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When I adopted my cat, he only made squeaking sounds. He sounded like a kitten but I was told he is 3 years old. Just recently (today) when we came home, instead of just squeaking at us, he started to make real meowing sounds at us. I've raised cat's all my life, but usually around 6 months to a year old, they seem to settle on their meow. I did some googling and all I can find are articles about if the cat stops meowing or goes from a meow to a squeak, but not the other way around. Any insight?

As a note as well, we've been "conversing" with him for a while. Meaning, we meow at him when he squeaks at us. And he seems to like it.

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    When you got home, was your cat out of food, when he's usually not? Or were you gone a longer period of time than usual? Wondering if instead of a normal chipper squeak, he had reason to give you a meow, that seemed maybe more demanding or resembled a different mood than usual? Upset you've been gone long, hungry when he's not usually, new member of the house stressing him out etc....?
    – Christy B.
    Commented Dec 1, 2017 at 3:50
  • And the problem here is? A normal cat that is a bit late with meowing? (on a side note, your cat will probably also talk back if you just talk to it in your own language)
    – Flummox uses codidact.com
    Commented Dec 4, 2017 at 10:32

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My cat did something similar. When he was kitten, he would not mew at all or would kind of squeak or move his mouth as if he was trying to. When he noticed the positive effect of this, it encouraged him to continue and eventually, at around the age 2, he developed a mighty voice that knows no bounds. I believe that by conversing with your cat (which you could do in any language), they learned that you like a vocal relationship and they get more affection (and most importantly, attention!) by vocalizing back. It is very possible that the cat always could meow, but never saw a reason until he realized how advantageous it would be.

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