By Elisa Black-Taylor
Why doesn’t my cat Coral meow? I ask myself that question every night as Coral jumps into my lap for some quality petting time. I’d like to tell her story, and then I hope some of you may have some answers for my non-vocal cat.
Coral has been with us for over two years now. She was rescued from Greenville County Animal Care Services back in 2011 at the same time we rescued a cat named Jane. One of my friends from New York who’s very involved with GCACS asked me if I could take both cats. Jane went on to find her own family, but Coral has decided to stay with us on a permanent basis.
Coral’s paperwork at the shelter listed her as a stray. My daughter and I believe she was a stray, mainly because of her ears. Her ears were full of ear mites. We took her to the vet and got the medicine to treat her. She passed her physical as far as being healthy, other than the infestation of the mites. It took a good month to get all the gunk cleaned out where she’d have pretty ears.
Laura and I often wonder why anyone would turn her into the shelter. She never meows, always uses the litter box and isn’t fussy about her cat food. In other words, Coral is the perfect cat. Except she’s quiet. We’ve heard a hiss or two out of her when one of the other cats try to intrude upon her petting time in Laura’s lap.
Coral was often called our cat with no personality. That was before she let us know how much she enjoys chasing a laser light. It’s the first toy she’s ever played with. And she loves to drink out of a faucet. I’m more likely to see her taking a drink from the tub faucet than from the water bowl.
Coral is also beautiful. Not that beautiful will keep a cat off of death row. You all may remember Coral from the comment I made on Michael’s article here about being able to pick your cat out of an I.D. parade.
I commented on confusing Furby with Coral all the time. From the rear, they look identical to me. Laura says Coral is a slightly lighter color. And if I pet her I can tell the difference. She’s our softest cat. Her name should have been Cashmere.
I wonder whether Coral could have been feral at one time, since feral cats are known for keeping silent. Her ears were certainly dirty enough for her to have lived outside for a long period of time. Perhaps someone who just enjoys trapping cats and turning them in to the shelter caught her. We’ll never know. And Coral refuses to give up secrets about her past.
We’ve only had one other cat who kept silent for a very long time. That was Sealy. We pretty much know he was a feral. He still has feral-like behavior, such as he enjoys prowling for food. It was close to eight months before he ever meowed, and that was when he wanted out of my bedroom and the door was closed. He’ll also jump on top of Laura and meow for his breakfast. For the record, Sealy has the LOUDEST meow of any of our cats. He just doesn’t “talk” very often.
Any ideas on why Coral doesn’t meow? She’s healthy and friendly otherwise. I’ve never had such a quiet cat.
Oh Ruth you ARE somebody! The very special lady who God wants you to be!
You do need fun in your life.
I don’t enjoy parties either but if we lived near enough to the sea I’m sure I’d be there gazing at the horizon early every morning and dreaming instead of working, I just LOVE the sea.
The other side of us now we have the rottweiler with a huge deep voice which erupts from his very depths and two little jack russells who are high pitched, so we call their trio The Sonic Boom and the Yappers….you can find music in all of Nature’s creatures if you look hard enough
Will they ever make the charts? I think not lol
Doggie operas. So cute. At least you can hear the music in these animal voices, Ruth, instead of just dismissing their songs as so much noise.
Depends on your definition of fun. Going to parties? Not so much fun to me. Hiking, swimming, skating, skiing etc.. now those are fun and I will do them and neglect responsibilities pretty consistently. In my Boo-U days I practically majored in goofing off at Devil’s Lake. UWC-Baraboo’s FB page recently showed a picture of a geology class who hiked up there to look at rocks. Too bad they didn’t offer that class when I was there. I could have hiked the bluff for actual college credit!
No, I’m a slacker big time. People always say I have such a great life, that I have so much fun. Well, yeah, but I had the potential to actually he somebody and I let it all go down the drain while I sat on top of a rock somewhere and looked at nature.
Tom cats sing in the night lol they really hit the high notes!
A neighbour had 2 little dogs who when everyone went out and left them, sang a whole tragic opera, honestly they really hit the high notes of their sorrow at being left alone.
Since one died they have taken in another little dog but there has been no operas since the old one went.
No you don’t to me either Ruth 🙂