When They Won't Play With You

A common side effect from raising kittens from birth is they think they're human.

Marley and Gizmo arrived at my rescue at only three days old. My sons and I raised them by hand, bottlefeeding through the night, changing diapers- without the diapers, of course ;) Did you know that infant kittens need to be burped after each bottle? Yup, you care for them just like infant humans.

So it's no wonder Marley and Gizmo believe I am Mom, and my son's are their brothers. And they act like it! Gizmo looks to me for approval, and hangs out with me a lot as the only other female in the house, while Marley chases after his "brothers". He plays Hide and Seek and tag with them, it's pretty cute.

Marley has a whisper, not a meow. It's like the beginning of a goats bleat, only much softer. His human brothers are at that teen boy stage where they shut themselves in their rooms a lot. Marley has been feeling left out and sits at his favorite boys door and cries to be let in and included. He is usually a very happy and chill cat- he's named after Bob Marley for a reason, lol. But when they won't play with him he gets so sad and just camps at the door and cries.

The problem is that his cries are so soft they are barely heard, so he's taken to putting his face in the space under the door to try to get B's attention. But his voice is still too soft, and he's too polite to scratch on the door.

Today, I was working online when I heard a strange meow. My first thought was one of my kids brought home a stray kitty. I followed the forlorn and unfamiliar cries down the hall and rounded the corner.

There, in his usual let me in spot at B's door, was a sad but hopeful Marley.

He looked at me and meowed- but that wasn't his voice! This was a melodic "actual" cat meow!

Cats are the only animals who create a language to communicate with their humans.

I guess Marley thought if he sounded pretty, his brother would want to play with him.

I tried to capture his new voice on video, but he's camera shy ;) However, his sadness is caught perfectly... Please forgive the dust, we're renovating