My cat goes "pihh!" instead of meowing. Why?

Question

My nine month old very healthy Ragdoll kitten has never meowed. She makes a "pihh!" sound, sometimes with a squeak at the end. These sounds are made at all the appropriate times when another cat would meow. It's an airy kind of sound, and kinda cute, but just as irritating as a meowing cat when she does it too much.

Answer 1

Cat's voices are as varied as cats themselves are...lol.

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Answer 2

If she is not the only cat you have, then that may be normal. Often cats that are secondary or tertiary to a house after a couple of other cats, will take a beta (as opposed to alpha or top cat) role. They often 'chirp' or make softer sounds versus a regualr meow. Once the other cats pass away and/or she becomes older, she may start meowing more. We had a cat that never meowed correctly until she was 17, after the other cats had passed on. You may want to have a vet look at her vocal cords just to be sure there is not a growth or something impeding her airways. Good luck!

Answer 3

I would think the "pihh" is better than meowing! I have a very vocal female cat who meows many different sounds all day long. Sometimes she sounds like a baby crying even! I would take a "pihh" from her now and then. We also have a young male cat who barely meows at all - he chirps once in a while! I think Ragdolls are supposed to be a more vocal cat. Maybe she has a mutation of her vocal cords.

Answer 4

my cat does this, too -- it's just her voice. My cat is about 3, but it's only been in the last year that a meow has developed, but it's very high and light and more of a soft "ahhh" sound than a meow.

Answer 5

My cat used to do the same, just give her some time, she'll eventually learn to meow...

Here's a tip which is what I did with my cat:
when you hear her do that, repeat the words "meow, meow" a couple of times. My cat learned to repeat the sounds -- no joke!

Answer 6

It's probably just her unique way of meowing. Every cat has their own unique meow. Mine had this weird croaking meow. My vet told me it was normal and that it was her unique meow. I've been working at a rescue society near where i live and every single cat there has a different meow.

Answer 7

I have a couple of cats that say "paah" instead of meowing, its almost like a sigh.
They have never meowed so I speak to them in "paah"
Dean

Answer 8

Thats easy! It can't pronounce meow!

Answer 9

one of my cats is a meower and the other one rarely actually makes a meow it's other sounds.

Answer 10

Because when cats do that they have something in there throught ! I advise you to take it to the vet, it might get serious! It will clog up the throught and might choke your cat! So my advise is to take it to the vet.