Skippymjp

My Mischief has a normal meow as far as it being a drawn out, meow sound. But it's the pitch. He does it in the highest, squeaky sounding voice. He sounds almost cartoonish.

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That's my Squeak too. She can actually meow, but it is so high pitched, that it is Squeaky!

Master Shadow Ram is the talker of our 4. I think we've identified about 15 different "meow" that mean something different. He complains quite a bit also.

I'm not even sure what I'd call a "normal" meow...every cat I've ever heard has sounded different! Jack is a tabby and his vocalizations range from the more "traditional" meows, to that eerie human-sounding 'moaning' if he's upset or excited about something. Sophie-Ann, on the other hand, mostly chirps and trills...she only yells at dinnertime, and her voice is very high-pitched and adorable - very "girly."

Two of my close friends also have cats, and I honestly can't say I've heard a "normal" meow out of either of them, either. One has a tortie who, for an 15-lb bruiser, has an exceptionally soft, tiny voice (which she rarely uses). The other is a tabby who vocalizes more or less *constantly* in a surprisingly deep voice.

Note - I just made a new thread in the Pics/Videos section (here) with a short clip of Sophie-Ann singing for her supper! It 100% supports strange_wings' comment that they adapt their sounds to our "tastes," because I could listen to it on repeat all day. It takes all my self-control to not just give her absolutely anything she wants (such as too much food, lol) when she does that!

All 3 of mine make different noises

Hoshi has a strange "creepy kitty" meow.

Neko has a high pitched squeaky meow

Nero usually whines when he meows, long and drawn out.

Each one of the seven cats in my care has a different "meow" from Tex's "mooing" rerrr, rerrrrr to Ghost's squeaky rick-ick. I would say of all my boys - Prowler is the closest to having the classic meeoow. But then he is also a whiny mama's boy and knows how to ramp that up to a dentists' drill whine to get what he wants.

I have had two black cats. Midnight, one of my RB kitties, usually had a "silent meow" or a very soft, high pitched squeaky meow. When something was stressing her, like going to the vet, she had a perfectly normal meow.

My current black cat, Sweetie, usually has a whinny meow that sounds like "mmmmmmmmmm!" When he wants to, he meows nomally.

Snowball, who is also an RB cat, was a colorpoint. He was talkative and had the largest range of sounds than any of the other cats we've had so far.

A couple of my other RB cats were a red tabby and a tortie, both meowed normally.

I have to agree that the sounds a cat makes vary depending on the cat, and have nothing to do with color.

Thanks, everyone, for your replys. All four of our cats are very talkative, and I can instantly tell (like the rest of you), who is doing the talking, but in our house, the black cats seem to be speaking a completely different language than the other cats!! I have never heard them do anything vaguely like a meow, even under stress (like being in their cat carriers on the way to the vet). But I see that it doesn't appear to be anything color related...just a coincidence!!

I particularly love Darko's piggy squeal, it goes along with his piggy body. It's just a perfect match (although I do wish he weren't quite so fat)

I had both black and black smoke Cornish Rex cats/kittens and they all meowed normally. Not sure what's going on with yours.

The only ones I know that meow different are deaf cats because they cannot hear - they tend to meow a lot louder then normal.

I don't have any black cats (love 'em, though), but I got to jump in anyway. Turtle "talks" all the time. She will respond to me when I talk to her, or come up and start the conversation herself. It's so cute, I've recorded it on my answering machine...Bella does that silent meow only when she wants something--and it always works.

How very strange! I was thinking the other day how odd Sootys meow is. He has two. His very very loud wailing meow that means he`s having a senior moment, usually in another room.

Then there is his, 'get up and feed me woman' meow that is kinda manly and husky.

Also, he doesn`t purr normally, he just kinda heavy breaths like a dirty old man

My cat Ottis he is a pure black cat he meows every once in a while but when he does it sounds like a little roar of a black panther cub and he is a full grown black cat and my other black cat MoMo well she cant stop talking when someone is in the room she sounds like  normal cat so there are some black cats with normal meows but it is cute any way they meow 

My black cat is just an old farm cat. She has a raspy meow.

Dusty's Mom said:

Quote:

Originally Posted by mrsgreenjeens Does anyone have a black cat that actually has a normal meow? Neither of mine do...one actually squeals (yes, like a pig, it's so cute!), and the other kind of whines like a puppy. And our friends who've had black cutes had the same issues. Plus, I know someone on this site has a black cat named Squeak because of it's meow. What's the deal with these cats?

That would be me! And that is a very good question! I don't know about your black cats, but I was watching Animal Planet/Cats 101. They profiled British Bombay, and I swear my Squeak is just like those cats! Are your black cats very dense/heavy for their size? Do they seek out heat sources like sun spots or your legs or lap? Do they play fetch? Do they have small feet and a long tail? Are they very muscular and can jump very high? I think all black short-hairs have very similar characteristics that resemble the British Bombay.

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Also describes our "Harley"-- jet black shorthair, very raspy meow, very dense (18-20 lbs) in his prime, but still appeared sleek.. Not the least bit fat. Quite muscular and a great leaper also. Now at 13 years, he's  dumped about 6 lbs-- just kind of naturally.  And he can't make those awesome jumps anymore. But its too bad they're harder to adopt out-- they are very striking creatures. We went to the shelter 12 yrs ago with the specific intent to adopt a black shorthair. So glad Harley "picked" us. He's been a very loving cat and certainly unique in his personality. I defiinitely say don't rule out a black cat w/ your next adoption-- no bad luck here!      

Poe (black cat) has what I would consider a normal meow.  He is very judicious with his meows and uses them only when it will bring him maximum results.    I think too that Gabriel (brown/cream colored cat) meows so much for so many different things that Poe is just so happy to have some silence he chooses not meow unless it's absolutely necessary. LOL!