A little cat mystery

darcerin · 04-07-2012, 11:44 AM

Maybe someone here can help me out. It's not really an issue, more just a ?

We adopted two kittens back around New Years. Apparently they were siblings. One we call the older one because she's bigger, and the smaller one we call the younger, because she was definitely the runt of a litter.

Anyway, the younger one, besides being smaller, is the vocal one. We thought it was going to be the opposite when we adopted them, but nope. What we did find out though, that when the older one cries, it sounds like she's being strangled, as if it's difficult for her to cry, but she purrs just fine. We think her vocal cords were underdeveloped. This has in no way affected her physically (or emotionally!), because she's gained far more weight than the little one since she's been here. I'm just wondering how a cat who was born as a "normal" (vs being a runt) got bad vocal cords, and her sister, the runt, got the voice of the family.

Seirith · 04-07-2012, 11:54 AM

I have a cat like that! 6 years ago we took in a pregnant stray. She was only about 8 months old and was very underweight. She had 5 kittens from what we think are two different fathers. One of the the male cats has a very very tiny scratchy meow. It is funny because he such a tough big fluffly "manly cat" with a tiny little voice. Other than the voice he is a 17 pound long haired part main coon who is very healthy and playful.

The runt of this litter can actually talk just fine and cries all the time. The vet was very surprised any of the kitten lived because the momma was so young and underweight. We did lose one cat at age 4 of heart disease but the others are just fine!

DialgaBritesMom · 04-07-2012, 06:57 PM

Our older girl (12) sounds like she has smoker's voice. o-O Sounds like maybe what you're describing. She doesn't talk a lot (mostly since the younger one arrived on the scene), so I wonder if there's a problem with her vocal chords, a polyp or something.

Our "little" guy (he's actually rather large, but we got him as a tiny kitten and his head is still tiny--for his size LOL) who's all macho in general, otherwise, has this high pitched teeny kitten meow. He talks a lot, so it's kind of... well, we laugh at him a lot.

Skeen · 04-08-2012, 04:29 PM

That's odd! I have two like that also. I took them in when they were about 8 weeks old. Fuzzy was normal sized and Slick was really small - pretty runty, really. Fuzzy ended up being this really boof pile of fluff and Slick is a lean little guy.

Now, even though they both talk all the time, Slick can really wail! Fuzzy gurgles a lot, like he's full of spit or something. Slick mostly says "Ma!" and Fuzzy says "Muh-how" but he sounds like he's hocking up a loogie when he does.

Locket · 04-08-2012, 11:20 PM

We have two cats from the same litter, one can't meow hardly at all. He just looks at you and opens his mouth, but no sound comes out. His little sister can only make a squeaking noise. They're about 10 years old now and neither has had any health problems related to this.

Likewise, my friend has a cat that can meow just fine, but she can't purr and also has never had any health related issues with this. Cats are just like people, different cats make different sounds. Nothing to be concerned over.

darcerin · 04-09-2012, 11:28 AM

Yeah, no worries about her health or eating habits. She actually purrs just fine (in fact, when she sees my brother, she gives him purrs you can hear across the room!), but she can't "talk" very well. She stood outside the back door the other night trying to be let in, and she'd open her mouth, but nothing would come out. Very funny. :P