Learning to meow

Max and Alfie have just turned 6 months old and were both neutered last week. Before this, they rarely if ever meowed. They'd chirp and chatter, but I could count on one hand the number of times I heard a meow. Since they got back from the vet this has changed, they now meow when they want something, and meow when they can't reach something, and sometimes just meow for the heck of it. Is it possible that they learned this from other animals at the vet surgery? Or is it more to do with them maturing? Just curious!

I think it's due to maturing AND to being around people. Cats meow mostly to communicate with people and other animals. They communicate with other cats through scent and "body language."

You know i`ve heard that before , but have found that my cats must be wierd or something then.
Toby has always been a talker...Tedy did`nt say a word when he first moved in....then Toby taught him to talk...and they DO talk to each other....a LOT! I hear them all the time...even when they are in a room without people.
Linda

They now announce when they go to the toilet too!

Their littermates stayed with their mum and several other cats, and I've been told they've been talkative since the start. This is what makes me think that it's a learned behaviour in part, my two had no one to learn from until they went to the vet. Who knows, the mystery of our four legged friends!

Oz announces his bathroom breaks, too. Great, isn't it?

My parents' cat has never learned how to meow, and she's 17 years old! She simply "mews" delicately, like a little kitten, whenever she wants something; she hasn't ever needed to know how to meow, because her dainty little mews get her whatever she wants. Let's face it ... My parents know who's boss ... and it sure isn't them!

my little sister had a cat who didnt learn to meow till she was about a year old and now she meows when shes hungry and wants to go play outside

Clare, maybe Max and Alfie have been speaking to Willow and Tibby on the phone!

Tibby didn't meow when he first came to live with me, but then when Molly arrived, Tibby has been talkative ever since - Molly still has her tiny mew!

Things is, it's such a daft tiny little meow too! Makes me laugh everytime!

Max's latest thing is to stand on the dining room table and meow at the ceiling lampshade (but only if it's turned on). Maybe he's been watching werewolf movies and thinks it's the moon?

I think meowing means "I want something" (food, petting etc), so perhaps your kitties are just happy, my cats say "kurrrnauuu" a lot more. Otherwise, some people are talkative, some aren't. Maybe it's the same with cats.

colter doesnt meow much at all. he meows in the car,and at the vet, but at home he knows how to get my attention. we have 3 other cats, and they are all vocal, yet he is just quiet. the vet told me he should be fine, so i'm not too worried about him.

I had a simmilar experiance with My parents Dog Storm, She wouldn't bark as a puppy... she would stand at the door and wag her tail but not even a peep would come out of her. When she came back from getting fixed she had learned how to bark from the other dogs at the vet's office. She still dosn't bark much (12 years later) but you know it's important when she does.

Also some cats just don't meow. Our 'kitten' never "meowed", he kind of chirps. Weird sound, but the vet said he is most likely (at least) part Maine Coon due to his size and appearance. And everything I've read about the breed says they don't have the typical cat meow, they chirrup.
Our other cat Phoebe, never really meowed. She mews sometimes, but most of the time she will open her mouth and nothing comes out - the silent Meow.
REALLLLLLLLLLY cute.