Has your cat been trilling an awful lot lately? 

It is common for cat owners to come home to their cat making a “Rrrrrrowe”  sound while moving in between their feet. In fact, it is one of the things that kitty owners write off as strange feline behavior. 

However, some people just can’t get over why their kitty has been behaving this way. 

In this blog post, we will answer the question, “Why do cats trill?” in as much detail as we can to provide you with a definitive answer. 

Let’s take a look. 

A Meow Here and a Meow There: Cat Noises 

If you own a cat, you know that cats have a tendency of making several different noises. 

These include chirps, mews, meows, chatters, cries, purrs, yowls, growls, and even hisses. 

Mostly, a cat trill sounds more like a soft rolling R and is comparable to double-R in Spanish words such as arroz and arriba. 

This means that the sound requires tongue vibration. 

This sound is also often referred to as a chirrup.

It often sounds like a mixture of a meow and a purr with a rising inflection.

Certain cat vocalizations such as the purr needs the kitty to engage its voice box. The trill is formed in the mouth, though, perhaps accounting for its wispy inflection.

Why Do Cats Trill?

When in kittenhood, cats learn to chirp and trill from their mother. She uses these sounds to tell her kittens to follow her. The kittens, in turn, mimic the sounds. This is done to greet the mother or to seek her attention. 

So, when a fully-grown cat makes these sounds, they’re often used for greeting other cats or people.

A cat trill means hello.

A cat trills to express happiness. Cats often rub their head against you or raise their back to encourage you to pet them.

If your cat associates trilling with getting attention, s/he may start trilling to get you to pay attention to him. 

He may be going back to kittenhood, too.

Summing Up 

In this blog post, we answered the question, “Why do cats trill?” in detail. 

Cats have a tendency of making several different noises. These include chirps, mews, meows, chatters, etc. When in kittenhood, cats learn to chirp and trill from their mother. 

A cat trill means hello and is an expression of happiness. 

Do you have questions? Let us know in the comments…