Any Ideas on this?

[Soupie]

The last few weeks or so Pousse has started crying in the night - normally between 12am and 6am. It's a bloodcurdling yowl as only oriental cats seem to be able to do and doesn't stop unless I go through and sleep on the sofa or she comes on my bed.

It's becoming a big problem now as I live in flats and I worry about it disturbing people and also I'm not sleeping. It winds Quando up who would otherwise sleep all night ...

When I call to her she will come and have a rub and then go away and cry again. I have got up and checked litter tray, how warm her bed it and her food etc and all are fine.

When she came to me I was told she would be fine as a housecat because she never went out but her old owners had a catflap and I wonder if she is asking to be let out (impossible where I live now) for a wander?

I have a feliway diffuser and at all other times she is soppy and sleepy. I've tried playing with her in the evening to tire her out. Any ideas on how to break the cycle?

[Elaine]

Hmmm, I remember how it feels to have a kitty wake me in the middle of the night crying but he was ill and old and I just used to go into automatic pilot, search him out and take him to bed with me.
How old is Pousse now?
If she is an elderly kitty it may be [possible that she is becoming disorientated and calling for reasurance. Or she may have a medical issue that needs to be adressed, is there anything else that she has began to do that is out of character?
Sometimes it also helps to feed them their last meal as late as possible, i.e just before you go to bed.

[yola]

My Balie does this periodically - always has done. I kind of sleep through it. It is the most awful yowl though and I worry it'll wake the boys - they sleep through it I guess they're used to it too!

What usually helps Balie is me patting the duvet and him jumping up and sleeping alongside me. If/when he jumps off, the cycle will begin again. I haven't found anything that can change it - it's just something I've learnt to live with.

However, a friend did have a cat that developed dementia. The howling was a key symptom of this aparently.

[Soupie]

How old is Pousse now?
If she is an elderly kitty it may be [possible that she is becoming disorientated and calling for reasurance. Or she may have a medical issue that needs to be adressed, is there anything else that she has began to do that is out of character?
Sometimes it also helps to feed them their last meal as late as possible, i.e just before you go to bed.

Hi Elaine she is a couple of months off 14 now ;) Mum stayed with me while I had my op and she seems to think it is a reassurance thing as if Quando got up and went to her she was quiet again.

Healthwise she is incredibly good for her - arthritic shoulders under control with glucosamine and she can now jump on my bed again (she had stopped sleeping with me as she found it hard to get on and off if I were asleep) - her weight is good and coat shiny. She is at the vets next week to be chipped as I am getting the new one (who arrives sunday) done so made sense for them all to be done so I can get her checked over then.

They are fed at 6.30am, when I get in from work and then about 11pm although she has stopped eating her biccies. She has also started coming to meet me when I get in which she has never done even before I got Q :?

My Balie does this periodically - always has done. I kind of sleep through it. It is the most awful yowl though and I worry it'll wake the boys - they sleep through it I guess they're used to it too!

What usually helps Balie is me patting the duvet and him jumping up and sleeping alongside me. If/when he jumps off, the cycle will begin again. I haven't found anything that can change it - it's just something I've learnt to live with.

However, a friend did have a cat that developed dementia. The howling was a key symptom of this aparently.

I hope it is the same as Balie rather than dementia but will mention it at the vets when we are there just in case. I am incredibly attached to her for a cat whom I've not had long and got as an oldie BUT I always said to the rescue centre that I was doing this to make sure SHE had a good life not me as she hadn't had the best to that point so if I have to put up with it I will for her.

Bless her little black cuteness but it is a bit galling when I am having the rare break from insomnia :lol:

[dandysmom]

Yowling like that at night is frequently a sign of senility in older cats; Pousse does seem a bit young for it at 14, but all cats are different. Patches did it; there was really nothing to do except try to comfort her, and learn to live with it....sorry to sound a bit negative .........

[angieh]

My cat Smudge started howling on occasion a year or so before we had her pts at about 19 years old (she had other health problems too) and I was advised by the vet that the howling was associated with dementia. Merlin now does it on occasion - day or night - he's 21 and I am absolutely sure it is to do with him being disorientated and you could almost say he's yelling "I don't know where I am". I usually go and pick him up and give him and cuddle and reassure him and that seems to work fine. We know all cats are different and maybe your Pousse is in early stages. I get the feeling from Merlin that it is not as horrible as it is for people. I also live with my mother in law who is 86 and in early stages of dementia. She gets very confused and upset.

Sorry not to be more helpful Soupie - I understand your worry about waking your neighbours up.

[Grete]

Bubbles has done this off and on a lot, she wants us to get up and play or feed her - basically she's bored and in 'active cat time'. Pretty much, the worst thing you can do is give in to it, as it sets the precedent and they know if they do it, they get a certain response.

If her health is otherwise good and no other signs of dementia, I would put it down to boredom and wanting attention.

Little ******s but we love them anyway.

[Soupie]

Yowling like that at night is frequently a sign of senility in older cats; Pousse does seem a bit young for it at 14, but all cats are different. Patches did it; there was really nothing to do except try to comfort her, and learn to live with it....sorry to sound a bit negative .........

No that's fine - I was always prepared that she may not be a long-term cat - as I said I was determined she would live her life out somewhere loved and cherished :smt038

You might remember she was not a healthy cat when I got her - few teeth, underweight and a nasty collar rub and she already has arthritic shoulders (her legs are bowed due to poor nutrition when she was younger the vet thinks :( )

She has been a lot more affectionate recently - seeking head rubs a lot so that does tie in with the reassurance.... I shall certainly ask the vet in case there is anything I else I can do to make her more comfy.



Sorry not to be more helpful Soupie - I understand your worry about waking your neighbours up.

No worries - George my little cat who lived to 19 didn't do the yowling thing - in fact apart from being a bit frail in her last year or so there was nothing wrong until a couple of days before she went.

[dandysmom]

No that's fine - I was always prepared that she may not be a long-term cat - as I said I was determined she would live her life out somewhere loved and cherished :smt038

You might remember she was not a healthy cat when I got her - few teeth, underweight and a nasty collar rub and she already has arthritic shoulders (her legs are bowed due to poor nutrition when she was younger the vet thinks :( )

She has been a lot more affectionate recently - seeking head rubs a lot so that does tie in with the reassurance.... I shall certainly ask the vet in case there is anything I else I can do to make her more comfy.



No worries - George my little cat who lived to 19 didn't do the yowling thing - in fact apart from being a bit frail in her last year or so there was nothing wrong until a couple of days before she went.


Just like us, not all cats get senile dementia. Misty was past 19 when she died, and never had the disoriented yowling thing, and she was blind also! You'd think that would have made her a bit disoriented but she coped amazingly with it; she hid it so well I thought her slower moving and hesitant jumping were just old age and possible arthritis!

[Elaine]

Just like us, not all cats get senile dementia. Misty was past 19 when she died, and never had the disoriented yowling thing, and she was blind also! You'd think that would have made her a bit disoriented but she coped amazingly with it; she hid it so well I thought her slower moving and hesitant jumping were just old age and possible arthritis!

Aww bless her, do you know why she went blind Eileen?

[Soupie]

Just like us, not all cats get senile dementia. Misty was past 19 when she died, and never had the disoriented yowling thing, and she was blind also! You'd think that would have made her a bit disoriented but she coped amazingly with it; she hid it so well I thought her slower moving and hesitant jumping were just old age and possible arthritis!

No I realise that but she is the only one of "my" cats who has lived past Portia's age so I had no experience of it. George was a bit tottery and very deaf but mostly pretty normal ;)

I think if like with your cat it comes on slowly they adapt really well!

Mum thinks I am being daft and Portia is just a demanding baggage :oops: She IS a demanding baggage but after reading up on the dementia thing she has other symptoms like forgetting to eat for hours on end and having to be reminded, and missing the litter tray which is happening more often (luckily my tray is on a plastic backed door mat I just bung in the machine!) .......

Ach I'll just keep an eye on her and see how she goes :?

[Tinker]

Ask the vet to check her blood pressure. Bobby started to wail in the night when he was 14, and he didn't look terribly well/happy though there was nothing I could put my finger on. The vet found his blood pressure had gone through the roof. He had to have tablets for the rest of his life, within 2 days he stopped crying in the night and did look brighter and more content (though with him being blind he didn't get very active).

[Kazz]

Cats are all different some get "confused and call out for reassurance" others potter through old age in silence.

[Soupie]

I spoke to my vet on the telephone today and she says she doesn't think it is anything to worry about at the moment - she only saw Pousse recently anyway as her ongoing checking for getting her up to ideal weight etc since she came from the Rescue. I am happy to say she has maintained an ideal weight since July :-D

I am seeing the vet next week with them all anyway and she will give her a thorough once-over to reassure me ;) I'll ask about the blood pressure Tinker too - thanks for that.

She's been very well today fussing over my best mate and generally dominating the sofa as usual.

Thank you as ever for the useful advice and for "listening" to me ramble.

[dandysmom]

Sorry, Elaine, just caught this! No, I don't; think it was simply old age. She hid it so cleverly I didn't realize it till one day she was sitting on my lap and I switched the reading lamp on and her pupils didn't contract at all! I had a horrible idea what it was, and got the flashlight and shined it in her eyes; same result. I didn't see any point taking her to the vet as she was terrified of it; and total blindness isn't treatable. She was in excellent health otherwise, enjoying life and her food, so we just coped. Fortunately I'm not a person who re-arranges furniture, so she had no trouble getting around; no one would have known she was blind.