A Silent Siamese (and other oddities)

I just joined this forum and would like some feed back on a couple of issues with my cat Simon. He is a pure bred chocolate point Siamese, and I got him from a woman on craigslist Dec 7th/07. He has NO voice. Nadda............el-silenceo. He is extremely affectionate, VERY laid back/relaxed (almost to the point of dead weight), loves to be carried over my shoulder like a sack of potatoes or with his paws around my neck strattling the front of my upper body. He is a BIG boy and weighs in at almost 15#. He is oh SO sweet in nature and follows me like a puppy and when I walk in the door he is practically climbing UP my body to be held and if I bend over, he will try to sit on my back and nuzzles me..............does the head bump thing, BUT.......NO VOICE!!!! I find it extremely odd for a Siamese to NOT be vocal as they are notorious for their *chatti-ness*.
Also, he drags my other cat Coco's fleece baby blanket right out of her bed and does this, ahem....humping gesture in a circle. Personally, I think he is masterbating (masturbating). Any thoughts on these behaviors?
This group has a great sense of humor!! I hope I am not out of line in asking about the above with the blanket.
Thanks~L.P.

[Savas]

Did the previous owner comment at all on her lack of vocal quality? Damage to the voice box can lead to a silent cat. However, it's not unheard of for a Siamese to be silent.

Does he purr? If not, then it could be damage due to previous infection (although the two aren't always connected).
There's also the possibility he was trained out of verbal usage...or abused into not using it.

As to the humping...is kitty fixed? If not, you may want to get him fixed (unless you're breeding?)

If he is fixed, sometimes cats exhibit post-fixed sexual behavior from behavioral memory. It's VERY annoying, isn't it? :)

One other thought; I've noticed that non vocal cats are either very standoffish or VERY friendly/touchy feelie. The latter I think is from lack of ability to express verbal communication. Like a blind person, they compensate with other language skills, and cats have a wide variety of physical communications. (Especially big lazy ones!!!)

[lp2u229]

The owner said he wasn't very vocal. I had him checked thoroughly as soon as I got him. NO vocal cord damage. He was dewormed, got a rabies shot (he is an indoor only boy, but was indoor/outdoor where he lived before), had a dose of revolution as he had fleas, and the Vet cleaned his ears out and put him on Trasaderm because of the ear mites and a secondary infection.  He aslo has a bad case of Gingivitits, so I had his teeth cleaned and he had 3 teeth pulled.
He purrs all the time and has been neutered. He is I'd say, almost *annoyingly* affectionate. He also drools quite a bit, but I think that's because of his teeth, which I will have to keep an eye on and spent some $$$ getting them cleaned 2x a year. I am not able to get this doo-dad thing I put on my finger into his mouth to clean & massage his gums and I don't want him OR me stressed over doing this.
I have cleaned his ears out several times(there is that brownish-black stuff in there) and even gave him 2 doses of Acarexx which is only dispensed by Vets, and he STILL has Mites. He shakes his head ALL THE TIME and both ears are equally affected.  HOW do you get rid of mites???? I feel I've done everything I possibly can to alleviate this problem, BUT.....then I see him shaking and scratching around his ears/neck area. I just feel SO bad fo him.
I LOVE Simon SOOOOO much, and he is such a lover. I have on occassion heard him *chirp* at Coco, my other kitty, and I have seen him *groom* her, which is SO endearing :-)
Thanks for your input....REALLY appreciate it.
L.P.

[bosscat]

revolution instantly  cured both of my cats of ear mites.

[Thomas Dock, CVJ, Vet. Technician]

Hi...I know I am late in responding, but I wanted to see if the ear mites had cleared up yet.   Bosscat is right, Revolution is great for clearing up ear mites.   Usually takes about 2 doses.

The other thing to think about is that maybe Simon is not really 100% Siamese.  Now, before anyone gets defensive, keep in mind that the gene that causes coloring at the points is simply a single recessive gene in cats.   It is theoretically possible to get a pointed kitten from two cats who are not pointed.   One of my recent cats, Fozzy, looked as if he was a Siamese mix (seal point) but came from a litter with an orange and white kitten and a tabby kitten.

Even if the breeder had papers, it could be that Simon has another cat in his background somewhere that isn't Siamese (outcross, mistaken breeding, etc).   He is such a big boy that I wonder if this isn't the case.   Most of my Siamese have been 12lbs or less.   Does he have a lean look to him or a heavy, cobby type body like a Persian?

Finally, some believe that the reason we humans think Siamese are so talkative is because they have lowered the pitch of their communications to talk to us!   They are such an old breed, one could easily imagine early Siamese being selected for their talkative nature.   Most cats communicate above our range of hearing.   Maybe Simon just doesn't know how to talk in our range of hearing!  I am glad to hear that you have heard him chirp at your other kitties though.

If you haven't found out already, visit your veterinarian and ask about oral rinses for Simon.   They are much easier to use than fingerbrushes and cats tolerate them better.   Even Oravet would be good, although you still have a small applicator (Q-tip size) to get into his mouth.

Good luck!!

[CatShapedHeart3]

this probaly wont help much....
but my luffy has ear wax problems...but before when he had mites i used a dab of water and carefully cleaned his ear. recently though i got this petco stuff, it does wonders!

and my siamese is only vocal when hungry or waking up, or when we come home...maybe since hes a boy he's quieter?