Everybody knows that cats usually say “meow”. What many people don’t know is that those meows are unique and varied. Adult cats don’t meow to each other, only to humans. A cat and their human(s) develop a mutual language together over time that only they can understand fully. Combined with their eyes and tail and posture, cats can convey so many things if you pay attention. Freya taught herself to pat my leg if she wanted to sit in my lap when I was sitting on my office chair. She didn’t like jumping that high, so I had to pick her up. She was quite smart with that kind of thing!
Freya and Fiona both had very distinct communication sounds. Fiona used to trill instead of use full-blown meows. Sometimes, a trill would develop into a meow, but usually, it wouldn’t. She usually trilled as a greeting, or when she wanted some attention. She was quite soft-spoken. Well, except for that time when she went into heat. She was louder than Freya!
Freya used to meow, and she had a very rich meowing language. She used many pitches, and could be very loud and pushy, but also very timid and cute. Her meows had different “words” as well. At night, she would “yodel” sometimes, with a very distinct meowing pattern. Sometimes it sounded as if she said my name (rrrr-mah)! I often wondered what she was saying.
The one thing they both did that was very easy to understand: purr loudly. This is Freya:
I made a short video showing Freya and Fiona talking to me. Freya was chasing invisible prey on the cat walk, and Fiona wanted to be petted.
