# Vocal kitty has suddenly gone quiet



## gardencat (Jul 6, 2013)

Hi all...
I have only just joined and finished introducing myself and our cats in the "Introduction forum - Hi from Japan" thread. I hope it is ok to ask a question here so soon already. We are quite concerned. 

As a recap, we have helped a number of dumped cats found in our garden over the years. We are currently trying to gain the trust of yet another young wild kitten who obviously lost his Mother a week or two ago. 

He was so full of really loud and constant sad cries for his mother before, all while we desperately tried to get him to trust us enough so he could find our offered food, rather than run away. He was just a little bag of hungry noise that would not stop meowing or dashing around. He finally ate which we were so happy about. We took this video at the time because we were so happy that he was finally eating and was making such cute sounds doing it. 

Now we are glad we did, as he has not been the same since!

Hungry lost talking kitten So cute! - YouTube 


Suddenly, overnight, he became an (almost total) mute. Now ,he opens his mouth to meow (far less than before), but no sound seems to come out. He is pretty much silent now and of a totally different nature. He seems totally shell shocked for some reason...he just sits quietly sheltering under the garden plants. 

Of the various cats we have helped in the past, we have not seen this sort of thing before. 

Has he been totally tormented and frightened by wild cats overnight or something? (There are a lot in the area.) Is he dehydrated (even though he is now finally drinking a little)? Sick? .... Or, just finally content? 

He seemed to have changed so suddenly, so we are quite concerned. Comments and thoughts would really be appreciated. Thank you...


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## Carmel (Nov 23, 2010)

He was likely very hungry. Thanks to you feeding him wet food he should not be dehydrated. I doubt it has anything to do with other cats.

You got very close to him! You should be able to tame him, he's not that wild.


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## howsefrau32 (Mar 6, 2013)

Awwww!!! That is so cute that you got that on video!!!

Do not worry....my kitten Stephano did this very thing, only 10 times louder than your kitty, he made "nom, nom, nom" noises for the first 2-3 meals we fed him after finding him in the woods behind the church I work at. He also stopped suddenly, and we wondered why.

This kitty was just very, very hungry, starved and stressed, which is why was making those noises. He has likely calmed down a bit now. When we found our little kitty that made these same noises, he was VERY loud, crying out loud like a baby in the woods. We went out in search of the crying because it was so sad sounding. When we gave him a can of food he gobbled it down like this and did the same thing. He does not do it anymore, the nom non sounds, but he is still a loudmouth....but not as loud as he was in the beginning. 

I think your kitty is fine, just no longer starving and so thankful to have someone caring for him so that he won't have to scrounge for food. Thank you for taking him in.

By the way.....I love your description "a hungry little bag of noise", that is exactly what I would describe my kitten as  Adorable!


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## gardencat (Jul 6, 2013)

howsefrau32 said:


> He does not do it anymore, the nom non sounds, but he is still a loudmouth....but not as loud as he was in the beginning.


We are not too worried about him not making the nom nom sounds anymore when eating. (Although we enjoyed them because they were so cute.) Yes, that was perhaps just because he was so hungry at first. But he doesn't even make meowing sounds anymore like you say your kitten did. Just opens his mouth and there is no sound. Seems very strange.

He does seem a lot more content a few more days on from our first feeding now though. A lot happier and not looking for a Mother anymore. We have gotten to the stage where he even enjoys a rub of the belly and trusts us almost completely. Fleas and ticks have been removed and treated. Luckily, the other garden cats seem to have taken him in too...


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## howsefrau32 (Mar 6, 2013)

He is probably just stressed out, and hopefully, as he gains more of your trust he will open up a little more. He is probably stressed and exhausted right now though. I think if he is eating and seems otherwise good, he is probably ok, but if he stops eating and is just really lethargic, he could be sick. I would think eventually you are going to want to take him in to be neutered anyway, right? I know some places here will neuter and spay when a kitten is at least 2 pounds, I'm not sure how it is there, but maybe he could be checked by a vet to be sure he is ok if you are really worried about him. 

How kind of you to take him under you wing and take care of him. He will be so grateful to you and give you so much love in return. He is really cute. I wish I had made a video of my kitten the first few days we had him and he was still making nom nom noises, it is so cute.


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## gardencat (Jul 6, 2013)

Another couple of days on from where I left off and the little lost stray kitty is so tame now. He loves scampering all over the garden. The other garden cats are very friendly towards him. He is starting to learn how to play hunt. Sooooo much energy!!! So it seems he is very healthy .... But still not a peep of noise. He certainly wasn't shy in meowing before. So very weird!

We will get him "done" at some stage but he is still too young and we don't want to traumatize him any more after what he has been through, by going to the vet if not necessary at the moment.


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## howsefrau32 (Mar 6, 2013)

That's great that he is adapting so well, so happy to hear that. I think you are right about not rushing too quickly to get him done, he is still young. The last stray that I took in, I thought he was much younger, but when I took him for his shots, the vet said he was at least 5-6 months old, he had all his teeth, but he was tiny....I was thinking he was more like 3-4 months old. The vet also looked at his teeth that looked a little worn down, as if he had been chewing on whatever he could get out in the wild, and that made him think he was older than he looked. 

I have a 6 year old cat that is very quiet....he hardly ever mews. He really only makes mewing sounds, and they are very different than most cats, when he is doing his morning ritual of hunting socks. He takes socks from the spare sock basket on the washing machine and he drags them out into the middle of the floor and lines them up, and he makes these mewing sounds while he does it. Other than that, this cat hardly ever mews at all. Even when he's hungry he rarely makes a mew. My daughter has a very quiet cat too, he makes an occasional chirping sounds, but almost never mews. Maybe he is just going to be one of those quiet cats?


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