Old healthy cat howling early morning -- owner can't stay awake duringday!

I see that his has been posted and discussed a lot, but I've not seen
much in the way of solutions...

Our cat is 18 years old and just got a clean bill of health. No kidney
failure, no hyperthyroidism, etc. The only thing the vet noticed was
that her stool is pretty hard. At his recommendation we started mixing
metamucil in with her food and it seems to be helping. No matter what
time of the day she uses the little pan she will always come running out
and cry a few times.

She has started howling at night. Sometimes she'll start the night out
in the bedroom with us but then eventually goes out into the other room
and starts crying. If we call her she'll usually stop for about an
hour. If one of us sleeps out on the couch she won't cry.

As far as we can tell her eyesight and hearing are OK. She usually
doesn't start until it starts getting light out in the morning
(sometimes as early as 3am), so I don't think the suggestion I've seen
about leaving a light on will help.

My instinct tells me that she's looking for us and wondering why we're
not out and about the apartment. The crying is getting more frequent
lately and it's difficult for us to sleep. We've tried feeding her
right before bed, but no change.

When I get up in the morning she is very glad to see me and follows me
around and sits next to me on the couch. When I go to poor a cup of
coffee she will always eat some of her dry food, which is on the floor
next to where I am standing. When I move away she will too. Could this
be food related? We have no other pets and it is a small apartment.

Thanks.

It could be from hearing loss or from dementia. Can you try leaving a radio
or TV on for her and see if that helps? Glad physical problems were ruled
out by the vet.
Gail
"AA" wrote in message
news:Af9Ce.71612$%Z2.22170@lakeread08...
I see that his has been posted and discussed a lot, but I've not seen much
in the way of solutions...

Our cat is 18 years old and just got a clean bill of health. No kidney
failure, no hyperthyroidism, etc. The only thing the vet noticed was that
her stool is pretty hard. At his recommendation we started mixing
metamucil in with her food and it seems to be helping. No matter what
time of the day she uses the little pan she will always come running out
and cry a few times.

She has started howling at night. Sometimes she'll start the night out in
the bedroom with us but then eventually goes out into the other room and
starts crying. If we call her she'll usually stop for about an hour. If
one of us sleeps out on the couch she won't cry.

As far as we can tell her eyesight and hearing are OK. She usually
doesn't start until it starts getting light out in the morning (sometimes
as early as 3am), so I don't think the suggestion I've seen about leaving
a light on will help.

My instinct tells me that she's looking for us and wondering why we're not
out and about the apartment. The crying is getting more frequent lately
and it's difficult for us to sleep. We've tried feeding her right before
bed, but no change.

When I get up in the morning she is very glad to see me and follows me
around and sits next to me on the couch. When I go to poor a cup of
coffee she will always eat some of her dry food, which is on the floor
next to where I am standing. When I move away she will too. Could this
be food related? We have no other pets and it is a small apartment.

Thanks.

"AA" wrote in message
news:Af9Ce.71612$%Z2.22170@lakeread08...
I see that his has been posted and discussed a lot, but I've not seen
much in the way of solutions...

Our cat is 18 years old and just got a clean bill of health. No kidney
failure, no hyperthyroidism, etc. The only thing the vet noticed was
that her stool is pretty hard. At his recommendation we started mixing
metamucil in with her food and it seems to be helping. No matter what
time of the day she uses the little pan she will always come running out
and cry a few times.

She has started howling at night. Sometimes she'll start the night out
in the bedroom with us but then eventually goes out into the other room
and starts crying. If we call her she'll usually stop for about an
hour. If one of us sleeps out on the couch she won't cry.

As far as we can tell her eyesight and hearing are OK. She usually
doesn't start until it starts getting light out in the morning
(sometimes as early as 3am), so I don't think the suggestion I've seen
about leaving a light on will help.

My instinct tells me that she's looking for us and wondering why we're
not out and about the apartment. The crying is getting more frequent
lately and it's difficult for us to sleep. We've tried feeding her
right before bed, but no change.

When I get up in the morning she is very glad to see me and follows me
around and sits next to me on the couch. When I go to poor a cup of
coffee she will always eat some of her dry food, which is on the floor
next to where I am standing. When I move away she will too. Could this
be food related? We have no other pets and it is a small apartment.


When my sweet cat began this at about age 18 the vet said she might
be getting a little senile. She died at age 20. When she howled I just
went to get her. She slept with me, and never did it in the middle
of the might, though. She was just ... getting forgetful and wanted
to know where I was.

AA wrote:

I see that his has been posted and discussed a lot, but I've not
seen much in the way of solutions...

Our cat is 18 years old and just got a clean bill of health. No
kidney failure, no hyperthyroidism, etc. The only thing the vet
noticed was that her stool is pretty hard. At his
recommendation we started mixing metamucil in with her food and
it seems to be helping. No matter what time of the day she uses
the little pan she will always come running out and cry a few
times.

She has started howling at night. Sometimes she'll start the
night out in the bedroom with us but then eventually goes out
into the other room and starts crying. If we call her she'll
usually stop for about an hour. If one of us sleeps out on the
couch she won't cry.

As far as we can tell her eyesight and hearing are OK. She
usually doesn't start until it starts getting light out in the
morning (sometimes as early as 3am), so I don't think the
suggestion I've seen about leaving a light on will help.

My instinct tells me that she's looking for us and wondering why
we're not out and about the apartment. The crying is getting
more frequent lately and it's difficult for us to sleep. We've
tried feeding her right before bed, but no change.

When I get up in the morning she is very glad to see me and
follows me around and sits next to me on the couch. When I go
to poor a cup of coffee she will always eat some of her dry
food, which is on the floor next to where I am standing. When I
move away she will too. Could this be food related?

Yes it could. Have you changed her food?

My KiKi howls when I start giving her treat food. This last time
it took weeks before she started howling.

Also, she might need more attention.

Kiki is also female and getting older. She responds positively to
an increase in attention.

Good luck.

in article Af9Ce.71612$%Z2.22170@lakeread08, AA at wrote on
7/16/05 9:52AM:

I see that his has been posted and discussed a lot, but I've not seen
much in the way of solutions...

Our cat is 18 years old and just got a clean bill of health. No kidney
failure, no hyperthyroidism, etc. The only thing the vet noticed was
that her stool is pretty hard. At his recommendation we started mixing
metamucil in with her food and it seems to be helping. No matter what
time of the day she uses the little pan she will always come running out
and cry a few times.

She has started howling at night. Sometimes she'll start the night out
in the bedroom with us but then eventually goes out into the other room
and starts crying. If we call her she'll usually stop for about an
hour. If one of us sleeps out on the couch she won't cry.

As far as we can tell her eyesight and hearing are OK. She usually
doesn't start until it starts getting light out in the morning
(sometimes as early as 3am), so I don't think the suggestion I've seen
about leaving a light on will help.

My instinct tells me that she's looking for us and wondering why we're
not out and about the apartment. The crying is getting more frequent
lately and it's difficult for us to sleep. We've tried feeding her
right before bed, but no change.

When I get up in the morning she is very glad to see me and follows me
around and sits next to me on the couch. When I go to poor a cup of
coffee she will always eat some of her dry food, which is on the floor
next to where I am standing. When I move away she will too. Could this
be food related? We have no other pets and it is a small apartment.

Thanks.

Do you have night lights up? That may help her not feel so "lost".

When my sweet cat began this at about age 18 the vet said she might
be getting a little senile. She died at age 20. When she howled I just
went to get her. She slept with me, and never did it in the middle
of the might, though. She was just ... getting forgetful and wanted
to know where I was.



and unfortunately for some odd reason she will rarely stay the whole
night in the bedroom. She always feels the need to go out into the
living room. We've tried going to get her when she does this but she
doesn't stay long. That helps make it more frustrating.

"AA" wrote in message
news:3CfCe.71632$%Z2.8095@lakeread08...

When my sweet cat began this at about age 18 the vet said she might
be getting a little senile. She died at age 20. When she howled I just
went to get her. She slept with me, and never did it in the middle
of the might, though. She was just ... getting forgetful and wanted
to know where I was.



and unfortunately for some odd reason she will rarely stay the whole
night in the bedroom. She always feels the need to go out into the
living room. We've tried going to get her when she does this but she
doesn't stay long. That helps make it more frustrating.

Why not close her in the bedroom with you with her box and food
for the night? That is what I eventually did with my girl. She seemed
to like it.

Mary wrote:
"AA" wrote in message
news:3CfCe.71632$%Z2.8095@lakeread08...

When my sweet cat began this at about age 18 the vet said she might
be getting a little senile. She died at age 20. When she howled I just
went to get her. She slept with me, and never did it in the middle
of the might, though. She was just ... getting forgetful and wanted
to know where I was.



and unfortunately for some odd reason she will rarely stay the whole
night in the bedroom. She always feels the need to go out into the
living room. We've tried going to get her when she does this but she
doesn't stay long. That helps make it more frustrating.


Why not close her in the bedroom with you with her box and food
for the night? That is what I eventually did with my girl. She seemed
to like it.


There are some other complications that this would bring, I think. For
one, I tried this with her sister years ago and as soon as I closed the
door she would start scratching at it just, I think, because she didn't
understand why it was closed. The other reason is that, although she
always stands in the litter box when she uses it, her extremities
sometimes hang over the side when she is going, and the bedroom is
carpeted...

Any other ideas?

Yes it could. Have you changed her food?

My KiKi howls when I start giving her treat food. This last time
it took weeks before she started howling.

Also, she might need more attention.

Kiki is also female and getting older. She responds positively to
an increase in attention.

Good luck.


I don't quite understand. Do you mean she howls when you do change her
food or when you don't?

Until last year she was a wanna-be indoor cat but banished to the
outdoors by my step-father. When we stayed there and let her in she
also cried at night. Since rescuing her we have changed her food to
Iams and give her some canned food every day, but since she cried before
any of this change occurred, I don't think that is the reason.

Since her change in living environment last year she has gone from
getting zero attention to lots and lots of attention (my wife loves
cats). I think she's doing OK in the attention area. In fact she is in
her usual spot on the couch between me and my wife as I type this.

Do you have night lights up? That may help her not feel so "lost".

Since she doesn't start howling until it starts getting light out I
don't think this is it.