Godiva's silent meow

I thought I remembered reading a book or an article by some famous author who discusses his cat having a silent meow. I tried to find that book this morning and couldn't locate it on Google. But there were several articles and other books referencing a cat's silent meow or miaow or mieow or however they chose to spell that wonderful sound that comes out of a cat's mouth. If you are a cat lover-keeper-owner-friend-slave or "one who changes the litter box" then you are aware of the cat's different motions and sounds. Godiva is the first cat living with us who has had an honest to goodness "silent meow".

Godiva has always been the least vocal of our cats. This is not because she doesn't talk a lot because she does. It's just because about half the time she opens her mouth, nothing comes out. You can tell she is meowing because her body moves, the mouth moves, and she's usually looking at you, but no sound. There is a 1/4 meow and a 1/2 meow which both sound more like a little squeak. She'll stare at you and open her mouth and nothing emerges. It's wonderfully cute. If she gets up on the bed behind me, I can feel her body move when she does one of her silent miaows. I have a hard time not laughing at her because it's so funny to feel it but not hear anything. Of course, being a Siamese, she does not appreciate being laughed at so I have to be careful.

Reading the different articles I found on line this morning indicates that there are many cats out there with silent meows. Why they do it, who knows. It usually does mean something though. And given enough time, Godiva will eventually puff up enough air to get out a real meow. And other times, she is quite vocal with her calls. So a mystery that is the cat. Certainly not the only mystery either. Love these guys.