cat with raspy voice?

I adopted a stray kitten 8 months ago; she's probably about a year old now. She's had a check-up, been de-wormed, spayed, etc., and seems like a healthy and happy cat. The only (potential) problem is, she's always had a very raspy voice, as if something is caught in her throat.

The vet said some cats just never learn how to speak, but I'm wondering if there could be other explanations and/or solutions. (Interestingly, when I put her in the carrier to go to the vet, she belted out a few loud meows while in the carrier -- guess she was mad/scared -- but the rest of the time, her voice is always raspy.) Thanks for all feedback.

Personally I think it's normal for cats to have different voices like humans. I have one "talker" who makes every noise, LOUD and clear, a squeaky meowed kitty, and two high pitched whiners!
I think it is possible if kitty was sick a lot when younger for it to affect its voice, so that may be a possible reason, since you don't know the very early background, however I still wouldn't worry about it if kitty is healthy now.

Originally Posted by zak&rocky

Personally I think it's normal for cats to have different voices like humans. I have one "talker" who makes every noise, LOUD and clear, a squeaky meowed kitty, and two high pitched whiners!

I think it is possible if kitty was sick a lot when younger for it to effect its voice, so that may have be a possible reason, since you don't know the very early background, however I still wouldn't worry about it if kitty is health now.

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I agree. My dear Snowy who passed almost a year ago (at about age 19) had what my dad called a "whiskey baritone". My Danny has a whole slew of meows depending on what he wants: really loud, clear meow (play now!) rasping, almost voiceless meow, very faint (I'm starving to death) and, of course the whine (this follows the above when they fail to get a result).
Catfriend

Thanks for the replies. Sounds like it might just be a normal situation with her raspy voice.

One thing I failed to mention above that might be relevant is that she seems to have bad cat breath. Could that be an indication of something caught in her throat, etc., that might also be affecting her voice? I had her for almost 8 months and she was always happy, ate a lot, etc.; never gave any indication she was uncomfortable. Thanks ...

It's probably her normal voice.
We had a cat when I was in my teens, her meow was a whisper..you could barely hear it!

my kitty has a raspy voice (at times she sounds like a bobcat) when she purrs, its REALLY loud and sounds like a mustang idling (the car, not the animal ) she also has really bad breath and snores. the vet said her allergies caused a lot of it (meds caused her more harm than good)
i dont know if your cat has any of those other issues, but i thought id throw it out there....