Have you ever wondered what your cat is saying?

Cats do not meow randomly, nor do they growl or hiss because they have nothing better to do. Cat sounds have a purpose, and they can carry important messages, whether for us or other cats.

Susanne Schštz is hard at work on breaking the cat code. She is a professor at Lund University in Sweden, where a long-standing research program is proving that cats do actually use vocal communication—with each other and with their human caretakers. Understanding the vocal strategies used in human-cat communication will have profound implications for how we communicate with our pets, and has the potential to improve the relationship between animals and humans within several fields, including animal therapy, veterinary medicine and animal sheltering.

In The Secret Language of Cats, Schštz offers a crash course in the phonetic study of cat sounds. She introduces us to the full range of feline vocalizations and explains what they can mean in different situations, and she gives practical tips to help us understand our cats better.

Excerpt

Chapter 3

“MEOW”

THE MOST COMMON WORD IN THE LANGUAGE OF CATS

In the vocal (acoustic) repertoire of the cat, there is nothing as common as a meow. The meow seems to be the preferred sound when cats address humans. Its sound can be varied and nuanced almost infinitely. Some cats meow with a dark (with acoustically low resonances) voice, while others use a bright (with acoustically high resonances) voice. Many cats meow frequently, others hardly meow at all. Still, every human knows exactly what a meow sounds like: meowing is, without question, the cat sound. It runs the gamut from the volume of a fire alarm to scarcely audible, and there are even completely silent meows. Our old cat Vincent’s penetrating meow was on the alarm end of the scale. When he was alive, we did not need an alarm. He knew exactly what to do when he was hungry in the morning—he just needed to meow repeatedly to get his humans out of bed so that they would make him breakfast. His wake-up call worked for a while, but we humans learned quickly, too. In order to stop being “trained” like that, we stopped serving breakfast immediately after we got out of bed. And it seems to work, as we are very rarely woken by meowing now. With five cats it would be a nightmare if we were! Although I make breakfast for my cats early in the morning, it is never the first thing I do when I get out of bed. I always find some time to read the news, check my email or go for a walk before I feed them.

No matter their stage of life, each of our cats likes to meow in his or her own special way. Kompis meows with a bright “baby voice” when he wants to be let in or out. Rocky meows in two or three syllables when he wants to play with us or with his siblings. Turbo meows with a hoarse voice when he absolutely has to sit on my lap. Donna meows softly and coaxingly when she tries to get me to play or cuddle with her. Little Vimsan seldom meows, but has learned slowly that a soft mew helps when we do not immediately understand what she wants (e.g. to be fed or to be let out into the garden). If that does not help either, she gets clearer. She meows more loudly, incisively—and effectively. She is similarly loud when she is stuck outside and wants in, as though she understands that she needs to turn up the volume if she wants the people inside to hear her.

DESCRIPTION OF THE SOUND

My cats have shown me that there are many different meows. The sound exists in countless variations and is used in very different circumstances. A meow can be made with different vowels (e.g. [iu], [iau], [uæ]), with or without a closed-mouth m (with an m: [miau], without an m: [au] or [waʊ]). A meow can also have different numbers of syllables ([wu-au], [mia-wau], [miæ-æ-aʊ]).

A meow can be assertive, coaxing, demanding, inviting, imperious, whining, melancholic, suffering, friendly, brave or undaunted. It is often used to get attention (“I want something”) or to make a declaration (“my bowl is empty again”), but it can also simply be a friendly greeting (“I see that you are there. I am here”). There may even be a meow that we humans cannot hear—a kind of ultrasonic meow with frequencies that are not perceptible to us humans. (Cats can hear much more of the ultrasonic spectrum than we can, and can therefore also hear the noises of their prey, such as mice, very clearly. They may even be able to produce ultrasound noises.)

As a rule, meows are produced with an opening-closing mouth. This is how the typical meow sound is produced or articulated. The m is produced with a closed mouth, the mouth then opens for the e and stays open for the o, before closing with the w. Try meowing yourself, and look in the mirror while you do it. Do you see how your mouth first opens and then closes?

Some meows start with an open mouth aou. Others end with an open mouth wuea. Although meow is written very similarly in a great number of different languages and often begins with the letter m, the sound actually often begins with a [w] or a [u]. Cats also sometimes meow in two or more syllables (such as meowow). Female cats, who have smaller vocal organs, often have brighter meows than tomcats, while kittens meow more brightly yet.

A meow can be varied almost without end, and because there are so many different versions, it is not simple to assign the different sounds to subcategories. Different individuals have different types and nuances in their meows—perhaps because every cat adapts its meow sounds to the particular situation and needs, as well as adapts them to its humans. There may even be geographical differences—meaning that there may be differences caused by the influence of human speech (dialects) that are spoken around the cat, as well as by the sounds made by the other cats in the area. Differences between breeds also play a role. For example, many people claim that Siamese cats have a particularly loud meow. Some breeds are supposedly more talkative than others, and some cats communicate much less than their siblings from the same litter. Many can meow polysyllabically, for example [mi-a-a-au] or [wa-æh-æh]. It is almost as though they are speaking in sentences, with multiple words. Maybe that is because they have listened to us speaking in longer sentences and want to try it out themselves.

Every cat owner has to listen to their cat patiently and with good ears in order to start to understand the meaning of particular sounds. But the phonetic characteristics introduced in this book will set you on the right path. I have chosen the following categories of meow based on their phonetic distinctions, so as to depict the great variation in cat expressions.

The Mew

A mew is a very bright and high-pitched meow, which often contains [i], [ɪ], [e] and [u] vowels. The mouth is sometimes open very little, sometimes slightly more. This sound is often used by young cats when they want the attention or help of their mother. Kittens often mew when they are cold, hungry or lost. We must assume that mother cats both perceive and understand this sound very well—experience shows that the mother cat comes quickly when the kitten mews. There are adult cats who continue to use this baby language with us humans when they are in distress or afraid.

2. The Squeak

What we hear when a cat squeaks is similar to a mew, but raspier, hoarser, more nasal and often shorter. The vowels that are present are often [ɛ] or [æ]. This friendly, inviting sound usually ends with an open mouth and sounds like [wæ], [mɛ] or [ɛʊ]. My cats often use this sound when they are trying to get me to play with them or give them a snack. Experience shows that squeaking is usually used to say “I want something and I am glad that you see that,” or “I am so small and cute, I want something from you.” The melody often rises at the end.

3. The Moan

A moan is a darker, often plaintive or woeful sound, frequently containing the vowels [o] or [u]. Cats often moan when they are uncomfortable, anxious, nervous or stressed—for example, when they are locked up in a room or a cat carrier and cannot get out, or when they absolutely have to have something and are very demanding. It sounds like [mou] or [wuæu]. The melody is frequently (but not always) level and declines at the end.

4. The Meow

The typical meow sound is produced using a combination of vowel sounds to produce the characteristic sequence, which can be written in the phonetic alphabet as [miau], [ɛau] or [wɑːʊ]. However, a meow may also include other vowels. Meowing, along with trill-meowing, is the most common sound in the communication between cat and human. It is used to get our attention, for example when we are standing in the kitchen preparing something delicious, or when we are supposed to be made aware of an obstacle, such as a closed door or window. We as humans are often very sensitive to this sound and react immediately. Kittens, as soon as they are no longer babies, meow predominantly at their mothers. Adult cats meow primarily to humans and only rarely to other cats. The meowing of adult cats may be understood as a consequence of domestication. We can evaluate it as the continuation of the mewing of kittens to humans.

5. The Trill-Meow
When a meow is introduced by a trill, a complex sound arises: the trill-meow. This sound is also very common; because it begins with a closed mouth it may belong to a subcategory of the meow. It sounds like [mr̃hiau], [mhʀ̃ŋ-au] or [whr̃ːau]. A deeper tone (intonation, melody) is typical at the beginning of the sound, though the pitch (melody) quickly rises as it becomes a meow. Trill-meowing is very common when a cat is vying for our attention and is one of the most common sounds used with humans.

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