None of the present clowder are big talkers but will respond when talked to.
Bandit used to complain every time I stuck a camera in her face.

Hugs,

CatNipped

Persia's a talker.  She has a raspy voice most of the time.  She'll sit and
talk to me as if she's sharing very important state secrets (for all I know,
she is).

Jill

Oh, great topic!

Smudge and I have conversations sometimes. I will say "Smudgie!" at
her, and she'll meow. I'll say "Smudgie!" again, and she'll meow again.
That will go on a few times, and then, just to mess with her head,
I'll suddenly say something different, and she'll remain quiet. Is she
puzzled by the change? Or does she think that only "Smudgie!" requires
a response? Who knows?

She also meows to go outside. But she's not nearly as loud nor insistent
as she used to be. Ever since the mysterious bop on the head (about 2
months ago), she hasn't been as demanding. She still loves to go out,
but if I don't let her, she's more likely to just give up and go lie
down, although occasionally she'll get a hair across her butt and scream
to go out. (And jump to the window to mess up the mini-blinds in her
frenzy to look out. My guess is that one of her rivals is skulking
around.)

Licky will "mew" at me when he wants attention. His cry is very
plaintive and forlorn-sounding, as though he hasn't had any attention
in years. It sounds heartbreaking! Generally, what he wants is to be
petted. That's not always so easy to do, because he keeps himself as
far away from me as he can while being close enough so that, if I
reach out toward them such that I need to contort myself into an
uncomfortable position, I can *just* reach him. Only when I'm sitting
at the computer will he actually jump up and cuddle.

Roxy's not much of a talker, because she doesn't have much of a voice.
But occasionally I'll get a squeaky "pip" from her, especially when it's
mealtime. Sometimes she'll squeak at me when she wants me to pet her -
this is particularly true when I've just come home. She's adorable when
I first walk in the door, and will stand up on her hind legs for head-to-
hand bumps, several times. She'll follow me around, and when I look at
her, she'll emit a squeak and then sit looking up at me expectantly.

Joyce

Lily will never let me have the last word. Everytime she says
something and I answer she will always answer back. The
only time she stops is when I stop answering her.

Lily & her mama

Aggie Marble and Victor Velcro only talk when they want something or to tell
me they are displeased about something I have done or not done for them.

Four on the other hand is a chatter box.  He has a deep voice with a narrow
range of variations. He just talks up a storm.  Is a talking cat an offshoot
of socialization when the cat was a kitten or a trait of the individual cat?

Four of my fifteen are talkers ... and lickers - all the lickers are
talkers and all the talkers are lickers.  The three Walsung red tabbies
all sound rather alike, but Fluffy has her own vocabulary.

Suki hollers at the top of her lungs when she wants something - mostly food,
but attention also. I think she yells so loudly because she's deaf and can't
hear the racket she's making. If hte meows don't get immediate attention,
she starts using claws. I, as an adult, understand why she's doing this, but
I have to discourage it as Cary *doesn't* understand whats going on.

Pickle, on the other hand, has the quietest little 'mi' for a meow, but has
a number of trills, mrrps and 'mi's. Mostly, again, to do with food, but
there's also a greeting trill and a few others I haven't figured out yet.

Shmogg wasn't much of a conversationalist either, but he'd let me know what
he was on about. His favourite topic was of course, food, but there were
various other thigns he'd tell me. I mostly understood the various trills
mrrps and loud meows he had. The Howl, in his last two or three months, was
heartbreaking and was one of the main reasons I knew it was time for him to
find a less painful place.

Yowie
Oh, please note, that whilst I know that at some point in 'her' life Suki
was an intact tom (accordign to her vet records), for the life of me she
just seems female. Whilst Pickle is a neutered male and acts like a male in
my mind, I think Suki must have had a full sex change operation (I haven't
ever seen any evidence for her ex-tom status) and I'm just going to refer to
her as female from now on. It makes me writing about her much easier as I
will no longer have to go back and correct for gender. As far as I can tell,
she's a spoilt princess with a big foofy princess tail and has the big blue
eyes like a snowy princess should. Therefore, no matter what the stupid vet
card says, in my mind, she's a girl. Hope this clears up any confusion.

Rusty is a very quiet cat. When I first adopted him years ago, it was
days before I first heard a meow out of him. Hasn't changed a bit over
the years.
He got very vocal on trips to the vet that I got stared at. Once the
vet said he could hear Rusty before we entered his clinic. But once
inside, he would be quiet again.
The vet's cat tried to get him in a conversation, but Rusty just
ignored him.

Winnie

Lindy is a big talker, especially regarding food.  She tells me when it's
time to go out to the kitchen to feed them.  If I tell her that it isn't
time yet, and show her that I've set the timer, she will go away.  Sometimes
she comes and tells me a couple more times.  She shows up immediately when
the timer goes off, and tells me all the way to the kitchen that it's time
for dinner.  When I start the preparations, Nanki-Poo shows up and she says
something to him.  I don't think I want to know what it is.  She will come
to me when I'm in bed and yell at me until I pet her.  If I stop, she says
something, and keeps doing that until she's had enough.  If I get up in the
night and dislodge her getting back into bed, she lets me know about that,
too.

Nanki-Poo doesn't talk nearly as much, but he squeals when he's playing.

Joy

Good topic, wish I'd thought of it.

Talkers: Tanada, Qui Gun Kit, Meow Meow

Occasionally chatty:  Pine Cone, Sonya, Merlin, Huey (he's the one who
likes to get in my face at 2 am and yowl),

Rare if ever meowers: QC, Miss Calico Girl

However MCG is our first kitty who has frequent loud rumbly purrs

Pam S.

Both my guys.  I always know who's talking. Stinky meows when he sees me,
makes a gurgling sound when he wants to wake me up in the morning, and
swaggers around the house bellowing, regularly.  He will also ocasionally
come right up to my mom or me and "read us the riot act" as we call it.
Dante has a chirpy little voice, and meows at me as soon as he sees me. He
frequently makes a "NYOW-WOW?" sound.

Mistletoe only talks to tell us she wants something.  There are not
necessarily any clue as to what she wants, but she *wants it now*.

One thing we can count on is for Missy to tell us when it's bedtime.
She sits outside our bedroom door and meows insistently until we either
get up from the living room or tell her "not tonight, it's the weekend".

Sam, supervised by Mistletoe

Mine sound very different; Miranda has a loud and demanding voice, and
also a lot of different sounds (she even yodels), while Caliban has a
tiny little peep that I mostly hear only when he wants food (am
listening to it right now, as he is begging for his breakfast).

Neither of them holds conversations with me, like Frank used to do. But
like Frank, Caliban always keeps up a steady flow of complaint when he
is in the carrier.

Dunzi is a talker when she gets going she can go on for quite a while but
Sarsi keeps conversations to a minimum and short!

Dunzi makes the most peculiar range of meeps and whistles but Sarsi has a
harsher voice.

Our all time top conversationalist was Isis(RB) who would even talk to
herself! She'd walk past you and you could hear her muttering under her
breath. She could keep up a conversation for hours and she was loud with it,
we used to say "Speak up a little, Issi they can't quite hear you in
Birmingham!"

Her sister Fugazi (Also alas RB) hardly ever spoke but we reckoned that was
because at a very early age she'd learnt that she couldn't get a word in!

Lesley

Slave of the Fabulous Furballs

Every cat we've had has been different. Some a bit more...mmm...
DIFferent than others....Probably best if I restrict it to the currently
living ones or it will get really long.

Fearless is mostly quiet, except at breakfast (being such an Old Boy,
and mostly toothless at this point, he gets gooshy food for breakfast
and He Knows It!) Then we mrrrps and does this sort of whiny meow. He
also announces a kill with a slightly less whiny meow noise.

Princess, who LOOKS siamese, is a very quiet cat. Rarely meows. Very
very occasionally meeps, especially if she thinks you are going to pick
her up. (She does not like to be picked up.)

Smokey spent most of her life being called the Duck Cat because she
kinda quacks. But not often.

Jezebel tends to mrrrp but mostly only when she wants on a lap (which is
"usually") and you're not picking up her other clues.

Cinder talks a fair amount when she's feeling needy (with this
rising-inflection mmeoooooowwwwww? mmeeeooooooowww?). Otherwise she,too,
is pretty quiet.

Miss Bitty Kitty is QUITE vocal, especially when wanting scritchies,
pettins and other attention. She is also the one who will try to trip me
(and my mobility issues make that DANgerous! I get cranky when she does
that). Very loud meezer-like meOW! meOW! meOW!

Neither Shane nor Emma talk much, although Shane has vocalized when he's
caught something (cf the ground squirrel incident).

Deborah
slave to the Gang of Eight

Five is a talker and has several vocalizations depending on the stimulus
(a.k.a. "treat").  If it's a tin or pouch of gooshy food she makes a
somewhat screechy meow, starting with when she hears me get a Styrofoam
plate out for the food and not ending until the plate goes on the floor.
Then she's a Hoover cat, sucking up all the food.  If she's in a post-nip
or post-CET Dental Chew ecstasy it's a lyrical "rowl".  If she's laying by
the patio door and sees her friendly birds or squirrels she'll make the
machine gun "chatter".

We have her trained to chatter on demand, by offering her kibble and asking
her to "talk to daddy" or "talk to mommy".  More often then not she'll
chatter for the kibble rather than meow.  For the CET dental chew she'll
meow LOUDLY, as in "I want it NOW!!!!!!".

Well, Merlyn is our big talker.  I can carry on entire conversations
with her.  She talks so much I go "Arrrghhhh!  Merlyn!  WHAT?!!"  I
think all she really ever talks about is "Pet me.  Pet me, you stupid
human.  Don't you know that petting me helps *your* health?  Pet me NOW!"

Internet is a big talker, too, although I think his conversation goes
more like "Cheese.  I want cheese.  I want cheese NOW!  Or any food, you
stupid human.  And by the way, I don't mind other cats, but where in the
hell did all these other cats come from?  Jeez, I can't bathe *all* of
them!"

Wolfie is also a bit of a mrower.  He tends to do it with a pathetic
look, like he's saying "Please, please (imagine tail wag here, since he
thinks he's a dog), All-Powerful Human, can I please have some pets now?
 I'm a good boy.  Please?"

Brando's the last of the big talkers.  And he does it with his voice and
his whole body.  I mean, this guy *projects*!  I've hated having to keep
him out of the bedroom, because he'll sit in the hall and meow pitifully
and loudly, non-stop.  "Let me IIIIIINNNNNNNNNNN, Mommy!  Why won't you
let me in?  I wanna cuddle with you."

The rest of them are oddly quiet.  I don't know why; they just came that
way.  I have actually worked on teaching Kate to speak; she finally does
a teeny little "mrp" when she is happy or wants petted.  Her bro-bro
Jack almost never makes a sound, so I was delighted last night when he
was in particularly affectionate mode and actually gave out with a
little "meow" after a long lovey petting and head-butting session.
Trill trills, of course, but isn't much in the loud meow department.
Cosmo talks occasionally, especially when it's dinner time.  Pinky gives
out with a meow here and there, mainly when he sees me at his food dish.
 Oddly, Arthur never makes a sound.  He does it all with his
expression.  (Well, he makes plenty of noise if Pinky or Jack are after
him, but he doesn't talk to me except with his eyes and face.)

I suppose if I had 10 very talkative cats, I would go crazy from the noise!

Ginger-lyn

Well of course everyone knows Siamese are vocal - except in the case of
Rhia and Amy.

They're sisters and litter mates yet surprisingly different. The only
time they really remember they're supposed to be vocal is when they're
in the car, and then it's really continuous noise until we stop.  Amy
will call if she wants attention, mainly when she really MUST have a
belly rub. This has to be done at the top of the stairs, nowhere else
in the house will do, so she'll stand at the bottom of the stairs and
call to me until I come,then she runs up the stairs looking back over
her shoulder  to make sure I'm still coming. Rhia only ever seems to
speak when she's waiting for her tea, she's not allowed in the kitchen
so she'll wait just by the door while I'm preparing it; if she thinks
it's not coming quickly enough she'll let me know.

John, servant to their Imperial SIamese Majesties, Rhia and Amy.

Mayhem is a moderate talker. She chirrups when she wants attention, and
occasionally even says mow-mow.

Shadow... sounds like he's half duck. He tends to be most vocal around
food time and when he's looking for people (even though we're just where
he left us before). When he's looking for us, he puts a question mark at
the end of each mwaaw.

Minerva is probably the most vocal of our crew. When she wants
something, anything, from food to attention to her deserved spot on
meowmie's lap, she will say so. She starts with the ever polite silent
meow, and works up to eardrum shattering volume until she gets what she
wants.

Mischief never really learned to meow properly, so he squeaks and
squawks and chatters and occasionally screams but is generally quiet
unless something's bothering him.

Itachi used to be vocal, but since we got him inside and fixed and
settled where he can't smell the rival toms in the area he's mellowed
out and generally only yowls now to alert us that he's done eating and
would like to leave the bathroom NOW please.

Maeve >^..^<

Jake and Molly aren't usually talkers.  But Jake just came in making a real
fuss.  Its pouring down hail outside and I hear thunder and just saw some
lightening.

Strange as there is no wind at all and this has just come out of a quiet
grey day.

Molly will have something to say about it as soon as she gets back in.
She's been sleeping in a chair all day and just went out a few minutes ago.

Mostly they don't usually bother to talk to me.  I was to deaf to hear them
before I got the implant, and often I'm still deaf around the house when I'm
not wearing it.  They use more 'direct' forms of communication with me.

Jo

The big surprise is Sabrina. She is a tiny, runty girl, but the MOUTH on her!
She doesn't meow; she roars. We can hear her in the cellar when she's roaring
on her upstairs pervh.

The other surprise is Stosh. He's such a raucous boy. He's physical, tough,
swaggering, and has the wimpiest voice that could ever come out of such a
brawny guy. At night he makes a quiet meow reserved only for when he gives
mama her massage treatment: it sounds like "Ma, ma, ma," and he says it
before preparing to jump on me. He'll also hop off, and the rule of the game
is that I have to entice him by moving my hand under the blanket. Then he'll
say it again and chase the hand, then continue massaging.

Brandy, the sixteen pound kitten, doesn't meow. She whines. she has the cute-
baby act pegged to PhD level.

Roxie has her own language consisting of trills, but she is remarkably chatty
wiuth them.

Blessed be,
Baha