Cat Talk – The Meaning of Mew, Meow and Yeow

This is for all you cat owners out there! As cat owners, we all know that cats have a vocabulary all their own and they are good at getting their points across. How many of us have given in to the pleas of a hungry cat demanding to be fed? Or how many of us are greeted with a meow from our kitty pal when we get home? Have you noticed how different those calls are?

I have two cats of my own and they certainly do make sure that they get what they want. I have noticed that they use different calls for different reasons.

The Soft Little Mew

This is my favorite sound. It is just so cute! One of my cats uses this sound to ask a question very nicely. He will bring a toy over to me and set it down right next to me and sit and just give a little ‘mew’. It is the cutest thing! Who could resist such a nice and polite request? So I end up tossing the toy a few times.

The Loud MEOW

The loud MEOW when accompanied with a direct stare is a demand. Usually it is around mealtime when they are hungry and they want to be fed NOW!

The Meow-Purr

This sound is characteristic of Maine Coons and is a sound they make when they are feeling good. They are essentially saying, ‘Hey, I like you too.” It is a meow followed by a purr. It sounds like meowprr. One of my cats is a Maine Coon mix and when I first heard him, I thought something was wrong with his voice and then I thought he just has a raspy voice. But then I did some research and found that the sound is made by all Maine Coons.

The Yeow

Yeow means ‘Get off my property!’ Or if it is a shrieked Yeow it mean ‘OUCH!’ In both instances, the cat is under stress.

Cats have a vast vocabulary that extends far beyond these sounds. Once we understand what each sound means, we are in a better position to understand our cats and also to communicate back to them.

Cremation Find detailed information on Cremation and the cremation process.

Essential Cat Care and Training Tips

Many new cat owners really struggle with their cat house training. If they don’t go about it in the right way from the beginning, this can be very frustrating. And this frustration can lead to them striking or shaking the offending cat.

You cannot beat a cat or kitten into obedience, so that they become the perfect home cat – you will only provoke hatred and fear, which will further reduce the chances of training her properly. A very effective alternative to physical punishment is to keep a spray bottle of water handy – if she misbehaves, a little spray will let her know you are not pleased.

The surest key to success with your cat house training is to try to understand how your cat thinks, why she does the things she does, what motivates her. If you expect her to do something that goes against her nature, then you better be prepared to make it worth her while. If you want to make the most rapid progress, a modest investment in a decent cat manual or guide will be richly rewarded, and you will at a stroke begin to understand “cat think” and cat care in general, and also avoid the most common mistakes.

You will find that the most rewarding approach is to encourage good behavior, either by kind words combined with gentle stroking, or some food treat. She will quickly learn to associate particular actions with positive responses, and, conversely, if these rewards are withheld, she will know that she has transgressed in some way.

Cats are known for their short attention span, so your training sessions should be fairly brief, ideally around 10 minutes. And because their attention does tend to wander, make sure your sessions are held somewhere where there are as few distractions as possible. The perfect location is a small indoors room, with no view outside, and no disturbances.

The essential training exercises that concern most new cat owners are to do with urination, scratching, jumping and biting.

Most cat owners face problems with their cat not using the litter box – obviously, a new kitten has to be taught toilet training cat style, but even mature well-behaved cats can suddenly “forget” to use the litter box, and, when this occurs, the wise owner will know to look for some change in the cat’s environment that will have triggered this behavior.

The second biggest concern is with cat scratching, a behavior that is an essential part of the animal’s nature. The provision of good scratching posts in strategic places will alleviate the problem, and spare your furniture and curtains. The surgical removal of the cat’s claws was until recently seen as an easy and permanent solution to the problem, but in a more humane age this is seen as quite a barbaric act to perform on a Cat, and one that upsets the whole balance mechanism of the cat, and is really traumatic.

A cat will not expend unnecessary energy, so if she jumps there is a reason for it. Most often, she will jump onto the window sill to view the outside world – if you want her not to jump on a particular sill, block off the view for the first 15 inches, perhaps with a piece of fabric. If there is no view, she will soon go elsewhere. Jumping onto counters or worktops or tables in the kitchen should be completely discouraged from the beginning – it might simply signal that she wants feeding.

Biting is unfortunately often encouraged in a kitchen – children in particular enjoy being bitten by young kitten teeth, and will often playfully provoke it until it bites. Cats have pretty sharp teeth, so you have to let your cat know that biting will not be tolerated. If the behavior persists, you might discourage it with a spray from your water bottle.

How To Get A Fussy Cat To Eat

Many cat owners become worried that their fussy-eater will go hungry or will become malnourished. There are many reasons why cats refuse to eat. Here are some tips on how you can encourage your fussy eater to dig in.

If your cat has just recently become fussy about their food, or their appetite has suddenly changed, this could be a sign of illness and you should get him/her checked by your vet.

1. Warm the food to body temperature. This will make the food smellier and make it more appetizing. Warm dry food for a few minutes on low heat in an oven or warm wet food in a microwave for ten seconds.

2. Mix a tasty canned food with your cat’s usual food to induce your cat to eat. Alternatively, if you open a can of tuna, salmon or sardines for yourself, you can mix some of it in with the cat’s food.

3. Don’t give your cat more than 10 minutes to eat what is in the bowl. If the food is still there, take the bowl away. Your cat is more likely to eat food that is in short supply and only available briefly.

4. Your cat’s nose may not be smelling the food very well. It may be helpful to clean your cat’s nose to improve it’s smelling ability. This strategy may seem strange but is recommended by a vet.

5. Start the meal by feeding your cat from your hand. Once eating, they will usually continue voluntarily.

6. Place the food in a quiet, traffic-free area of the house or yard. There may be too many distractions or things to upset a nervous cat.

7. Feed your cat a few times a day, in smaller quantities, when your cat asks for it. For most cats a small amount of food at a time is enough. This helps to avoid overfeeding and should stop your cat from looking for food elsewhere.