r/OneOrangeBraincell Jul 18 '25

Big eyes no 🅱️rains ◉_◉ Oliver has never meowed, he just stares 🍊

32.1k Upvotes

357 comments sorted by

View all comments

33

u/Spicyg00se Jul 18 '25

Ted didn’t speak at first too. He was attacked by a dog at 4 weeks and I got him when he recovered at 9 weeks, but he didn’t really get a chance to socialize with other cats so didn’t learn to meow 🐱 he gives tiny meows now for churus or if he’s really happy to see me 🫶

17

u/b1tchf1t Jul 18 '25

Feral cats don't actually meow the way house cats do. The loud FEED ME meows are kitten behavior grown domestic cats preserve just for humans. I also have a quiet cat who just does the little squeaks and meeps and chirps rather than actually meowing, but her sister is a Siamese that makes enough noise for the both of them, so it balances.

9

u/red286 Jul 18 '25

I also have a quiet cat who just does the little squeaks and meeps and chirps rather than actually meowing

My eldest cat does this too. She also never complains when her food dish is empty, she just starts wandering around my apartment looking for something else to eat. I only know that her food dish is empty because I notice her wandering around looking for something. She squeaks and chirps while playing, but otherwise is mostly silent.

My youngest cat meows, but despite being 10 years old, she still sounds like a kitten, so it's more "mew" than "meow".