Neither of my cats belong to a particularly vocal breed, but that hasn’t stopped either of them from being chatty. One of my cats is a big fan of the way his voice sounds when the house is silent at night and his meows echo, while the other cat is all about using her cutest meows to get what she wants.
And then, there are cats like the Maine Coon kitten in the video below. He might still be a baby, but he’s already learned how to use his voice to show the adult cat in the house who’s boss.
On Sunday, Oct. 26, @skywalkerdk99 shared this video of their kitten, Maska, standing up to the adult Maine Coon in the house. Despite his tiny size, he’s already figured out how to be rather intimidating!
“He really wanted Crookshanks to know who was boss in that moment,” their human wrote.
Sure enough, there’s Maska, going tail to tail with his big brother without a hint of hesitation. That gnarly little meow is both adorable and scary at the same time! But if Crookshanks was scared, he definitely didn’t let it show — but that doesn’t mean that viewers aren’t impressed.
“There’s some bobcat in that kitten there,” one person commented.
Another wrote, “Lots of sass in a little package!”
Related: Maine Coon Cat With ‘Cone of Shame’ Still Rules Game of Fetch
How Kittens Begin Vocalizing
While it’s true that cats mostly vocalize as a way of communicating with the humans in their lives, kittens will also meow at other cats, including their mama and their siblings in their litter, as Catster points out.
But when do they start making those adorable (and sometimes scary) little noises? They’ll start out by mewing a few days after they’re born, and over the first couple of months of their lives, those mews will turn into full fledged meows.
As they continue to grow, their meow will change. Not only will it get deeper over time, but it will also change in tone and length, especially as they learn which meows end up working when they try to get what they want from their people (and, sometimes, fellow animals)!
Sometimes, those meows are to tell a bigger cat that they’re the boss, as we can see in the video below… and other times, they’re just looking for pets and attention. Either way, your cat will find a way to make themselves heard!
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This story was originally reported by Parade Pets on Oct 27, 2025, where it first appeared in the Pet News section. Add Parade Pets as a Preferred Source by clicking here.