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tallyollyopia

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I've been having a long standing--two week--arguement with my RB (responsible brother) for about a week, and I've decided to post the arguement and see if I can't just get some feedback from people with no personal stake in it.

First, I have to go back in time. About two months ago last year my IB brought home a kitten. (Knowing what I know now, I think she was ten weeks when he brought her home.) We hypothesize that she got pregnant some time last October (I was still getting used to the idea of a cat in the house and, to be bluntly honest, extremely frustrated that no one had listened to me and gotten her fixed before her first heat) and she gave birth February 2. (I marked it on the calendar.) A few weeks after the kittens were born Momma cat got exceptionally frantic. She went to IB, who put down food. She went to AWM, who opened the door. She went to me (there was no point in going to RB, since he was in denial that there WERE kittens), and I followed her. Our house has a crawl space that lifts it up off the ground so that, in summer, air can circulate under it and cool the house. We had an unusually cold winter, so we put the cat and kittens in a doggy bed (just because the cat beds looked far too small for all six of them) to keep them off the cold floor and I put a heating pad under it for early morning when it got REALLY cold. 

The reason Momma cat was freaking out was because two of the kittens had fallen off the bed, and gotten trapped between the bed and the wall. (They were slightly colder than normal, but between Momma cat and me we got them warmed up in good time.) They were fine; they were rescued from their predicament before they could get chilled or sick.

Fast forward to now: one of the kittens, Spit (and yes, he was one of the two kittens that fell and got trapped outside of the bed), talks. He mutters to himself when he's in someone's lap, he cries if there's a human around who isn't paying attention to him, he cries at the door when he wants out (but still won't leave unless a human's with him), mutters before he eats (it almost looks like he's praying over his food), and is the single NOISIEST cat in the bunch. I don't think there's anything wrong with that; there are noisy humans, dogs, and birds (compared to the rest of their flock), why NOT noisy cats?

Here's the arguement: RB says that Spot suffered brain damage from the incident where he got trapped behind the wall. I say this is, pardon my language, BS. Asia (the other kitten that got trapped) is just as quiet as the other cats, and is clearly not brain damaged in any way since she can clearly hunt (birds with success, and she's learning how to get the squirrels). I think the fact that Spot is noisy is simply because it's his personality (and honestly, he gets on my nerves less than the lovebirds).

There's the situation, background, and arguement. Please weigh in.
 

Columbine

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I'm not thinking brain damage, but is there any possibility that Spot is deaf? Deaf cats are sometimes much noisier than cats who can hear normally. Just a thought.

He sounds very cute though :heart3:
 
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tallyollyopia

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He's not deaf. He reacts to sound the same as his siblings, and he's terrified of loud noises, which is making the fireworks interesting! And yes,he is cute. [emoji]9786[/emoji]
 

BonitaBaby

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It is possible that the event of being trapped and cold made him "needy" and vocal, but that could just be his personality. Different people (and animals) react very differently to the same situation so his sister could have been unfazed by the incident while it is possible it could have left a lasting impression on Spit...we can't know for sure, but I don't think he's brain-damaged. One of my sister's cats is very vocal and sometimes has conversations with himself and cries/yowls loudly late at night in the dark. He's also really anxious and stressed easily. Spit sounds really cute to me. I love talky cats.
 
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nora1

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I think it's just his personality, especially if his sister seems fine! Some cats are very vocal and needy, and some are not :p
 

Kat0121

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I think it's just his personality, especially if his sister seems fine! Some cats are very vocal and needy, and some are not :p
I have a pair of Persian sisters. Lilith is VERY vocal. She trills,chirps, meows, sings and talks. She often sounds like a toddler girl talking. I will hear Hello? Mommy? Mama?

Sophie is her sister. She hardly makes noise at all and when she does, it's ACK! She does this when she wakes me up in the morning for breakfast or if she wants me to pet her. I agree. I think it's just his personality too. He sounds adorable.
 

losna

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I'll chime in as well with some cats are just talky. My Sinbad is that way, he talks so much that I've learned a bit of his 'language.' He makes different sounds to vocalize different things. 'I'm hungry' sounds different than 'my litterbox is dirty' is different than 'scritch me.' I'd be curious to know if you can do that for Spot, too. 
 
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tallyollyopia

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I'll chime in as well with some cats are just talky. My Sinbad is that way, he talks so much that I've learned a bit of his 'language.' He makes different sounds to vocalize different things. 'I'm hungry' sounds different than 'my litterbox is dirty' is different than 'scritch me.' I'd be curious to know if you can do that for Spot, too. 
I'll have to see if he is. You may think this is horrible of me, but it never occurred to me that he was actually talking. I had a dog once that just barked at everything. No emotion, it was just that if he was awake and not eating he was barking. After a while I just sort of tuned it out, and I've been (sadly) doing the same thing to Spot. Oh, I'll pet him when he comes up to me, and I have no problem with him sleeping on my bed, and I know the difference between just "muttering" (which is what he usually sounds like) and crying, but other than that--it just didn't occur to me to listen, I guess. 
 

Columbine

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If you're used to noisy dogs, it's not surprising you didn't make the connection. It's amazing what long 'conversations' you can have with talkers though..Asha sits and tells me things all the time! *goes to look for a cat-english dictionary* :lol3:
 
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tallyollyopia

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If you're used to noisy dogs, it's not surprising you didn't make the connection. It's amazing what long 'conversations' you can have with talkers though..Asha sits and tells me things all the time! *goes to look for a cat-english dictionary*
You're right; now that I'm listening for it he's using different sounds for different things. The muttering he does before he eats is different from the sound he makes when he wants picked up which is different than when he wants down or cuddled, etc. I'm learning a new language, even if only two people use it! 
 
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