“If the wrestling and playing becomes too intense or one is hurt, the little one communicates his or her angst through loud meows,” she says. When kittens start interacting with their siblings after several weeks, they learn important social skills and boundaries through their meows, Krieger says. It’s not just mama cats that kittens communicate with when they meow. Kittens meow to communicate with littermates and humans, too
#Kitten sounds video full
Typically, though, felines will produce an adult-sounding cat meow - with a lower pitch and longer range - between about 9 and 14 months of age, when they reach full physical size. However, curiously, some cats retain their kitten squeak well into adulthood, Shojai says. These body conditions produce meows that are softer, higher-pitched and often shorter in length, Shojai says.Īs the kitten matures, so does his voice, just like a growing human’s voice deepens.
Physically, this sound results from the size of the kitten’s body - smaller than that of the more alto-voiced adult cat - along with the immaturity of the larynx, mouth and sinus spaces, and vocal chords. Why do kittens meowing sound so squeaky?įor many kittens, the baby-size meow sounds a bit like a squeaker toy. A Siamese mother and her kittens may be more talkative, while a Chartreux mom and her litter may be quieter. Kittens tend to take after their mothers vocally, Shojai says, and cats have varying personalities, often based on breed. A study published in 2016 in Developmental Psychobiology, a peer-reviewed science journal, found that kittens who listened to playbacks of greeting “chirps” and meows from both their own mothers and stranger cats reacted much more strongly to their own moms’ vocalizations. Moms interact with their kittens vocally, too, and kittens get very attached to their mom’s sound. Photography ©annadarzy | Thinkstock.Īcoustic communication between cat mothers and kittens works both ways. Kittens meowing is a two-way street Yes, kittens can recognize their mother’s specific meows.
Outside of meowing, kittens communicate with their mothers via purring, touch, body language and scents. “When separated from their mums, kittens mew their angst and, instinctually, most mums rush to find and comfort their vulnerable little ones.” “When they are newborns, their little mews successfully let their mums know when they are hungry, frightened and cold,” Krieger says. Kittens meowing serves the same purpose as a human baby cry: It makes a demand and gets mom’s attention. The kittens can exercise their vocal cords and meow from birth, but they usually begin experimenting with vocalizations once they start to toddle around and explore their world.įelines are vocal animals, and they start “talking” as babies as a way of communicating with their mothers and littermates, says Marilyn Krieger, aka The Cat Coach, a certified cat behavior consultant in the San Francisco Bay Area. Kittens are born with their ears and eyes sealed shut, but they can feel the vibrations of their mother’s purrs, says Amy Shojai, a Texas-based certified animal behavior consultant and author of pet books, including Complete Kitten Care. That squeal is so adorable and “APhotography by Mahlebashieva/Thinkstock. It’s one of our favorite cat sounds: the high-pitched, squeaky “mew” of kittens meowing.
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