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Thu 20 Nov, 2003 07:15 pm
I have a very old cat. She's 20 and through that 20 years she has been a divine companion. Lately she is driving us insane.
For years and years and years we wondered if the cat even had vocal cords. "uh-uh-uh" was all she could manage. Now the cat yowls. I mean YOWLS. And YOWLS and YOWLS.
At 4:00 am she YOWLS because she wants to be fed. We've tried behavior modification - putting her outside instead of feeding her. She stands on the patio and YOWLS. She YOWLS loud enough to wake the neighbors - and we have a very big yard.
She's ancient. It's cold. I hate putting her outside but I do not need a 4 am wakeup YOWL.
She YOWLS in her sleep. She wanders through the house and YOWLS. These YOWLS can jangle but there not really a big deal. Rumor had it that her father was a bobcat. These YOWLS would almost confirm it.
She's been to the vet. She's "amazingly healthy. Honestly, 20? She's incredible. Wow!".
Do you have any ideas that will help allow our household and our neighbors get some sleep?
(Please note: I will never ever in a million years do anything mean to this cat so don't even go there.)
My old female cat did that for the last year before she died. She lived to be over 21. We also had her checked by the vet and there was nothing physically wrong with her except that she was old. She could have some arthritic pain which doesn't show up in a general check-up. I figured mine was also cranky that she'd gotten old, but she had no patience left for anything and she'd let us all know exactly how she felt -- grumpy.
Good luck to yours... give her lots of special treats, I say, and be sure to tell her how beautiful she is. Sadly there doesn't seem to be any regular pain-reliever like aspirin that you can give cats.
Pifka - that's it exactly. She's mad that she's old. She's cranky. She had hip surgery on both hips about 7 years ago and I worry that they bother her but she is very flexible and strong.
I wonder if I can buy earplugs for the neighborhood at a good price on e-bay....
Have got a cat that's 16 and she has started doing the same thing. Had to have most of her nose cut off to remove a skin cancer and ever since she just starts YOWLING every morning when the sun comes up. Nothing stops her! You just have to ignore it and after about 5-10 minutes she gets bored and stops.
Actually, I think you can give a cat a baby-asprin every couple of days. Definitely ask your vet about it before you do it though, I may be off my rocker. Couldn't you just leave food in the bowl? I know, I know, it's not always about food, right?
Have no idea what this could be. Help her in her old age, and forget the ear plugs. They only block high frequencies, and I bet this yeowl is like a low freq police siren.
I wish she would get bored and stop - she will rhythmically yowl for long periods of time. Eventually we give in.
I remember reading once that if you were being harassed by a stalker and you let the phone ring 100 times before answering it that you've really just taught the stalker that it takes 100 rings to get your attention.
I'm afraid thats what the cat is learning. I might be better off just getting up and feeding her.
But littlek is right - it doesn't seem to be about the food.
She doesn't seem to be in any pain and the yowling is not activity related. I hate to think of forcing pills on her at this point in her life. Like most cats, she doesn't take too kindly to that kind of interference.
Roger is absolutely right - this yowl is not like any other cat sound I've ever heard. It's ear splitting.
Helping her through her old age is definately what I intend to do.
At 4 AM, Mr. B usually has less kind ideas.
nahhh, it ain't about the food at all. my cat's 16 or so, an only child for a year now. he's struggling at this point. he's hoarse when he tries to meow or yowl. you can barely hear him.
the vet recommended a bit of alternative type medicine to ease his discomfort. he said it would calm him down, keep him quiet and happy and make him sleep all night long if it was timed right.
i have no idea what he was talking about tho, something about a waft of the draft....420 or some such nonsense,,,,,
How about a sound proof roomette?
Okay, not sound proof, you need to hear her needs, but perhaps a modified soundproofroomette?
Hmmm - possibly she is dementing - lots of older cats seem to do so.
I wonder if some tranquilizers might help all of you? It sounds a bit like an obsessional behaviour - which, again, many older cats DO develop - and the tranquilizers can help with that.
Good luck! They are so precious, but can be so annoyingif it is pain, I wonder if pussy acupuncture, or pain relievers, might help?
Man..it only gets worse?
Zoey never really 'talked' alot either but, now she is doing a little cry like meow. She is 7 and just recently started crying when I go to bed. I found early on that she cries when I leave the house but, you know..the bed thing makes me nuts. I've tried to do everything! Still, when I turn out the light she goes to find her baby (a beanie baby) and cries and cries around the house. The baby is also her companion when I leave the house so, I had first thought it being her comfort when I was gone. But, when Im talking to her at night, sitting right there, she still feels she needs it? Eventually she either drops it by the bed or brings it up in bed and settles into my legs for the evening.
I feel for ya..at least I know when shes going to cry and she stops,eventually.
Ummm. Mikey. I don't get it.
I don't think that she would adapt well to confinement at her age, osso. Maybe a soundproof room for me and for my neighbors!?
I was wondering about dementia, dlowan, she her health checks out very well. She is truly a wonderful cat and I do want her old age to be as comfortable as possible but I worry about tranquilizers. My mom had an ancient cat that OD'd on tranqs and barely made it out alive - apparently they metabolize things differently when they get to be so old. As for me, I do take a sleeping pill (otherwise I'd never sleep) but nobody can sleep through this yowling.
My cat usually sleeps right on my head, quinn! Luckily she gets up to wander when she starts yowling.
I don't think it always gets worse. Our other ancient cat (we adopted her off the street as an adult and had her for about 17 years so we don't know exactly how old) stumbled one morning. I called the vet, took her in, they did her blood work.
By the time the blood results came back and showed that her sugar levels were crashing, she was dead. She was perfectly normal up until the stumble.
I'm not usually a fan of this sort of thing, but how about a consult with a herbalist. A couple of pet-owning friends had good results after consulting with a herbalist for their pets.
ah..sleeping ON your head..lovely.
Mine does the Im hungry dance on my head in the morning but, the rest of the night..its the legs...thank goodness. Although that is the cute and endearing thing about kittens...they love the neck/head thing.
Boomer - I think Mikey may also be referring to herbal medicine - in smoke form....
Oh. I get it. Thanks dlowan. I'm slow on the uptake.
My neice works for a holistic vet in Texas. I'll call her up to see if she has any ideas!
Used to make one of my cats fascinated with flame.....
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