'Yowl' and 'Yelp'

If animals are making the noises, I would expect a cat to make a "yowl" and a dog to make a "yelp." I think of a "yowl" as a longer sound than a "yelp."

"The cat was out on the fence making a horrible yowling sound."
"The dog let out a yelp when the baby pulled its ear."

I'm not sure if a human would ever yowl, but I have heare "yelp" used to refer to a human sound. Like,

A yowl is a long, drawn-out sound, much like a howl. Dogs and wolves howl, while cats (especially cats in heat) yowl. A yelp is a sudden, shorter sound. A cat or a dog might yelp if you accidentally step on its foot. Actually both words are somewhat onomotopoeic.

You could say "background" for heritage, but it isn't really slang, just informal.

Hello,
Thanks to both of you, actually, what I am looking for is a verb to express a loud aggressive cry which could be applied here in the follwing sentence:
... then I heard him yowl(howl, yelp...)'smart way of cashing a trashy heritage'

Thank you

yell? holler? scream?

Hello x

For the cry, perhaps 'howl (out)'.

Though Pieanne's 'yell' is probably better.

MrP

Hello,

Thanks to you all, I think I will try'howl out', the others I have used at least ten times in the same text. Cheers