Andy the Bombay tomcat yowls at 2 AM quite a lot.
Usually, it means “COME WITNESS MY FIERCE PROWESS AS A HUNTER AND PROVIDER! LOOK UPON MY TROPHY!”
“Ummm. Andy, it’s a slipper. You caught a slipper.”
“IT COUNTS!”
He used to be quite the mouser, but he doesn’t go out so much any more (being 15 years old and a bit stiff in the joints and all), so he hunts for stray footwear in the dark of the night. And is still completely chuffed about his successes.
Shaney the Bombay wondercat talked a lot. She had a sweet voice and didn’t yowl, but she talked all the time. We had a whole routine:
“MEOW!”
“What’s that girl?”
“MEEE-OW! RRRROW!”
Timmy’s in the well?"
“RRRRR-ROW! MROW!”
“And he needs our help?”
“MEOW!”
She would also chime in when I was on conference calls for work. “Yes, we can complete testing by Wednesday afternoon.”
“MRROW!”
“…and my cat agrees. She’s the real boss.”
[laughter from others on call; we hear dogs and kids; cats not so much]
It’s good enough for me. What a lovely puddytat!
My boyfriend’s cat Charlie will yowl when he’s not feeling well, I guess so we don’t forget he’s there and needs babying. The other step-cat (Protege aka Squeekers) has a little sqeeky meow that she uses to find out where everyone is. She is also very neurotic and will only come for lovin if I am sitting on the couch or laying down.
ETA - I had a part siamese that talked a lot. It was fun having conversations with him.
My recently departed Al had a particular meow he’d use sometimes while wandering through the house. Took a while to figure out that it simply meant, “I’m bored, and nobody’s paying attention to me! WTF!”
My Sara (no pedigree, just a sweet fluffy) prefers that I be seated or in bed at all times. If I am up and walking around she is just SURE that I’m going to leave soon and that she must talk me out of it. To be fair, before I retired that was mostly correct from Monday to Friday anyway.
My only yowler was Noodle, my old man cat who died in November 2013. He would pick up his lionfish toy (it was his - no other cats touched it), and prance about the house while yowling and mrrowing.
We have a yowler and talker too! Tangie has always been a talker. She’s an orange tabby, a feral kitten we took in from someone with ranch land, who is now a 10 year old indoor housecat. From 7 ish weeks old she’s carried on whole conversations with us, talked to people on the phone, and tells us when she’s entered the room. She’s got little black freckles on her pink lips so we always discuss how many Oreo cookies she’s eaten, were they yummy, and did she leave us any. She used to have an older brother, a grey tabby we adopted from a rescue group about 17 years ago. They weren’t best buds, although once in a while I’d catch them napping together. But since he died a couple years ago, Tangie yowls a lot! At first we thought she was hurt or sick. Then we figured out she was looking for the older cat. She figured out we’d come check on her when she did this so now it’s an everyday occurrence. I think she does it from fear and insecurity too. If she’s napping and suddenly awakens, as if she’s had a nightmare, she yowls loudly until she sees us. Cats have such personalities!
Sara was originally my daughter’s cat. We have a finished basement, and Daughter would often play pool with her friends there. Sara was not allowed in the basement, and would yell about it. If she heard the basement door open, she would run as fast as her little paws would allow to try to sneak in.
Daughter is now grown up, married, out of the house for many years. Sara still yells if she hears or thinks she hears) anyone in the basement, and still comes running if the door is open.