I caretake a small feral colony and practice TNR. I've been told that feral moms will reprimand kittens when they meow so as not to attract dangers. This makes sense to me. In fact, I have never come across a feral (born in the wild) that meows. If I trap somebody that's vocal, I know that there's a good chance he's a stray. Gypsy, our little feral girl (I know she was born wild because I've seen her mom but never been able to trap her) was trapped and spayed at approx 4 months. It took a long time for her to meow. The only time she had cried was when we first brought her inside and she was segregated from us in the bathroom. (She wasn't meowing for me, she took an immediate attachment to one of my other cats). Of course, some cats are just more talkative than others. After 8 months of living in the house, interacting with all our other animals, she still wouldn't let us touch her. Finally, we lucked on to the key. Chicken liver! Gypsy loves it. Now that we have found her insatiable desire for liver, she'll mew whenever we are near the kitchen sink or refrigerator. She's also a shameless beggar at the dinner table, but we're so pleased with the interaction that we've completely spoiled her!
Someone else mentioned that we humans probably teach cats to meow. This certainly could be the case. When ever Gypsy looks up at us and utters her soft spoken little screech, she's sure to get a treat.
You say "my feral", have you had success with taming them? Everyone told me I was crazy, (maybe I am, but I'm proud of it!), to try to tame a 4 month old kitten (I've tamed a 10 week old, and even that was challenging). It takes time, patience, imagination and above all unconditional love to help them realize that some humans can indeed be trusted. It took Gypsy 8 months of reassurance before she'd let anyone pet her, but to me it's was absolutely worth the effort.
Keep up the good work!
Nina
Mackenzie, Kerry N. wrote:
Hi Jill You've just struck a chord with me. NONE of my 6 ferals/FeLV kits has EVER miaowed in the 10 months I've had them, except once they were in the cage after I trapped them for spaying/neutering. Anyone know why this is??? I'd never come into contact with either FELV or feral cats before so I don't know if this is 'normal'. I like to think it's because they're so happy...but I suspect the real reason is otherwise?? Kerry
