My 1-year-old cat only meows when he wants food or when he wants to play. However, I have observed other cats meowing and purring much more often than my cat.
Is there something wrong with my cat's behavior?
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As John Cavan mentioned, cats vary considerably in how vocal they are. There are a number of factors that determine how often they meow, including genetic (some species, such as siamese, are notorious "talkers", for example), upbringing, and general disposition.
Some cats only vocalize when they want something. Others walk throughout the house loudly meowing, simply to indicate they're happy. Still others only vocalize when they are upset.
While a hearing problem can't be ruled out, this sounds perfectly normal to me.
As a side anecdote, one of the cats we rescued was identified as deaf. Even in his foster home, he was completely unresponsive to sound, other than the vacuum cleaner, which the foster family chalked up to him feeling the vibrations. Indeed, for the first few months at our house, he was both completely silent, and ignored anything audible.
However, it turned out that he could hear just fine, and was simply ignoring us! Once he got comfortable, he not only responded to sound and words, but also started vocalizing on his own. He's got a very quiet meow (something I find to be fairly frequent in males who were neutered at a young age), but is no longer shy about using it!
Beofett
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Some people might consider this a positive behavior! However, not all cats are vocal just as not all dogs bark much, each is a little unique. Having said that, your cat may be a little hard of hearing. One of our cats is deaf and she will vocalize when being bundled up for the vet, but is otherwise quite silent. The only thing is, she sometimes looks like she is meowing but no sound comes out...
Joanne C
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