ohio is other people

cat behavior question:

both of my cats meow very loudly (like, "i could have sworn i got you fixed" levels of meowing) when theyre playing with toys on their own, usually when the toy is in their mouth (or in the case of one of them, if im not in the same room shes playing in).

my sisters cat doesnt do this, nor do they do it while theyre playing together or while im playing with them.

they drop it if i walk over to them so are they trying to alert me of the thing they caught??

theyve done this since i moved out about a year ago, but they didnt do it when we lived with my mom. but we went from a house with three dogs (one being a puppy) to a dog-free house (my girls are the only pets here). would it be because theyre in a less stressful environment??

any insight is appreciated because its been confusing me for so long , tyia

ohhh, that's a victory meow. I mean, that's what I call it. I think it's much cuter sounding than 'holy shit, cat, please. I see you've caught the toy mousie. We all see it. All of China knows by now, it's three am, please be quiet'. Much snappier, too.

Some theorize that it's a way for mother cats to call to their kittens to say 'hey, dinner is here', but I really don't think so. Almost all of the mother-kitten calls that I've heard are much softer and involve far more trills. Even invitations to practice hunting (which involve bringing live prey back to the nest) are quite soft and trilling, unlike the very piercing Victory Meows.

I never heard a call like it while watching feral cat colonies either, so it seems to be a very housecat-centric thing. My personal theory is that it's just for us. The cats want us to know 'I have caught the thing! Rejoice!'. They don't care what happens to the thing AFTER we know, because that's not the point. The point is to INFORM us that they have done a thing.

I consider it a bid for attention. Your cat is actively soliciting your attention. Typically, if I have a cat doing a victory meow, I make a big deal of it. Let them know that they are very big and brave for killing the toy mousie and play for a while. If it happens at three am, that's a sign the cat is feeling understimulated and could use some playtime before bed. Or, if that fails, more self-enrichment toys to keep them busy.