What Does it Mean When a Cat Chirps?

You may have noticed some really funny noises coming from your cat. Yes, cats do meow, hiss, and even growl at times. Another noise that you may hear coming from your cat from time to time is a chirp.

It sounds kind of like a bird chirping or chattering, but a little different. It’s a hard noise to describe in words, but definitely something you would recognize if your heard it. So, what does it mean when a cat chirps?

Telling Her Kids to Listen

One of the reasons why a cat may make a chirping sound is to get the attention of her kittens. Of course, this is only going to happen if you have a female cat that has just had kittens, but this does occur.

If you notice the mother making a chirping sound, and it’s directed at the kittens, it’s a way of her telling those kittens to listen up and follow her. In this circumstance, it’s as motherly and disciplinary kind of noise.

Excitement

One of the main reasons why a cat is going to chirp or make chattering noises is when it is excited. They will usually only do this when they get excited about one particular thing. This one thing is prey, or in other words, something for them to kill and eat. Remember, cats are hunters by nature, and even domesticated indoor cats still have a strong hunting instinct.

If you see your cat looking out the window at birds or other small prey animals, it may very well start chirping. Cats may also make chirping sounds when they are hunting a toy that resembles prey or if they are hunting some bits of food that’s already dead, although this is much rarer.

What should be noted is that this behavior is common in both indoor and outdoor cats. However, outdoor cats are much less likely to chirp when hunting their indoor toys, as their natural hunting instinct is often satisfied when they go outdoors.

It’s much more common for indoor cats to chirp when hunting a toy or even when “hunting” their owner. Indoor cats can’t satisfy their need to hunt due to being stuck indoors, so they will often resort to the next best thing.

Frustration

The other reason why a cat might start making chirping sounds is out of frustration. Yes, this does still have to do with hunting prey, but whereas they were excited and ready to hunt before, now they are just getting frustrated and agitated.

They can see a prey animal, they might be able to smell a prey animal, but they aren’t able to go after it, usually due to being stuck inside. This chirping sound is a sign that a cat is very frustrated and really wants to go out to hunt.

Happiness

We did not list happiness as a main cause of chirping because it is rare. Although, that said, sometimes when you play with a cat, if you scratch it on the right spot, give it a treat, or pull a toy along for it to hunt, it may chirp out of pure happiness or joy. However, once again, this is very rare.

Conclusion

Yes, cats make all sorts of weird noises including meows, chatter, chirps, chirrups, hisses, growls, and more. These are all normal sounds for cats to make, and each means a different thing, but each noise can also mean a number of things too. A chirping cat is usually just looking to go on a hunt and catch some prey.