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Cat howling/crying all night.
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Hello, I wonder if anyone can offer advice/tips on how to deal with my cat. She has taken to howling/crying all night. She woke me up about 10 times during the night and when I got up to see what she wanted she ran down the stairs. When I went down the stairs she ran back up them
She had food in her bowl, access to her litter box. The bath was running just the way she likes it for her water(she will only drink running water) with the light on, so she could see.
She is 15 years old, but in great health, I just don't understand why she has started this and I have no idea how to get her to stop:(
She will sleep on my bed and get some rubs just before I go to sleep, then I am awakened to a cat banshee. This has been going on for a good few months now, but I think because I am getting up to see what is up with her, she is getting attention so keeps howling.
Anyone had any experience with how to deal with this?
She had food in her bowl, access to her litter box. The bath was running just the way she likes it for her water(she will only drink running water) with the light on, so she could see.
She is 15 years old, but in great health, I just don't understand why she has started this and I have no idea how to get her to stop:(
She will sleep on my bed and get some rubs just before I go to sleep, then I am awakened to a cat banshee. This has been going on for a good few months now, but I think because I am getting up to see what is up with her, she is getting attention so keeps howling.
Anyone had any experience with how to deal with this?
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It's apparently relatively common in elderly cats and could be a sign of 'dementia' insofar as the cat panics when it wakes at night, unsure of where it is and needs the reassurance of familiar and comforting people and attention. During daylight the cat acts fairly normally.
With my cousin's cat she started to bring her upstairs to her bedroom at night so that when she woke she could see the person she felt most secure with. However, you say that your cat is already on your bed when she starts yowling. Perhaps just say a few reassuring words and don't get up because this probably reinforces the behaviour.
It might be worth getting the vet to give her a check-up just to exclude any medical problems. I know you said your cat was healthy but I believed my 16 year old cat was very healthy too - she had her annual vet check-up but less than 6 months later she had died from cancer. The annual check is, after all, fairly cursory.
Yes, she uses it, she hasn't really wanted out as the weather has been so rubbish. And she tends to use her litter tray even when she has gone out.
I do think I will need to take her to the vet and get a check-up as I can't continue with this, she has woken me, my husband and two younger kids, but not my 17yr old, he can sleep through anything:rolleyes:
I will definitely make an appointment with the vet. I will let you all know how I get on.
Many thanks for the replies.
Now she does it after every meal as well and we think she`s calling her imaginary kittens to come and eat.
It is definately age related. We`ve had her checked at her six month health assessment and apart from her thyroid being overactive and the occasional bladder infection she is still reaonably active for her age. Oh yes, she also howls if the sun takes too long to get round to her spot on the settee. And comes upstairs in the morning and sits in the bedroom doorway howling until one of us gets up (usually me!!)
Ours is now 24 and totally blind but she still finds her way around ok (she knows where the fridge is).;)
She has been singing now for 6/7 years (I actually like it). Usually it starts when she comes in thru the cat-flap (sort of "I'm home!"). But she does occasionally sing at night.
If we speak or make any noise she stops immediately, so perhaps she just wants to know if someone is there?
Doesn't sound as though your's stops though?
'yowl - I've had a poo/done a wee' followed by thunderous running around the living room
'Yowl - it's dark where are you all?'
'Yowl - why can't I go downstairs' - we live on 3 storeys and ground floor is secured and alarmed on a night.
Vets checked her and apart from same issues as other old cats says its just age.
Recap ... so you have had her checked by the vet so perhaps she is lonely or bored? Cats are nocturnal so its not unusual for them to be active during the night.
Course you have. Why not share some pictures of them with us maybe? :rolleyes:
My son is going to take some pictures for me because he tells me my camera is crap. I did have some on my old pc but it blew up before I could transfer the pictures. You will see him before the end of this week I promise you
Haha course it did, convenient that. And I live in a castle with the 7 dwarves. What fairy tales you tell :rolleyes:
I have had a fair few cats throughout my life, all have gone to bed with me at bedtime not wanted out to play or stayed up all night prowling about and playing.
That is not true at all ... I used to have 2 tomcats and they would be out all night. When I got up in the morning I would find a couple of dead voles or mice on my doormat because they had been hunting all night.
That's quite surprising because my neutered tom sleeps on my bed all night and he's never caught as much as a moth.
Females tend to hunt more than males, in my experience - I think it's instinctive behaviour in that in the wild they obviously need to hunt but they also need to teach their offspring these essential skills. At the moment, both my females are spending a lot of time outdoors, one of them even brought in a live mouse at 3am the other morning (rescued) but my dopey male won't go further than the back garden.
As for your response to the OP, howling at night is a well recognised phenomenon in older cats. As I said, they can get confused and distressed when they wake in the dark and often just need comfort and reassurance. It doesn't necessarily mean anything is physically wrong but it's always best to get cats vet checked to be on the safe side - which the OP is doing and I am sure she will update us in due course.
I can assure you that it is true, NONE of my cats went out to play at night. Seeing as you didn't live in my house I can't see how you can say that.
I've no idea what that is, but ours are certainly not nocturnal.
We have a cat-flap and the only time ours go out (at night) is for a quick toilet - no more than 2 mins.
I suspect the nocturnal thing comes from the habit of "putting the cat out for the night".
Ours just sleep, wake up, stretch, see if there's anything to eat, potter about, clean, sleep etc.
They like to lay in the garden when the sun's out, but other than that, would much rather be inside (unless we're outside).