BBC Nature Sound Effects Library | Animal Sounds | 4 Cats Domestic Sound Effects

Cat Sounds, Cats Meowing, Cat Meow Sounds

Cats are among the most beloved pets. Even at Avosound headquarters we are in love with these purring fluffballs. Cats are extremely fascinating animals; if you've ever shared a living space with one of these domestic tigers, you will know the many ways cats communicate. Cats can produce a multitude of sounds and noises: purring, cooing, meowing, screeching, hissing, and screaming. Depending on their mood and temper, cats will make very different sounds. If you live with a cat, you will very quickly learn what your cat wants from you when it meows: the call for food, the demand for affection, attention, petting, open the door, as well as, many other requests that cat owners will never properly understand. Who knows what really goes on in a cat's head?

Cat Sounds - Meowing

One of the most common animal sounds is the meowing of the cat. When a cat meows, it wants to communicate something. If it meows and slinks around between your legs, it wants to be carried, petted or - in most cases - fed.

Cats are capable of producing a wide range of meowing sounds and noises. If you feel you know your cat well just because you know her meowing sound from the kitchen, you'll be surprised to learn how noisy the cat can get when it fights with others outside the house. When two cats fight they make a whole range of noises and sounds. First, they will scare off the invading animal with a loud snarling noise. Then they will engage in some sort of 'cowboy standoff' with both animals sitting and staring at each other. Neither cat wants to back down. If the snarling doesn't help, the cat needs to crank up the heat by making loud, drawn-out singing noises. In the Avosound Online Sound Archive you will find quite a few examples of cat meowing and other cat sounds for comparison.

If the invading cat decides to stay put or, worse, further invade the other cat's territory, the cats will engage in a fight with each other. And when cats fight, sparks fly - or, more precisely, pieces of fur fly. The enemy gets ripped to shreds with loud screeching, hissing and screaming.

Cat Conduct

Cats are social animals by nature. Otherwise it would not be possible to domesticate cats in a human environment. When cats live apart from controlling humans, they tend to form social groups. This can be clearly observed on farms or among stray cats in the cities. In these environments, cats often become part of family clans that include both grown females and kittens of the same kin (which can easily be identified by the colour of their fur).

Cats are very territorial. However, there is a difference between the male and the female animals. The female cats tend to form groups that often include their young as well, while the male cats (tomcats) prefer to roam the their territory by themselves. Any 'outsider cat' entering the territory will be chased away by the cats. Female cats tend to be a bit more tolerant than their male counterparts. If a fight breaks out amongst the cats, it usually involves a lot of screaming that can be heard in the entire neighbourhood. This kind of spectacle happens frequently in the spring months (the cats' rutting season).

Cat Communication

Cats use many different signals to communicate. Body language signals the cat's emotions. The cat's tail indicates the cat's current mood. If the cat is content and happy, she will walk around with her tail high. If the tail is high but kinked, it signals the cat's joy, anticipation, tension and contention. If the cat is relaxed, its tail is generally straight or slightly bent.

If the cat is irritated or wants to be left alone, the tip of its tail will twitch. If the tail is puffed up or retracted, it's a sign that the cat is afraid or angry. You can see the puffed up tails particularly well when cats are fighting.

Cat Communication - Cats Meowing

The cats meowing is a typical form of communication among domestic cats. When cats live together with humans, they will meow more frequently. Even young cats meow to draw attention to themselves or to communicate with the mother cat.

In general, cats living in the wild and wild cats do not meow at all. This way they will not draw unnecessary attention from their prey (birds) or predators (birds of prey). Cats can make cooing sounds. Mother cats in particular will use them to calm their young.

Cat Purring

Purring is a typical cat sound. Cats purr for various reasons. If a cat is happy and content, the cat will purr. You can observe this behaviour with any domestic cat. Cats licking themselves clean are a common feline day-to-day ritual. It's an extensive process that is usually accompanied by lots of cat purring. Cats like to purr when they feel safe and/or get petted. Cats purr before they fall asleep; mother cats purr when they clean their young.

Cats also purr when they are sick, in pain or need to calm down. The cat sends soothing, calming signals by purring. The purring also sends vibrations through the cat's body that add to the calming nature of the sound.

Recording purring cats is quite difficult. Sounddogs owner Rob Nokes was able to make several recordings of purring cats. As the sound of a purring cat is relatively low in volume, it is easy to pick up extraneous noise during recording. Like most animals, cats don't know what to do with a microphone in front of their noses, so they'll either become panicky or playful. That's why these cat sounds are very hard to record. But you will nevertheless find a large assortment of purring, meowing and other cat sounds in the Avosound Online Sound Archive.

Cat Behaviour

Cats are very territorial. If an outside cat invades the territory, it will be chased away.

If a cat feels threatened, it will stand on the tips of its paws and arch its back to appear taller and scarier. This can also be observed with kittens whenever they encounter an unknown toy or another animal. Cats also hiss when they are threatening an opponent.

Cat Sounds - Hissing

If a cat feels threatened it will pull back its ears and bare its teeth. No matter whether the opponent is a lion, tiger, lynx or even a wildcat - the hissing sound of a cat is a very clear alarm sign. If a cat hisses at you, you should consider it a last warning. If you corner a cat by getting to close to it, you will likely get bitten or scratched if the cat is hissing.

Cat bites can cause severe infections and need to be treated by a doctor - even if the cat is domesticated.

Unlike big cats like lions and tigers, cats can't roar. Big cats - particularly lions - can make a massive roaring sound.

Cats - History and Domestication

Cats have achieved something that few animals can rival. Cats have been living in human households for thousands of years. The domestic relationship between cat and human began about 7,000 - 10,000 years ago. In agricultural Mesopotamia, cats were used to fight pests that threatened to devastate food supply stocks. Cats are natural hunters. Thanks to their highly developed, natural play instinct, cats were used to keep houses and farms free from mice and pests, as well unwelcome visitors like snakes.

In return, humans would offer cats a safe home and regular feeding - two things cats and their offspring treasure.

Cohabitation hasn't always been an easy ride for humans and cats. While cats were regarded as holy in ancient Egypt, they were hunted and burned in Europe during the middle ages - because they were supposed to be in league with witches and in possession of dark powers. In those dark times full of religious fanaticism and pestilence, the absence of cats led to a plague of rats and mice that spread disease and contaminated the already sparse food supplies.

Cats have a very distinctive hunting instinct. That's why cats can never be entirely domesticated. They might appear to be domesticated when they hang around the household. But in their hearts cats will aways remain wild animals. Cat owners usually discover this fact when they observe their cuddly domestic tiger out hunting.

Cats have a strong urge to hunt, killing thousands of birds and animals every year. When a cat gets its claws onto its prey, the cat will play with the wounded animal. It will throw it around and let it escape only to catch it again. This ritual might seem quite brutal in the eyes of cat owners, but for the cats it's just part of their playful nature.

Despite the thousand-year-old tradition of domesticating cats, there's a wild animal inside every domestic cat. Unlike other pets like dogs, sheep, chicken or cows, cats will always remain wild animals.

Cat Purring and Pawing

When a cat retreats into itself and the cat purring loudly on a blanket, it tends to paw the owner with its forelegs. This has nothing to do with scratching or marking. The pawing is a remainder of the cat's childhood phase. The cat remembers its mother's belly and tries to stimulate the production of milk by kicking and pawing at it.

When your cat cuddles up to you and paws your legs, it is because it reminds her of mommy cat. So you are essentially a surrogate mother to your cat. Petting the cat simulates the mother animal's rough tongue as it licks and grooms the young one's fur. So we are really nothing other than a cat's surrogate mother.

You can find more info about cats here:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cat