Why does my cat meow?
I get this question a lot - my cat keeps meowing and I don’t know what they want!
Cats are fascinating because they break so many of the ‘rules’ that apply to many other animals. Add on top of that the fact that so many cats are completely individualistic and you can’t make blanket statements about cats very easily.
It is not uncommon for cats to meow, sometimes a lot. Some breeds are known for being more vocal (looking at you Siamese and Maine Coons!), and some cats don’t make any noises at all - I have a client’s cat that is silent, and I’m always sort of surprised when she doesn’t meow when I’m getting her food ready.
So what are the noisy ones saying?
There is no one right answer, but I’ve found a few patterns working with many cats. Here’s a few of the reasons I’ve noticed that cats will meow.
Food - obviously many are food motivated and will be very vocal when they decide they want to eat. One of my two cats will meow the entire time I’m preparing their food, just making sure I’m still working on it (and be quick about it!).
Play - I have seen cats meow and make a lot of noise when they get the zoomies, or manic mode as we call it in our house. They will often run into the room, meow a bunch, and then tear back out of the room again.
Announcing themselves - It seems that some cats like to announce themselves when they come into a room, or go somewhere else. I have noticed it happen sometimes when I’m not even in that room, I’ll hear them ‘yelling’ from across the house. If I call out to them to acknowledge their ‘talking’ they’ll often stop.
Where are you? - My cats are not allowed in the whole house, we have areas where they are kept out of, primarily the bedrooms (due to allergies) and the basement where there’s too many things they could get in trouble with. My cats will often get upset that I’m in the bedroom, or when we get ready for bed at night, and they will holler from the end of the hallway where the gate is. They are not a fan of not being able to be close to me (if you listen in some of my videos, you might hear them in the background!).
So my cat meows, and then I go to it, but I still don’t know what it wants me to do!
This is where trial and error happens. Sometimes when my cats are yelling at me when I’m in the bedroom, if I come out and pick them up they’re perfectly content to sit in my arms for a few minutes getting scratches (complete with ‘air kneading’). Sometimes if I try to pick them up, though, they are not happy about it and will run off, but come right back to weave between my legs. Sometimes it’s just scratching is enough.
Sometimes, though, they just want to be close by. All animals, but cats in particular, don’t always want physical touch in order to be connected. They simply want to be close by. Their yelling is just a ‘Hey, where are you? Can we hang out?” question rather than needing something physically.
I find that it’s a fun game to see if I can puzzle out what my pets are asking of me. Sometimes I get the answer wrong (as they jump out of my arms!), and sometimes I find the sweet spot of just being together, and they settle back down again.
Does your cat do this? What do you think your cat is asking for?
