The Cat's Meow

niceonetom

Hello there animal fans... I have question to ask. Maybe you could help.

I have a cat who has lost her meow. She's normally very vocal (often too vocal), but in the last couple of days her meow has gotten very quiet and croaky sounding. It sounds almost painful tbh. Other than this she is very well; she's eating normally and not hiding away the way I'd expect her to if she was feeling sick or in pain. She's her usually playful and sociable self, only quieter.

Anyone have any experience of this? Do cats get laryngitis occasionally? Or should I be worried about this and bring her down the vet's quick sharp.

I even tried to open her nouth and have a look at her throat - she was uncooperative. In fairness I'd be uncooperative too.

Thanks.

comongethappy

I'd bring her down to the vets. It sounds like she could have picked up an infection which would require antibotics. The same thing happened to my two when I got our new kitten. Though the kitten didn't display any symptoms, she was obviously a carrier of some bacteria or virus. The antibotics the vet gave cleared it up.

Better to be safe than sorry.

seamus

Does she otherwise seem in pain? Extreme case is that she's received some sort of internal injury. The other half's family inherited a cat who never meowed. It was only when they started discovering blood splattered everywhere at random points over a number of months (they didn't know what it was - could have been a fox or another cat) they brought him to a vet. The vet found that his diaphragm had been severely damaged at one point (probably hit by a car) and had healed all arseways, leaving his internal organs under a lot of pressure.

Total extreme case - yours could just be a touch of a cold or something. If she otherwise seems fine, maybe give it till the weekend and check with a vet if there's no improvement.

The Sweeper

My cats occasionally lose their miaows. They get croaky and hoarse for a day or two, then regain their voices. By day three it should be coming back. Sometimes it's just one of them, sometimes two. It's never been all five.

It's just a sort of laryngitis thing in my case - but I watch my guys like a hawk, so I know there's nothing else going on. I would take mine to the vet if they displayed any of the following other symptoms, along with the loss of voice: weeping eyes, sneezing, a cough or wheeze, off their food, lethargy or lack of interest, 'flatness' - floppyness or lack of response when lifted or moved, a high temperature (a good indication of this is often that the cat bundles itself as small as possible and fluffs its fur up - also pain when touched or moved), dehydration (gently pinch the skin at the scruff of the cat - the skin should go back into place quickly when released. If not, it's a sign of dehydration).

Try calling your vet and see what they say about it.

niceonetom

I've been watching her closely today to see if there's any sign of improvement / deterioration. She seems grand. Her meow is still very scratchy and weak sounding, but other than that she's has no other symptoms - she's alert, has her appetite, is active, responsive and playful etc. She shows no sign of having a temperature or of being dehydrated and her breathing sounds perfectly normal...

But after a some googling I still made an appointment for the vet tomorrow. My cat has better health insurance than I do, so I might as well use it :P It only takes one mention of feline leukaemia or cat aids for me to go to red alert.

Thanks for the input guys, it's much appreciated and somewhat reassuring. It's probably nothing serious, but there's no need to take the chance.