Yowling.
That’s the only word I can think to describe it.
Meowing is close, but it doesn’t have the right edge, the sharpness.
Dog friends: This one’s about cats. Read on if you’d like to learn about a funny cat-ism or, if you want to read something dog today, I highly recommend this post on social skills for introverted dogs and their humans.
Anyway, the yowling.
Or, maybe it’s more of a mournful holler?
Regardless: Every single night without fail for about six weeks now, Newtie yowls. She goes upstairs while we’re downstairs–it’s only ever if we’re on separate levels–and she yowls. Then she picks up a cat toy in her mouth while still vocalizing, carries the cat toy somewhere else, drops it, and yowls some more.
It took us a while to connect the toy moving to the yowling since she will never, ever, ever do this when we’re nearby, but once we put the pieces together, it reminded me of her relationship with Teddy. Do you guys remember Teddy?
The main difference is that she chatted with Teddy. It was conversational. Chirpy.
And it was when she was transitioning to life with dogs.
Which made me wonder: Is this behavior related to transition in some way? Now that Violet’s here and Violet’s become insanely mobile / terrifying, is Newt going through a similar stress period? Or is it not stress and something else entirely?
And what do we do when we wonder something? We look it up! (Sorry, sorry, sorry… Sesame Street on the brain…)
Turns out, “cat meowing while carrying toy” is a hugely popular Google search! Nearly 5 million pieces of content about cats carrying toys and yowling.
{{Aside: At first we thought she was upset, so we’d yell upstairs, “It’s OK, Newtie! Come down and get a treat!” Or we’d go up to visit with her. Of course, the behavior would immediately stop. See pic above. That’s her looking over the stairs at us like, “What?” Now that we know she’s not upset, I really want to get video of this because it’s actually pretty funny and VERY LOUD for such a tiny cat, but it’s a conundrum because if she thinks we’re around she won’t do it.}}
Does your cat do this?
The gist from my info-gathering is that cats mostly vocalize when hunting or moving kittens.
I found this super old Q&A that resonated with me (beyond the utterly endearing way folks in the UK spell “miaowing”):
Pet cats will sometimes show a modified version of this behaviour, carrying around toys and perhaps hiding them. Some female cats will also keep collections of toys that they regularly move around as if shifting a litter of kittens.
You could look at this and think that it is sad because the cat is clearly trying to compensate for something that she is missing, but it is more likely that these are just inbuilt patterns of behaviour that some cats get a bit confused about and carry out in slightly inappropriate situations.
And build off of that, I found another interesting article that took the “inappropriate” part of that previous point to a more positive place (play):
Mother cats will often teach their kittens to hunt by catching prey and bringing it back to their kittens, giving the kittens something to practice hunting on. When kitty makes a big fuss to having a toy in their mouth, they want you to pay attention to it. Making a fuss over toys isn’t a cats only part of cat play. … This sort of play teaches your cat to show off their treasures through meows and other noises and provides your cat with mental and physical stimulation. Play is a huge part of why cats meow with their treasures as well as wanting your attention to notice them and the toy in their mouth. The meow sounds like the cat is in distress but they are actually quite the opposite and want you to notice what they are doing.
I’m dismissing the idea of an invitation to play only because she immediately drops the toy and stops when we come upstairs to check on her. She does the cat equivalent of a shoulder shrug.
OK, so that leaves two working theories:
- Newt wants to teach Ripley how to hunt. (Or maybe Violet?)
- Newtie was a street cat picked up after sexual maturity so mayyyyybe she had kittens? And still has that instinct to move kittens and per that first quote is “a bit confused.”
I’m not sure the answer, of course. Newt won’t divulge either! Well, actually, she’s clearly trying to, and I’m the dimwitted human who can’t figure out what she’s trying so hard to tell me…
Have you ever had a cat who meows with a toy in her mouth? From my Googling, it’s clear Newt’s not the only cat walking around yowling and carrying a toy, so if your cat has ever done this, what do you think? What was she or he trying to tell you? I’d love to learn more about this behavior!
She’s so loud when she does that. And the toy is different every night and some are quite surprising!
Like that GIANT one she was lugging around the other night?? It’s so funny! I wish we could set up a hidden camera… hmmm…. 🙂
I have two cats, 15 yo littermates, one boy and one girl. They have both done this for their whole adult lives. The boy does it when he’s trying to get his sister to play with him. He’ll wander around with the toy in his mouth yowling his heart out in search of her. The girl only does it at night when no one else is around (and her brother is sleeping with me upstairs) while she fusses with her toy piles.
That is SO interesting! In everything I read, almost all of the articles were about female cats, so it’s great to get your perspective of both. Newt’s like your girl where she’ll only do it at night when no one is around.
It’s fascinating, isn’t it? Thanks so much for sharing your experience!
I’ve had several cats who do this. Zelda usually does it in the middle of the night. She has “caught” a toy and brings it to me so I will praise her. KC goes downstairs and screams bloody murder. Our basement is like an echo chamber, and I’m afraid the neighbors think we are trying to kill him. But really he’s just downstairs playing. I had one cat who made this sound whenever she caught a real mouse. She would bring them home to me as gifts!
Oh, my goodness, Vicki! Imagining KC screaming like that… hilarious!!! You gotta wonder what’s going on in his mind, don’t you?
So far Newtie hasn’t brought us anything as “gift,” but maybe she’s working up to it like Zelda!
Thanks for sharing your expertise and experience!!
We have had two cats over the years who did this – both were originally strays from semi-feral colonies. I don’t think I ever googled this behavior, but I always assumed it had something to do with their life on the streets – like maybe they thought they were hunting and calling the other cats or their kittens to alert them of their catch. Glad to know my theory was some what accurate!