Does your cat have a distinctive meow?

Have you ever noticed that every cat meows with a different voice? I’m not just talking about the sounds they give forth when they chat with us in all kinds of situations — be that while being cuddled, begging to be let out the door, or demanding their breakfast. I’m talking about the actual distinct sound of each cat’s voice.

Every human has a unique speaking or singing voice, and we can differentiate one person from another by how they sound — and cats are no different. Admittedly, to a non-cat person the difference will not be noticeable because it can be very subtle, but if you listen closely, you will most definitely hear the diversity in each and every cat’s meow.

Humans who are owned by multiple cats already know all the colorful differences between their kitties’ meows, but I would like to tell you about my own three rascals, each of whom has a distinctly different voice.

1. Queen Ruby Akasha

Ruby´s voice is sweet and piercing.

My six-year-old ginger girl has a very sweet, fairly high and piercing voice. Most of the time she sounds pretty demanding — but that’s probably because she is demanding something! Her meows can sometimes be quiet and squeaky, but most of the time she will simply “shout” at you at high volume. If Ruby were a human singer, she would probably sound similar to Amy Winehouse.

2. Lugosi

My 15-year-old tabby boy Lugosi’s meow is rather rich and quite loud. In human terms, his voice would be that of an opera tenor or could be compared to the vibrant voice of someone like Lenny Kravitz. However, he is also a master of disguising his voice quite well, and just to confuse his human he can sound like a totally different cat when he wants to!

Lugosi has a rich and loud meow.

3. Spider

Lugosi’s twin brother Spider has a high-ish voice similar to Ruby’s, but not as piercing. His meow is musical, like the clear sound of a bell, and he talks (or sings!) in quite a varied range of different pitches. If Spider were human, he would probably be singing with a successful a boy band!

Spider also has rather impressive trilingual meowing skills, thanks to him being British but now living in Spain, plus his mummy being German. The other day he surprised me by saying “Mañau!”, which probably means something like “Now! Not tomorrow!” in human, and he can say “more” in English and in German (“mehr”).

Spider´s meow is the equivalent of a boy band singer…

Here’s a video of Ruby, Lugosi, and Spider demonstrating their talking/singing skills and showing off their distinct little voices.

What kind of voice do your cats have? Let us know in the comments!

Read more by Barbarella Buchner:

• 5 Phrases That Sound Naughty When Talking About Cats
• Be Honest: How Much Cat-Themed Stuff Do You Have?
• We Chat With Kitty Woodworking Artist Leo Makepeace

About the Author: Barbarella Buchner — Ailurophile. Geeky Goth Girl. Ex-Musician Singer/Songwriter. Photographer. Web Designer. Fibromyalgia + RA Sufferer. And totally mad! She originally hails from Hannover (Germany), then moved to London, and since 2004 has lived on the tropical island of Lanzarote, together with her tabby twins Lugosi & Spider, and ginger queen Ruby Akasha. Apart from being an avid hobby — and sometimes even paid! — photographer, she works as a freelance web and graphic designer and occasional Catster contributor. She designed and maintains her local cat charity 9 Lives Lanzarote‘s website.