Table 1. Ethogram of the adult cat vocalization.

Vocalization	Definition	Context	Mouth	Spectrogram	Reference
Caterwaul or mowl	Loud, drawn out whine, variable pitch. May be like the yowl	Male: reproductive female: warning			[3,5]
Chatter	Cat rhythmically clashes the jaws, creating a low-amplitude, smacking sound. Mostly voiceless	When desiring prey which is out of reach: displacement	+		[3,5,8]
Chirp	A short, high-pitched call described as similar to a bird chirping. Sequence of chirps are labeled chirrups	Contact call: used to locate conspecifics; when something is desired	+		[3,5,8,53]
		Female: produced in or in approach to the nest
Copulatory cry	Cry emitted by female cat during successful intromission. Low, barely audible growl	Reproductive (female)	+		[3,43]
Growl	A graded, low-pitched, throaty, rumbling noise	Aggressive: agonistic. Mainly used to signal danger or to warn or scare off an opponent	Slightly open or closed		[3,5,9,11,12,15]
Gurgle	Short, coherent, pulsed sound described as similar to a person gargling their throat. Largely atonal sounds of low intensity	Affiliative: friendly; females with kittens			[3,14]
Hiss	A drawn-out, low-intensity hissing sound produced by rapid expulsion of air from the cat's mouth, usually during exhalation	Agonistic; involuntary reaction to when a cat is surprised by an apparent enemy	+		[3,5,15,29,35]
Howl	Tonal sounds, distinguished from yowls in that howls are typically shorter in duration	Agonistic threatening or defensive responses	+		[5,9]
Mew (meow, miaow)	The distinctive “meow” call that is typical of cat	Many (social, reproduction, contact call)	Open and closed gradually		[5,7,12,15,29,30,31,36,41,49]
Moan	Long, often slowly frequency-modulated vowel sounds or “o” or “u”	Aggressive: agonistic. Mainly used to signal danger or to warn or scare off an opponent	Open and closed gradually		[5,29]
Murmur	Short, soft-voiced trill or purr, sounding like [mhrn] or a creak	Friendly approach and play	−		[5,29]
Pain shriek	Short intense cries of tense vowels that are characterized by great strain at mouth and throat and the force of breath	Active fighting	+		[9]
Purr	Low, continuous rhythmical tone produced during respiration. Creates a murmuring sound.	Friendly: contentment. Signal: “I am not a threat”	−		[2,3,5,11,16,29,31,39,42,53]
		Solicitation: human-cat interaction
Trills	Garnishments, produced with a soft voice like the purr	Greeting call	−		[44]
Tweedle	Prolonged chirp or tweet often with some voice modulation	When something is desired	+		[8]
Tweet	Soft weak chirps, often without any clear initial [Ɂ] and with varying vowel qualities, e.g. [wi] or [ɦɛu]	When something is desired	+		[8]
Snarl	Cat bares teeth while emitting a sound similar to a growl, but the sound is usually louder, shorter and higher in pitch than a growl.	Aggressive: agonistic	+		[3,9,29]
Squeak	Raspy nasal high-pitched mew-like call	Play and anticipation of feeding	+		[5,13]
Spit	Cat makes a sudden, short, explosive exhalation resulting in a burst of noise that is often accompanied by a violent movement	Aggressive	+		[3,5,9,11,29]
Yowl	A long, drawn-out vocalization of variable pitch, intensity, duration and tonality	Reproductive; mild threat	+		[2,3,5,9,29,31]

CHA, chatter; CHI, chirps; TWD, tweedle; TWE, tweet.