Help with Loud Cat

I'm a vet, and absolutely second what Donna W and some others have said. This could definitely be hyperthyroidism or another health problem, and it's not fair to the cat to just start squirting her with water or locking her away from the family if she has an illness. Please let us know what happens with her!
Kim

a garage, a muzzle?
i dont know, sorry. is she in heat? i know they make alot of noise during that time. make sure she is fed and watered well before she goes down for the night.

My cat will be 20 this year and has started similar habits. He sleeps with me, and started howling when his eye sight started going, his eyes are better and so is the howling but he seems to need reassuring and lots of rubbing before dawn in the early am. I have water in my room too. No answers really just going thru similar stuff!
God Bless

Is this recent behavior or just recently a problem? If it's a recent behavior change, what is different around the house? Have you seen a vet to make sure it's not a medical issue? What is the cat's feeding schedule? Maybe feeding him/her at a different time will encourage quiet time.

Also, does your daughter have any "white noise" in her room? That may help.

Sleep deprivation is a serious health issue. Give this one away and get another cat.

Our old cat did the same thing! He would get in the bath tub at night and howl at the faucet until we gave him fresh water. It would happen 3 - 4 times a night. This got old after a while and we needed to get a good night sleep. Our vet said it is like kitty dementia. We ended up putting him in the finished basement at night (he had a litter box down there, food and water). The first couple of nights he still howled, after that, we didn't notice it if he did. He started howling when he was about 15 years old, he died this year, just short of his 20th birthday.

Good luck!
Wendy

i had a beloved old cat that did this. i'd check with your vet. he might be in pain, or just suffering from a form of feline dementia.
poor old guy.
drove me crazy too. he was lucky i had terrible aim.
i see no help for you. good luck!
:) khairete
S.

Assuming the cat is healthy and this is just a behavior thing...

I've had success by wetting the cat in the bathtub when this happened w/ new kittens. They ended up licking themselves dry. If they are licking, they are not howling.

Is this new cat behavior? I had a cat for 11 years, and after I married and had my first daughter, my cat started doing the same thing. He was extremely sneaky about it too...would hop into the tub and meow/howl at night right after my daughter fell asleep...and I think it was on purpose to wake her up. In our situation, I think my cat was just older, set in his ways, and the new baby really upset him, as it obviously took away a lot of my time and energery from him. It was clear that he would do the howling to wake my daughter up, and eventually his behavior got worse, to the point of him setting his teeth on my daughters arm. I did give him to my mother, as I was afraid he would hurt my daughter. Maybe your situation is nothing similar, but if it is a new behavior (and sinse your children are older), maybe he is feeling neglected or left out, and is howling for attention to be noticed? Is everyone more busy than usual? I am not sure what you can do to lessen the noise, other than maybe putting your cat into a laundry room or something at night so the he can't be heard, I have also used squirt guns filled with water to squirt my cats when they misbehaved. Hope something I said helped!
K.

I don't think too much of Stephanie J's response. Pets aren't disposable. No one will want a 17-year-old cat, and the poor thing would end up being euthanized in an unfamiliar place by an unfamiliar person.

Definitely take your cat to the vet to discuss the issue. The vet likely will ask: How long has your cat been exhibiting this behavior? Have you changed brands of food and/or kitty litter? Have there been any other changes in the environment (new/rearranged furniture etc)? How much is kitty eating/drinking? How much "output" is there in the litterbox?

It may be that whatever the underlying issue is, is treatable. You'll have to decide whether that treatment is practical and/or affordable.
It may be that the underlying issue is NOT treatable, and that your kitty's confusion or pain can't be effectively managed. In that case, euthanasia may be the most humane option. But it can be done while you're holding her, saying goodbye, instead of just dumping her as Stephanie J suggests.

Have you taken the cat to the vet? She may be in pain or have some other medical condition going on. Get her checked out.

Hi M.,

I'm a licensed Veterinary Technician and from the sounds of things you've got your hands full. What the others have said about your kitty getting dementia is a possibility, its nto unheard of but, What you're describing of your 17yr old cat sounds to me like one of a couple things. It is not uncommon for an older cat to get hyperthoidism. This usually is noticed by the owner when the cat starts yeowling all the time, is ravonously hungry but not gaining any weight, losing weight if not medically intervened, an unkept appearance, thickened nails, etc... The other thing that can happen frequently in older cats is diabetes. The most common symptom is drinking alot of water. I would recommend taking your kitty to your Veterinarian for a thourough workup including blood work and a urinalysis. Explain your worrys with your Vet, along with any household changes and behavioral changes. Both of these diseases are very treatable, but can be time consuming in the beginning of the diagnosis. Putting him/her outside would be like tossing one of your grandparents outside. They're not able to care for themselves and with all the cat diseases out there now and the cat being so old it is very suseptable to these diseases besides being in danger of being hit, or attacked by other animals. The best thing you can do for yourselves and your kitty is to go see your Veterinarian. Hope this helps you and if you have any questions or concerns please feel free to contact me by email.

It could be that your old cat is suffering from age related dementia. She may be howling because she is confused and disoriented. Check out Dr. Fox's website for some tips on soothing her (Google Animal Doctor Michael Fox).

Hi M.,

Talk to your vet.

Good luck. D.

That's hard we had the same prob. i would suggest you bring him to a vet and see if he can hear properly and if not is there anything you can do to help him hear. I know MOST older cats get hard of hearing and during the day they are fine (for the most part) Because they see you coming and going but at night they can't so they meow, well since they can't hear well or at all the howl loudly so they can hear themselves.
Otherwise i don't have a suggestion because we finally had to find another owner because she woke our baby every night, my husband every night and he worked 10-12 hr days and me because the only one who could (since i didn't work long days) get up to try and quite her...AUGH! Good luck

I suggest that you buy 3 big fans (name brand called "Lasko" at Lowes) to put beside both of your children's beds and your bed. My kids and my husband and I all have big fans beside our beds. If you put it on Level 3, I don't see how you guys could hear the cat If you put her in the extra room with the door closed. We use the fans just for noise (and so the kids don't wake up our 1 year old),( we don't have animals) but I hope it works! Best of Luck!