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by tarentel 1494 days ago
My cat has at least 20 meows. I understand about 5 of them. Some of them are easy, like if she wants food or if she wants me to follow her for whatever reasons. Some of them I have no idea what she's going on about but I can tell it's different then her wanting to play or just wants to be pet.
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For real. Off the top of my head there's, MeerrrOOOOOwww MerrrOOOOwww, the loudest one, huge inflection in the middle. Generally while strolling through the house, back and forth. I think that's the "I'm bored" one. But he'll also do it if I stay up. If someone is out of bed past curfew he'll do it. I have to close the bedroom door or he'll wake the wife.

If you say summon him he'll probably ignore you but if he's interested he'll whimper errrderrruuderr softly while walking toward you.

Then there's, MOWLLLLL MOWLLLLL, slowly howling, that sometimes means he's sick and gunna throw up. Usually right on both the rug and the carpet.

Then there's, MAHHH MAHHH, just two in quick succession, which literally sounds like mama. That's the I want something one, generally he wants catnip from the outside plant.

Just heard him go MOOOOW MUUUROWLLL MUUUROWLLL howling, but he's just pacing back and forth from the window and now wimpering at me. So I assume he's misses mama (the wife).

The funniest is and most unique is, BRRRRAHDAHDOP, which he yells before tearing full speed through the house or down the hallway for seemingly no reason. I think that's either "Look at me" or he's so excited he can't contain himself and it slips out naturally.

Side note: this was an interesting challenge creating and optimizing these onomatopoeias

> But he'll also do it if I stay up. If someone is out of bed past curfew he'll do it.

One of my cats also does this. It's a very distinct vocalization that I only ever hear when I've stayed up too late and seems to mean "Why aren't you in bed already?" If I hear that, I know I've stayed up too long. (And usually, she seems to mainly want me to get into bed so that she can curl up and go to sleep by my feet or on my legs.)

That checks out, yeah. If I stayed up late, mine would sometimes fuss at me till I went to bed, where he could stretch out with his back against my front and watch Youtube with me while I scratched his chin and brisket.

He'd tuck the top of his head under my own chin, and the tip of his tail would just reach my knees. I'm five foot ten - mongrel tabby or no, he was a big cat.

Do you also get a BRRRP or MRRRP when he's snoozing and you put a hand on him? Our cat does that. And a similar noise to say "hello" when coming into a room or approaching you.
If you like that sound, there's a subreddit called ActivationSound that's literally just videos of that. Probably my favorite subreddit.
Thank you for this, this is the best thing ever.
Yes! When you catch him off guard or wake him, he'll coo like that. It's similar to his whimper when approaching.

He's sweetest when he wakes up, so it turns into more of a coo than whimper since he's purring a bit.

Seems to be his hello/greeting call.