kitten makes weird "sheepish" sound

hi, guys! so glad i found you all!

well not only am i a newbie around here, but i'm a newbie to cats. my whole family is allergic and we've never been able to even be around cats much less have one. long story short - i found a stray kitten (vet estimated him to be about 8 weeks old when i found him). he's something like 6 months old now and still at our house. we all love him so much! both my parents are taking clariten (miracle drug) til i can move out and take my baby with me.

anyway, my little guy (i named him philo) loves to play with this laser keychain my dad bought for him. you know how how they do - chase after it and stuff. well, the cat's not stupid and has figured out that we control the light. so he'll look at us after we've stopped the light and want to play more. when he wants to play more (or at least that what we think he wants) he does this w e i r d meow. i absolutely can NOT describe it, so i took a video of it on my digital camera! we couldn't get him to do it to the fullest extent we've seen in the past, but we got pretty good. i swear sometimes it sounds like a sheep!

you can DL the video here: http://www.herpinfosource.cjb.net/meow.zip (you'll have to unzip it first - it's an AVI so you can play it in winamp or media player). the volume's kinda low so you may have to turn it up to actually hear what it sounds like. sorry.

what in the world kind of meow is that!? i've never heard anything like it! is this normal? should we not play with the laser with him? does it bother them psychologically since they can't physically catch it and don't understand light?

any info is appreciated thanks so much!

cynthia

Aww!! How sweet! Yep,it's normal!! He's just telling you that he wants to play again!! How wonderful that you took this little guy in! My three girls love playing with their laser...and they also ask to "keep playing"! Welcome to TCS,by the way.

LOL, too cute! My Ginger says, "mmrrrrrrrrrr-MEH?" when she wants to play chase the red dot!

so this is . . . normal!? lol! it sounds like he's gonna take off like a plane or something! that is so odd.

well, i guess that means he likes it! thanks so much, guys!

by the way, GingersMom - my 16 year old dachshund is named ginger!

cynthia

That's the sound mine make when they're stalking birds through the window.

he does love to watch the birds outside, but i don't think i've heard him do that sound when he's in the window.

we have a finch thistle sack, one of those tube seed feeders and a hummingbird nectar feeder all outside the family room windows and he'll just sit there all day. lol. and i'm glad to see that his being there doesn't scare away the birds. they just come right up and eat! they know my baby is harmless (at least through the glass ).

cynthia

Welcome to TCS and the wonderful experience of being owned by a cat!

Many cats do this when they are in "hunting" mode. Mine do this most often when watching birds out the windows, but will also make the noise when hunting bugs or even bubbles.

Here's a video that's been posted online that will show you another example of a cat making these sounds:

http://tinyurl.com/kvmru

Aww, how darling is that?! What a cute little noise!

(And CurlyQ, that video had me doubling over in laughter!!)

I can't watch teh video because I'm at work but I know what sound you are talking about. My first cat used to make it at the birds so I always called it their birding noise. Its like they have pent up energy and need to make a sound but don't want to scare their pray away so they keep it quiet. Autumn does this with things that are outside, Hope does it with anything she is stalking (toys), and Meeka dosen't do it. Clover did it only with birds.

that video *is* funny! lol! well, i'm glad my cat isn't crazy (or at least isn't crazIER than most ).

cynthia

lol of all the years i have owned my cat i have never heard a miaow like that ever!, but it is pretty funny my cat makes another funny miaow ah-waaah!

Our Izzy does exactley the same when she is watching birds through the window. The funny thing is she could be a twin to your cat. She looks exactley the same also.

Thats chattering!! Exactly what all cats do when hunting through windows!

Its so cute!

Awwww thats what humphrey does when he see's birds out of the window!

I think its so sweet bless them

xxxxx

yeah the ole' gray and black mackarel tabby cat - a common kitty. i like how he does not have white on his paws or chest - just his throat.

hey i got a question for you guys. i read somewhere that when a cat 'kneads' you with it's paws that it is one of the most loving things they can do. like i guess it's the same type of thing they do to get their mothers to let them nurse and it's a very natural, comforting way to show affection. yeah, well philo has NEVER done this. does he not give a crap about me? lol. is this kneading=love thing not true? do i have to lay on the ground to get him to do this? what's it like? any of your kitties do it? just wondering.

cynthia