no meow?

[bccatnut]

This really isn't a problem but I haven't heard my cat,Truffles Jade, who is a calico medium hair, meow that i adopted 2 days ago from a shelter.  I visited her twice and she never meowed there in her cage or even when I brought her home in the car.  She seems to purr almost all the time,which i guess is a good sign,right? I hope once she is looking around and feeling comfortable at home,maybe she will meow then? She hasn't meowed when checking out a new room or even when food is brought to her,she is eating well and comes right up to me for a pet,she jumps up to touch my hand if I don't pet her right away. She seems to be adjusting well and happy,even abit playful esp. when i give her catnip.

Thank you for any insight.  I am happy with her,just curious to why she may not meow, i was searching for a talkative cat but will try talking to her and maybe she will talk back eventually.

Tammy

 

[glenman12]

I think she just has to get comfortable with her new surroundings...I adopted a 6 month male from a rescue shelter..it was almost an hour ride home with him in the carrier..nary a peep...same thing for the next two weeks..once he got used to his new surroundings he became extremely vocal to the point I called him "Chatty Catty"..he would always walk around meowing..

My older male is just the opposite..rarely makes an audible sound unless he is extremely hungry but its very faint when he does...now put him in the car carrier to go to the vet and I can hear him loud and clear...give it time..

 

[tobytyler]

Awww, I once had a cat named Truffles many many years ago, hopefully I'll see him again.  I've had a few kitties who just never meowed.  They had other vocalizations but no meow.  Sometimes my Cricket will mouth a meow, but make no noise.  He'll do this when he's talking to me, and I'll say 'Cricket, where's your meow?'  Clancy has never meowed, he's still a kitten, but he makes loud chirping noises. 

Truffles might just be shy for now and later become a big talker!

 

[eb24]

 She seems to purr almost all the time,which i guess is a good sign,right? 

You are right that cats do purr when they are comfortable and content, but they also purr when they are stressed to calm themselves down. Obviously given all the changes it would be normal for her to be stressed, and your probably getting a mixture of stress purrs and happy purrs. 

Some cats just don't meow much, if ever. My brother's cat has the saddest little meow I have ever heard- it's almost like a whisper! She's just not a talker, and that's okay. I'm guessing you girl may not be a talker either, or, she's just waiting until she's more settled to really voice her opinions!

Either way it's not something to be concerned about. Just another little cat quirk! 

 

[otto]

She probably just doesn't have anything to say yet. Two days is a very short time, it sounds like it is going very well! Some cats prefer to communicate with other sounds, prrts, and brrups, and trills and who knows what.

Congratulations on your new family member and welcome to TCS.

 

[rad65]

My first cat didn't meow for about a month after I got him. He only started when I got a kitten to keep him company. Cats don't meow to communicate with each other. They only meow at humans, so it's not an indicator of anything bad if yours hasn't meowed at you yet. She spent time in a shelter with other cats and not much human interaction, so she hasn't had to work out her vocal chords yet. You can try talking to her more if you would like to elicit a response. I find that my cats are more likely to meow when I am directly talking to them. They like to hold up their end of the conversation 

 

[bccatnut]

thank you for all the replies,I will give her time to adjust and I''m sure once she is used to her new home,she will talk to me.  I am adjusting as well as I haven't had a cat for 14 years due to finances.  She is going for a checkup at the vets next Sat,she had one before we adopted her,so I need to write down some questions to ask the vet.

 

[gibbly]

some cats never meow, meowing is not a natural sound for cats to make, it was adapted to get our attention.

I've had cats who for years I never knew what they sounded like, I had a tomcat for example, who I had hand reared, for years I never knew what he sounded like, because he did NOT meow, then one day 3 years later he must have had something really important to say because he jumped up on my lap and meowed at me, I burst out bawling, which ofcourse scared him half to death, because I was so happy to hear what he sounded like, it was like your child saying it's first word 

, ofcourse he never made a peep after that

but it still made me happy
 

 

[bccatnut]

glad your cat finally spoke to you,Gibbly.  This forum looks good for important information so i plan to stick around and will post about my Truffles when I have some extra time.

 

[otto]

My first cat didn't meow for about a month after I got him. He only started when I got a kitten to keep him company. Cats don't meow to communicate with each other. They only meow at humans, so it's not an indicator of anything bad if yours hasn't meowed at you yet. She spent time in a shelter with other cats and not much human interaction, so she hasn't had to work out her vocal chords yet. You can try talking to her more if you would like to elicit a response. I find that my cats are more likely to meow when I am directly talking to them. They like to hold up their end of the conversation :lol3:

Good point about talking to her! I talk to my cats constantly, and they as a result are very vocal.

Contrary to that "fact" that I see all the time that cats don't meow to one another, I guess my cats never heard of that because they talk to one another vocally as often as they talk to me, using meows, prrts, brrrupts, and so on (along with some other not so polite language, when it's Jennie doing the talking, LOL)

 

[raintyger]

You should continue to meow to her, or at least talk to her. Can't don't meow to other cats, they only meow because they recognize talking is a means of communication for people. Maybe by meowing or talking to her, she'll catch on. I took care of a feral once, it took months for her to meow, and it started off really raspy and faint. I wonder where your kitty grew up? Has it been exposed to people much?