The Sound of a Giant Kitty?

[Archpaladin Zousha]

Bit of a weird science question: if there was a mutant tabby cat the size of a tiger, would it still meow and purr like a regular-sized cat, or would it roar like a big cat?

I'm working on a weird post-apocalyptic setting where your average household pets grew big enough to be dangerous, and one of the players wants to tame a giant tabby to be her mount and best friend, y'see.

[hamishspence]

Purring is pretty standard. Cheetahs and pumas are closer-related to tabbies than tigers - and they purr. Roaring requires certain vocal adaptations - Felinae (all cats closer to tabbies than tigers)

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Felinae

don't have them. Even the snow leopard and clouded leopard - early offshoots of the "big cats" (pantherines) don't roar.

[Archpaladin Zousha]

Purring is pretty standard. Cheetahs and pumas are closer-related to tabbies than tigers - and they purr. Roaring requires certain vocal adaptations - Felinae (all cats closer to tabbies than tigers)

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Felinae

don't have them. Even the snow leopard and clouded leopard - early offshoots of the "big cats" (pantherines) don't roar.

I see! Thanks, hamishspence!

Do pumas or snow leopards meow? I know cheetahs "chirp" or something...

[Lord Torath]

If it's just a scaled-up house cat, it will make the same sounds, just probably an octave or two lower, and maybe 10-20 decibels louder (if I understand my decibel scale correctly). If the mutation involves more than the body knowing when to stop growing (i.e. not the feline version of Clifford the Big, Red, Dog), then you might need to start looking into different types of vocalizations.

[Rockphed]

Pumas have the same sorts of sounds as housecats, but they have a few sounds that sound roar-ish. Well, death-scream-ish. As in "something is about to die, and it probably isn't me". Pumas aren't that much smaller than tigers (in fact the largest adult pumas are larger than the smallest adult tigers due to the extreme variation in size among tigers), being about 2/3rds the length. If you shift puma noises down about half an octave and increased them by about 10 decibels (so about "twice" the volume), you should be able to make very compelling noises.

[Porthos]

A random but probably at least a little useful YT link:



The bit about the bone that controls the roar is probably the most important bit as well as the inhale/exhale bit about the purr.

When it comes right down to it, as nearly always, it's really that old bugaboo of 'definition of terms'. How one defines a 'roar' and 'purr', to be specific.

[Knaight]

A random but probably at least a little useful YT link:

It's a glorious channel, well suited to research for this game. Plus, there's something intrinsically entertaining about cat videos once you've switched to seeing what happens when you give domestic cat toys (boxes, catnip, laser pointers) to big cats.

[Archpaladin Zousha]

Thanks everyone! For frame of reference, this kitty will be at least big enough that the player can ride it like He-Man on Battle-Cat.

[Lord Torath]

Thanks everyone! For frame of reference, this kitty will be at least big enough that the player can ride it like He-Man on Battle-Cat.

Best. Decision. Ever! I gave my player's Paladin a horse-sized Smilodon to ride for his holy mount (and some friendly Rakasta to provide the tack and saddle).

Tigers (the biggest modern cats) generally top out at about 675 pounds (one reportedly reached 875). War horses (15 - 16 hands high) were around 1500 - 2000 lbs. So really, any cat could be the base for your giant cat. I'd say, pick your base species, and give the giant version the same sounds, scaled up in volume, and down in pitch.

And have fun!

[Ninja_Prawn]

I know I'm a bit late to this thread, but I just wanted to share this as my personal reference point for giant kitties. Basically a low, loud meow rather than an outright roar.

[veti]

I have heard, though I'm no expert, that wild cats only purr when they're kittens/cubs. As adults they lose the habit, only domesticated cats keep it up.

For what it's worth.

[hamishspence]

I've read that about miaowing - as a "kitten vocalisation to parent" and that domestic cats, being infantilised to a degree, keep it up as adults.

But not about purring before.

[Ninja_Prawn]

Well with adult domestic cats, I think they have a tendency to think that humans are just really old cats, so they behave like kittens around people, but change their behaviour when there are no people nearby.

You can see this if you catch a cat on the hunt outdoors. It'll be all quiet, sneaky and predatory - until it notices you, at which point it will relax, 'exit stealth' and probably mew at you. It's like they flip a switch between 'cat mode' and 'kitten mode'.

Another thing I've heard is that big cats only make the purr sound on the outward breath, while domestic cats can purr continuously, on both the in and out breaths.

Spoiler: Some cat linguistics for the OP, in case you didn't know

Show

Purring is an indication of non-hostility. A purring cat is saying "I'm not going to attack you." The opposite it hissing: "back off or I will attack." Purring at a cat is a good way to get it to trust you. Also lying down with your belly up, but that's not always possible when you first go into a stranger's house...

Chirping is an instruction to "follow me" or "come over here" - my cat does it when she spots a mosquito; probably because she's learned that I will always drop whatever I'm doing in order to kill any mosquitoes in the room.

Tail wagging is a gesture of uncertainty. When a cat whips its tail from side to side, it's not sure whether to fight or flee (generally it's between those two options).

Rubbing the sides of the head on something is a mark of ownership. Cats have scent glands there so rubbing them on something leaves their scent on it and marks it as theirs.

I believe meowing is an all-purpose call for attention, like a baby's cry. I used to have a cat that would always do a 'meep meep' kind of meow whenever he entered a room, like "hello, I'm coming in!" Some people have suggested it might also be an attempt to mimic prey species to put them off guard, or even an attempt to mimic human babies to get more attention.

[Archpaladin Zousha]

This is excellent! Thank you all. The player is going to LOVE taking on the city-sized abandoned hyperstore post-apocalyptic world with her tiger-sized tabby pal!

[Blackhawk748]

My guess would be it sounds kinda like this, except louder as its a horse sized cat.