Conference misery::feline_v1

    Hi Karen,
    
    I don't know what T.K. and Bandit are saying, but Trouble talks
    to me also.  If I don't go to bed when I get home in the morning,
    she also scolds me.  It's kinda cute - Trouble standing on the landing
    and me downstairs "Mom, comeon it's bedtime".  "I'm coming Trouble,
    can't I at least take off my coat first?"  She also does a little
    chirp/meow when she jumps up or down from something.  I think this
    is because of a problem she had in the past from declawing and it
    has become a habit.  
    
    My husband says we (Trouble and I) have conversations because I
    "talk" to her and she answers.  As a matter of fact I may have figured
    out how to say "come to me" in cat language.  If I meow in a certain
    tone she will answer and come from where she is (most of the time
    anyhow).  
    
    Bernice
    Mother of Trouble

    Maggie the Maternal has a lot to say to me,
    
      on losing my temper: "Well! that wasn't very ladylike was it now?"
      on cooking: "You're going to add _that_?"
    		  "Yes, I think tonight you've done well"
      on Feline K/D: "You know, of course, that this is stone cold poison"
      on personal hygiene: "Your hair is so much _nicer_ when it's clean"
      on Milo: "Are you _sure_ we can't just bury him in the snow?"
    
    Milo the Macho Marshmallow isn't as vocal at present -- his voice
    is changing and it embarrasses him -- preferring to rely on some
    of the most blatant body language I've seen.
    
      hopping into the tub and chirpling means "It's time for your bath
    	now, Mother" [he likes the vibrations of the motor]
      dropping the champagne cork into my lap and looking pitiful means
    	"Feed me" [even though his dish is full of fresh food]
      Sitting at the top of the stairs just outside the bedroom door
    	means "I need quality time with my Mommy downstairs"  [He just
    	l-o-v-e-s my husband, but sometimes the boy needs some Mother-only
    	time]
    
    From time to time one or the other of them jumps up on the arm of
    the couch or love seat, sits up straight and proud, and proceeds
    to hold forth at length on a topic of [apparently] great moment.
    I've related to you all already the History of Pizza [Milo] and
    The Importance of Not Moving the Walls in a Cat's House [Maggie].
    But for the most part I don't know what these long speeches are
    about so I just have to listen appreciatively for several minutes.
    
      Annie

    Mine, not so verbally, told me to 'clean the litter box' last night.
    I wasn't feeling well the night before and forgot to empty it out.
    Well, Charlie holds it --- Shanti, who is 'mommy's little girl'
    decided that I wasn't doing my job. I came home and there was a
    pile on my couch! How did I know it was hers? Because the little
    bugger eats any strings she can find and low and behold, guess what
    was holding the pile together??? Strings! She immediately ran upstairs
    and hid. I changed the litter, went upstairs, picked her up when
    she immediately started saying "Mommy! I'm sorry! I didn't mean
    it!" and I put her in the litter box. She stood there and cried
    and cried! I went over and told her to come out, and she did short
    little meows, like she was talking under her breath saying "you
    little #%#@#$!! How DARE you put me in there NOW that it's clean!"
    
    About 1/2 hour later she came in the living room, rolled over on
    her back and kept yelling at me saying "Mom! pet me! I'm sorry!
    Don't I look cute? Pet my belly! TALK TO ME!!!" Which I did of course.
    (I can't resist a begging kitty!)
    
    YEs, Shanti talks alot, but last night, her ACTIONS were alot louder
    than her normal words!!
    
    CHeryl, SHanti and Charlie

    Corkie used to be a very quiet Kitty.  Nothing brings out the voice
    in a cat better that a rambunctious visiting canine!  Rocky will
    take a toy to Corkie and drop it at her feet and scrunch down and
    woof at her and say "play with me?"  Corkie embarks on a dialogue
    obviously telling him that he's out of his little doggie mind, and
    heaven knows what else she's telling him.  After she thoroughly
    reads him the riot act she walks away muttering to herself.  It's
    funny.  Sometimes she plops herself in my lap and starts yapping
    in my face about what a tough life she has.  I usually just laugh
    (I'm such a mean mom.)
    

    Being Mommy to a Siamese usually lets you in for a real
    vocal treat. It starts when I get home at night, open the
    cellar door, and ask "Any kitties coming upstairs?"  Then I hear
    thump (as Niniane jumps down from her sleeping perch), chirp,
    chirp,chirp,chirp,chirp all the way over to the stairs, meow,
    meow at the bottom of the stairs (encouragement is necessary
    at this point in the form of "Come on, Ninny") and chirp,chirp
    chirp all the way up the stairs.  Then there's the "Feed Me"
    meow, the "Feed me again because I hate what you gave me" meow,
    the not-to-be missed "Mommy is starving me cause she won't give
    me half of her dinner" series, and the immortal classic, "I'm
    a good kitty Mommy and I don't know *who* knocked that (item)
    over."
    
    She also chirps in various keys.  She has a disgusted chirp if
    you won't play with her, a happy chirp if she's coming to see
    you and a wounded chirp if you've smacked her for something.
    She will chirp every time a paw hits the ground, which, if
    she heading downstairs disgusted with you, gives you the distinct
    impression she's swearing under her breath!!
    
    Life with a kitty can certainly be interesting ;-)
    
    Mary-Michael
    Ninny's Mom

    Billie chirps, too.  The morning routine is to climb up on Mom's
    side of the bed (if we haven't slept there all night anyway) and
    purr VERY loudly til Mom wakes up.  Then when Mom's awake and starts
    patting her, Billie chirps "WELL!  It's about time you opened your
    eyes!!  How about we forget that old half-empty can of cold food
    in the fridge and open a NEW one??"
    
    In the evening after we've been home for awhile, she will come
    sauntering in, tail in a question-mark, chirp again, and do the
    "long-low-stretch-and-fall-down" routine that cats do so well.
    Then she rolls over on her back, keeping her eyes right on mine,
    while she wriggles around with her paws tucked up and chirps "Aren't
    I just the cutest thing you've ever seen??"
    
    Then when I go downstairs to do the laundry, she leads the way--and
    then stands there at the cellar door, demanding I let her in first.
    The sound for this is a interogatory "Meowr?"  If I don't open the
    door RIGHT away, it changes to a "WOWRR!"  ("Open up--NOW!")
    
    She's a piece of work, alright...
    
    Jane

    Re: .3
    
    Be careful of this business with the strings.  They can cause twisting
    of the intestines, etc. with various horrible consequences.  Elastics
    are baddies also.

    I know. I've told her that, but she doesn't listen too well! I think
    she searches the house for ANYTHING! (She's worse than a baby --
    I think she eats it even if it tastes bad!)
    
    I try yelling and it works when I'm home, but who KNOWS what and
    where she finds lying around! (I think she's starting to shred the
    curtains JUST so she can eat the strings!)
    
    

    
    
    	Re: chirping...
    
    	Cats certainly can make the funniest noises.  When Bandit
    	meows he forgets to stop purring.  The purr combined with
    	the meowrrrrr is real cute.  But when he is lost (like I
    	mentioned in the base note) his cry approaches hysterical
    	proportions.
    
    	Karen
    

    My kitty "Niki" is like an alarm clock or an infant needing nightly
    feeding.  Every morning, between 3:00 and 4:00 a.m. she picks at the
    carpet, so that one of us (usually my husband) will get up and feed her.  
                            
    When Niki gets sick, and vomits in the house....and when I come home
    from work, she purrs like a little motor, continuously rubbing her
    head and body against my head and neck, as I hold her.....giving
    me tons of hugs....saying, "I'm so glad your home to take care of me."
                   
    Barbara
    

    
    
    	I have a book at home detailing all the types of meows and chirps
    and what they (usually) mean. If I can remember, I'll look for it
    and enter the title and author for you. 
    
    	Cricket used to do the `chirp when jumping down from things',
    I always thought it was from the force of landing kindof knocking
    the wind out of her....Rosie hardly ever makes a sound, only when
    she's feeling *very* neglected, which, of course, doesn't happen
    very often (if she can help it!). 
    

    Somewhere in the back of my brain is the remembrance of reading
    somewhere (maybe here) that cats make only a very few distinct 
    types of sounds and then combine them to 'speak'...
    
    Ah, I think it was a PBS special about cats. I'll watch it tonite
    and see...
    
    Edd

    Edd,
    
    I remember the same thing, but I don't remember where.  I have the
    cats special taped, too.  I think I'll go home and watch it, too!
    
    My two boys have exactly opposite vocal habits.  Chauncey will only
    give me the tiniest little 'ehhh' sound when he's waiting for his
    dinner.  Other than that, he's silent.  Honey, on the other hand,
    DRIVES ME NUTS with his screaming.  Somewhere in his Himalayan heritage
    is a very strong Siamese-vocal gene that just won't quit.  He can
    say two 'words'...MaMa and NO!.  I'm serious...if he really wants
    my attention, he sits and yeowls MaMa MaMa MaMa until I pick him
    up or do whatever he wants.  If I'm trying to clip his nails or
    do something else he doesn't want, he screams NO!

    Mary

    Argus has one very favorite phrase in his vocabulary:
    
    			FEED ME!!!!
    
    
    I'm considering changing his name to Audrey II.
    
    Deb

                Our Cinamon is also rather vocal. It is obvious when she
        is vying for attention or most other things (quite a vocabulary,
        actually - typical for a Siamese). The suprising one is the one
        she uses when we tell her to STOP whatever she is doing. If she
        is feeling particularly obstinate at the moment, she will answer
        "No I won't!" in sounds that you would swear were the english
        words! They definitely have exactely the right number of
        syllabyls and emphasis.
                
                /s/     Bob

    Tabbatha and Silver give me a vocal chorus whenever it is feeding
    time, whenever ANYONE is in the kitchen and they think it is feeding
    time, or whenever I go into a room and (HEAVEN FORBID!)  SHUT THE
    DOOR!!!!  
    
    RE: .11
    Tabby makes the same kind of chirping sound whenever she jumps down
    from something or when she jumps up onto something.  And I thought
    that My Tabby was the only one who did that. :-)
    
    Holly (the person)
    (Sorry Karen, couldn't resist)

    Serena is one of the quietest cats I've ever known.  She only meows
    when she is outside and wants to come in, and then she meows only
    once or twice.  How does she tell me she wants to go out?  She sits
    and stares at me until I see her and then she walks quietly to the
    door.
    
    Sherlock, while not a vocal cat, does talk to us.  His latest saying
    is "Mom, I'm lonely.  Come play with me.".  He also tells me when
    he wants his dinner, when his litter box is dirty, and when he can't
    find his toys.  He does most of his "talking" with facial expressions.
    His funniest is his pout; he actually sticks out his lower jaw and
    wrinkles it up.  It's hard not to laugh at him.
    
    Ande, Serena, Sherlock, and Sky (the Sheltie)
    

    Mandy is quite the vocal cat.  It has taken us a while to get to
    know all the meanings of her different sounds.
    
    If she sees a bird or bug outside of the window she chirps at it.
    
    Sitting by the tub, she'll let out a big MEOW, which means please
    turn on the faucet so I can get a drink.  If you don't understand
    her the first time the meow gets louder.
    
    If you're in the room with her and you leave without her seeing
    you she starts crying "Where are you - are you still home or can
    I reck the house now?"  If I meow back, she comes a running. (sort
    of like your kitties lost meow Karen).
    
    Of course every cat has a feed me now meow.
    
    Then there is the very loud purr that she uses in the morning -
    My SO calls her the kawasaki engine.  She will purr, until you
    open your eyes and then she'll start her "It's about time you woke
    up...I didn't wake you now did I" meow.
    
                                            
    If we want her to come snuggle, we pretend to cry and she'll come
    running over, jump on our lap and give us this little "meow?" -
    "are you okay - you don't have to cry anymore I'm here!".
    
    

Sam and Nick are silent almost always - excepting "going to vet" protests.
Hannah, however, is very vocal and has a full range of sounds.  Her
most common one is a call with a "questioning" tone that she answers
me with when I call her.  She also seems to use it to call me to "come
see what I've done" when she finds a new perch on something or manages
to get onto the window sill behind the sheer curtain in the living
room....she seems to want to play "tickle the cat behind the curtain"
when she's there as she calls me and pokes out at me with a paw.
If I tickle, she gives what I call her "giggle" and plays with great
gusto.

she also has a call that blends a purr and a meow that she uses when
she is feeling especially smart or cute and rolls over on her back
and wiggles around.

I know she communicates with me - I'm just taking a long time to learn
the language...much to her frustration....oh, yes, she has a sound
for that too!