When does your cat trill?

[goldenstar1]

Though I've had years of experience with outside cats (all my life), Dagny is my first indoor cat only. When he first came, I noticed he made a cute sound a lot of times that I called "a catty noise." Then I found this board and realized that you all call it a trill. Whatever it is, it's very endearing and touches my heart. I absolutely love it when he does it. He meows rarely, he trills much more. In all my years, I've never noticed my outside cats trilling.

I'm trying to figure out exactly what it means when he does it. I find that he does it sometimes when he is going quickly from one place to another, or when he jumps down from something, or when I find him in the bathtub and he gives me that "oh no, have I done something wrong?" look. (I don't mind him getting in the bathtub). Also, when he is startled.

So, when does your kitty trill? What do you think it means?

[Jan Rebecca]

Tuffy trills when he's searching for his favorite toy - a ratty mouse. LoL. SO cute!

[yellowdaisies]

Originally Posted by goldenstar1

I find that he does it sometimes when he is going quickly from one place to another, or when he jumps down from something, or when I find him in the bathtub and he gives me that "oh no, have I done something wrong?" look. (I don't mind him getting in the bathtub). Also, when he is startled.

All of the above! Both of our kittens trill, but Spencer is a MAJOR triller. Lily has actually begun meowing more than trilling, though she still does both. I absolutely LOVE the trilling noise - it's my favorite cat noise.

Anyway, Spencer trills in all the situations you mentioned for Dagny. Lily is a little different - she will look at us, and then sometimes when we walk towards her she'll trill and run away. I think she wants us to play? She is extremely playful and active, more than her brother.

The main reason our kittens trill seems to be communication with each other, although as I've mentioned, they do trill to us, as well. For example, Spencer will trill, Lily will run over to him, and they'll start wrestling and chasing each other. With our babies, it seems to be a "let's play!!" invitation to each other.

[marie73]

Charlee trills every time we make eye contact, then she runs over to me.

[MowMow]

A better question is when does MowMow NOT trill. He's constantly trilling at me unless he's yeowing to be fed.

[tghsmith]

our now gone tinker cat would trill in the middle of the night, rite before playing "smack the water in the dish" making a large mess and trying to come back to bed with soaked paws.. smokey in his outdoor kennel has gone into some extended trilling serenades during the night, I suspect somewhere in the shadows is a lady he's trying to charm,

[Carmel]

Blacky is an indoor/outdoor cat, I don't here her make the noise unless I touch her and wake her out of sleep, she'll be really relaxed when I wake her up and often just kind of roll over for me to scratch her tummy. The same goes for my indoor only cat, I only hear it from him when I wake him out of sleep. For that reason I think of as the sleepy greeting.

Oh, and in case anyone don't know what noise we're talking about, it sounds like this (this is just a random cat on YouTube, not mine):

You Tube

You Tube

[my4kitties]

All three of my cats do it, though I've only personally heard Midnight and Star do it. Lucky does it for my daughter. When Midnight does it, I call it her "Marge Simpson imitation" because that's what it sounds like. Such a silly girl.

[LilRed]

My Lucy does it when she sees me! I love it!

[Time Bandit]

Rochelle trills when she's excited about something, usually a toy or food. Alice trills a lot, when she's playing, when she's being petted, when she's picked up, when she's jumping... I don't think Samantha can trill...I've never heard her do it once.