Probably Silly Question about my new kittens

darcifinn

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I have two new kittens they are 10 weeks old and I got them at 8 weeks. They have yet to meow once either of them. Darci makes a noise when Finn plays to rough but when I make Finn stop Darci just chases after him to play some more. They both purr very loudly and are cuddly at night and in the morning. Is it possible they will never talk? I suppose I should be thankful they are so quiet but it is so different from cats I had growing up.

Second is they have no interest in catnip, that is odd to me too. They can smell their food when I open it so I know their olfactory sense is working.

Finally I got them a Littermaid and they have been scratching on it from day one. They really hate it after they use it they spend a good 3 or 4 minutes scratching on the edges - like they are trying to bury from the plastic. I put the Littermaid away and went back to the plastic bin and they like that. Is that odd behavior?

Either way I love my new kittens they are sweeties - just wondering is all.
 

kluchetta

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Well, I've only had one litter, but I was wondering...

Are there any meowing cats in the household? Maybe they just haven't heard it yet. Also, they aren't blue-eyed whites, are they? In that case there's a chance of deafness. I think they just haven't heard a meow to emulate.

The "taste" for catnip is an inheritable trait, like rolling your tongue. So some cats don't react.

I don't know what a littermaid is, sorry!
Aren't kittens sweet?
 

clixpix

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I've had kittens like that. I just adopted out 2 that never once meowed the entire 3 months I had them, I think some are just quieter. One of them never purred...I'm not sure if there are some that just can't/won't.

The littermaid is the motorized self-cleaning one, isn't it? If it is, it's possible that it scared them a bit. Maybe you can try it again when they're older, and perhaps they won't mind it so much.

I think the catnip question has been answered...some like it, some don't. My older feral boy looooves it, as does one of the four babies I'm fostering. The rest are like..."eh...so what?"

Congratulations on your new babies!
I bet you're having a blast!
 
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darcifinn

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Thanks for the input, no these little ones are definitely not deaf. I give them treats and I shake the bottle and they come running from wherever they are. They were around other cats until the 8 weeks as I got them from a rescue society, maybe just aren't talkers. I work from home so they are pretty pampered so maybe they have nothing to ask for. I suspect if I am going to hear them cry it will be when they have to leave with the rescue lady to spayed and neutered. I know it is necessary but I feel a little guilty sending them off to be so scared.
 

bigkittendaddy

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First off when you are worring about your kittens, "There are no silly questions."

Write that on a post-it and put it on the monitor...lol

Some cats just arent talkers and my guys dig at the boc like they want to go to Australia. I don't think you have to worry about this too much. The catnip thing will probably happen when they get older but not all cats go gaga over catnip.

I hope this helps.
 

pamela

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Originally Posted by DarciFinn

I have two new kittens they are 10 weeks old and I got them at 8 weeks. They have yet to meow once either of them. Darci makes a noise when Finn plays to rough but when I make Finn stop Darci just chases after him to play some more. They both purr very loudly and are cuddly at night and in the morning. Is it possible they will never talk? I suppose I should be thankful they are so quiet but it is so different from cats I had growing up.

Second is they have no interest in catnip, that is odd to me too. They can smell their food when I open it so I know their olfactory sense is working.

Finally I got them a Littermaid and they have been scratching on it from day one. They really hate it after they use it they spend a good 3 or 4 minutes scratching on the edges - like they are trying to bury from the plastic. I put the Littermaid away and went back to the plastic bin and they like that. Is that odd behavior?

Either way I love my new kittens they are sweeties - just wondering is all.
Welcome to TCS and congratulations on your kittens! Another resident of Maryland- Yay!


Some of your questions have been answered already so I won't go into it too much.
Meowing is mostly used for cats to communicate with people or when the mom cat is raising kittens. I found an article about "meowing" that has more information about this. Here it is! http://www.thecatsite.com/Cats/Cat_B...at_Sounds.html


Also here's a thread about catnip that might help you understand more. http://www.thecatsite.com/forums/sho...ghlight=catnip

About litterboxes- cats preferences to litterboxes/littermaids varies. I would recommend you keep the plastic bin for now since that seems to be what they prefer then maybe in 6 months or so, add the littermaid (keep the litterbox) so they can use both if they want then see if they'd switch to littermaid... Just an idea.

Hope these helps! Would LOVE to see pics of your kittens.. (hint hint)
 

big-cat-fan

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My LILO is a shy girl. Very serious though. And I NEVER heard her meow until after she just had her kittens. I waited over a year to hear my baby girls' meow.But oh how sweet it is!!


Even my 5 year old Laynee said "Mommy, LILO meowed"!!! LOL


We were very surprised. She did meow the whole way to the vet this morning though.. she must have know she was going to get spayed.


Now Garfield is a different story. We bought him from a deadbeat store here in town and he ended up being very sick with Coccidia and we were also told that he was only about 6 weeks old (which they have to be 8 weeks old to be sold) so he was taken from his mommy too soon.

Well he meows for anything. I think he meows just to hear himself sometimes.
But I don't mind. And he is getting better with time.
 

flisssweetpea

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Felicity almost never meows - she's three years old. She never has done. She grumbles sometimes, but I don't think she knows how to meow!

Lily is the only one of mine that shows any interest in catnip and that is only a recent thing, after she reached maturity.
 

coaster

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Originally Posted by Pamela

Meowing is mostly used for cats to communicate with people
Yes!! So, talk to your cats!! Eventually they will start talking back!!
 

cyberkitten

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Your kitties are still babies and they are usually 6 months at least by the time catnip does anything for them. Even then, some cats are not thrilled by it. As for your non meower - some kitties communicate in other ways. It might be good when she has her next vet checkup to see if she does have any med probs but some cats do communicate with other sounds. And of course all cats communicate in so many ways - their tails, their whiskers, headbutts and making biscuits aka kneading. She will find a way to talk to you!
 
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darcifinn

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Thank you so much for all the input. They definitely communicate I think my concern about meowing was if they got caught in a room or tried to crawl in somethng they were too big for could they let me know.

Pamela, you don't know what you are asking for when you ask me for pics. I addition to being in fedral sales I am school getting my MFA concentration - photography. My kittens have tons of pics already - although thye don't always want to sit still for htm. I will post some this evening.
 

pamela

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Originally Posted by DarciFinn

Pamela, you don't know what you are asking for when you ask me for pics. I addition to being in fedral sales I am school getting my MFA concentration - photography. My kittens have tons of pics already - although thye don't always want to sit still for htm. I will post some this evening.
HAHAHA!!!!!!!!!! Can't wait to see the pics then! Beware- we here at TCS always want to see more, more and more pics of our furbabies! So bring it on!
 

random

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Can we trade? My cats won't stop meowing.


They're ultra-cute by the way.

The scratching of the plastic is pretty normal. Nearly every cat I've ever taken care of has scratched at the litterbox walls. Dunno why, but they just do. I always use large litterboxes too. My Alfie scratches at the floor outside of the litterbox instead. I think he's a bit confused.
 
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