Why do feral cats not meow? Can a feral cat meow?

I will answer the second question first. Feral cats have the physical ability and anatomy to meow just like domestic and stray cats. The point is that they don't normally meow because the meow vocalisation is a learned one between domestic cat and human caregiver. It is normally a demand for food or attention.

The answer is not quite as clean as that because the meow sound is very variable. People should not think that every meow made by every cat is exactly the same. There is a great spectrum of meow sounds. 

The word 'meow' is an onomatopoeia meaning that it reflects the sound. But as the meow sound varies a lot it does not reflect the meow sound sometimes!

The meow sound has been learned by the domestic cat to make a demand on their human caregiver. Image: MikeB

As to the first part of the title, as mentioned, this is a learned vocalisation by domestic cats over about 10,000 years of domestication. It is a sound developed between cat and human. 

As feral cats nearly always or almost exclusively 'talk' to other feral cats there is no need for them to meow.

The feral cat might hiss and growl at a human but they won't normally meow at them. 

But if you have the patience to socialise a feral cat which might take many months even as long as 18 months if they are an adult feral cat who's lived their entire life in the urban jungle, they will eventually learn to meow at their human caregiver.

It is a learned process and a demand normally. However, it's meaning will vary as the sound's tone and tenor varies.

It may merge into other sounds like a growl. The Siamese cat has a honk to make demands rather than the classic meow. As I said the meow sound varies 😎.

Here's a video of a very strange meow sound but it is certainly a demand. A call for attention.

Why do cats purr?

Cats don't just purr when they are contented. Therefore, you need to find an answer to the question which covers all circumstances under which domestic as purr. Dr Desmond Morris, the celebrated zoologist and animal behaviourist came up with the right answer in 1986. I'm a bit surprised that is not more widely cited so I will mention it here. In fact, I will quote him verbatim if I may:

"A more precise explanation, which fits all cases, is that purring signals a friendly social mood, and it can be given as a signal to, say, a vet from an injured cat indicating the need for friendship, or as a signal to an owner, saying thank you for friendship given". 

I don't think I can explain it any better than that. The point that he is stressing is that domestic cats purr when they are in a veterinarian's clinic, on the consulting table where they are clearly nervous and stressed. And sometimes they purr when they are about to be euthanised by a veterinarian. Clearly under these circumstances domestic cats are not happy and contented. This is why Dr Desmond Morris was obliged to come up with an all-encompassing reason for the production of this sound. He did that. 

There is another answer to the question, "Why do cats purr?" and it is this: there are different reasons for purring depending on the circumstances. It is a flexible sound that means contendness when being petted or when the cat is on a lap and it means a need for companionship when about to be euthanised.

People sometimes ask whether the wild cat species purr. Some do and some don't. The bobcat and lynx can purr and it is a very impressive sound. The big cats can't but they can roar instead. The small wild cat species can purr but when they do so it is a slightly different sound to the gentle and melodious domestic cat purr.

Jaguarundi Sounds (Vocalizations)

The vocal repertoire of the jaguarundi is "totally different from other felines". Perhaps this is not surprising as the jaguarundi looks different to all other felines! It looks like a marten or weasel or similar non-feline creature. The jaguarundi is a bit of an anomaly and classifying the species has been difficult.

Jaguarundi - Photo Dave Irving.

Balazs Buzas and Eszter Gulyas working at the Rare Species Conservation Centre in Sandwich, Kent, England, have raised jaguarundi cubs and in doing so have observed at first hand their vocalisations. They confirm the sounds made by this interesting wild cat as recorded by Cutter (1957) and Hulley in 1976.

There are 13  different sounds apparently:

1. Short whistle: used for attention seeking. The response is a single "peep".
2. Long whistle: a greeting.
3. Chirp: calling when the other cannot be seen.
4. Short purr: female calling kittens. Calling each other.
5. Long purr: expression of contentment as for the domestic cat.
6. Single quiet hiss: greeting from aged four weeks.
7. Loud hiss: from the age of 2 days kittens and cats use this as a warning to stay away.
8. Spit: warning to keep away. Insistent. A spit is on the video above.
9. Scream/growl: sound made during fighting and when feeding and a challenge (scream) when mating. Listen to video but turn the sound down!
10. Snuffle: vocalization made when patrolling territory.
11. Chatter: made by smacking their lips together and a close greeting sound.
12. Muted "yap": communication between individual cats under slight stress.
13. Faint cry: made by female when sexually receptive.

Associated: Cat Sounds MP3 WMA WAV

Reference: All references to Hand-raising jaguarundis (puma yagouaroundi) by Balazs Buzas and Eszter Gulyas in Feline Conservation Federation magazine vol 56 issue 2 March/April 2012.

Cat Sounds and Communication

How far can and do we go when communicating with our cat? People who are not cat lovers or who dislike cats, and therefore have little or a distorted knowledge of cats, would argue that you can't communicate at all with cats.

Those of us who have lived with cats for years and spent endless hours communicating with our cat companions, know better, don't we?

But it is quite interesting trying to analyze how far we can go in our communication.

Some forms of cat to human communication are obvious. The most common is when our cat reminds us that it is time for dinner, or breakfast etc. They meow at us in varying degrees of politeness and/or frustration. If we ignore them, the amplitude goes up. There is no doubt that a cat expresses his or her emotions through their voice.



I believe that the area of cat to human communication is a developing one in two senses. Cats are learning to communicate with us, their surrogate mothers. They rarely meow to each other. This is an evolving area over decades.

Secondly the scientists have done little research on cat communication. There is work on the sounds they make but not much on the nuances of the vocalisations of the meow (vowel sounds) and murmur sounds (e.g. purr) and what they mean.

Cats as individuals have a wide range of vocalisations and some cats have a wider "vocabulary". Interpreting these nuanced sounds is good for the cat/human relationship as it allows us to better understand our cat's emotions and desires. We are then better placed to respond appropriately. This makes for a good relationship. The cat leads.

We cannot discuss philosophy with our cat but then neither can we with most people. However, we can and instinctively do express our feelings and immediate desires and emotions to each other. The level of communication is a bit like the experiences we encounter when we are in a strange country and can't speak the language; sounds and signs do the job.

One aspect of cat communication that interests me is, what sounds do you make in response? I make weird sounds. It is instinctive.

How far do you go in communicating with your cat?