Cat meows.... a lot.

Any cat therapists on Permies?

Our male black cat, Ninja, who is about, 10-13 years old (he was abandoned by someone long ago and was outdoors, roaming around for 1-2 years before he decided we needed him and he moved in) has been meowing very often, very protractedly in recent days. We do not know what the cause may be as there has been no change in his environment. Our daily routines are the same, his 'sister' cat, Boots hasn't changed her behavior, he has the same variety of food, ample water, plenty of belly rubs and cuddles.... in short, there has been nothing in the house that is the apparent cause.

We know he experiences anxiety. The vet noticed some small bare patches of fur on his underbelly and after some questions thought that he was experiencing stress. The only stress the we are aware of is when one or both of us are in the kitchen, which is separated from the rest of the house by a gate (to keep the cats out of it.) If we are in the kitchen and he is on the other side, he meows constantly until we leave the kitchen and rejoin him. It doesn't matter at all if one of us is in the kitchen and the other is right next to him in the dining room, he meows until we're reunited. It's kind of cute, but bordering on pathetic. I mean, seriously, he can see us and it's not like we're in there all day.

But this recent bout of chronic meowing is not contingent upon kitchen occupation; it was happening right now when we're all (wife, me, Boots, Ninja) are together in the living room. It doesn't go on all day long, just for a few minutes or so, but often, and then he's off to being is normal weird cat self.

Ninja wanders around while he does this, he isn't standing still. It's a quandary.

As a cat person, I am sure he/she is trying to tell you something.   What it is exactly is a problem .....as you know. Without knowledge of your cat, it is a guess at best.  Certainly give the cat a close inspection ( my wife once found a BB lodged in a cats head). A trip to the vet might be a good idea.

I'm no cat therapist, but have found a lot of benefit from watching Jackson Galaxy, who basically is. He takes a very holistic perspective. It definitely sounds like Ninja is having some serious stress about something, for sure. I wonder if this video could help shed some light?
It seems like there are some similarities between what is happening in your situation. I wonder if Ninja's being abandoned plays into him getting so anxious when he can't see y'all? The meowing when you're there is more confusing.
I know what has helped most for our cat with anxiety has been adding shelves for her in front of windows and such. Giving her stuff to do and places to feel safe and secure has made a huge difference. I've also seen some benefit from using Rescue Remedy when she's really upset.
Hope you're able to find something to help him feel more calm!

John F Dean wrote:As a cat person, I am sure he/she is trying to tell you something.   What it is exactly is a problem .....as you know. Without knowledge of your cat, it is a guess at best.  Certainly give the cat a close inspection ( my wife once found a BB lodged in a cats head). A trip to the vet might be a good idea.

He doesn't go outside. We have looked him over, no apparent injuries. He's generally very active and boisterous. He's gotten a clean bill of health from the vet, though the last visit was his annual check up was last December.

He does crave attention. He is extremely affectionate; adores us. Follows us around everywhere. He worships my wife, gazes at her adoringly. We do not ignore him (that's difficult, anyway.)

Heather Sharpe wrote:
I wonder if Ninja's being abandoned plays into him getting so anxious when he can't see y'all? The meowing when you're there is more confusing.
I know what has helped most for our cat with anxiety has been adding shelves for her in front of windows and such. Giving her stuff to do and places to feel safe and secure has made a huge difference. I've also seen some benefit from using Rescue Remedy when she's really upset.
Hope you're able to find something to help him feel more calm!

He can see us pretty much all the time, except when we go to bed (neither cat has access to the bedroom, but he doesn't do this meowing thing when we're in there, which adds to the confusion as to what's going on). He does have access to windows and loves looking outside at the birds; including when Tony, a semi-feral cat, is in view. Ninja does not approve of Tony, but his meowing doesn't correlate to Tony's appearances. (We like Tony, he's responsible for the appreciable decline in the population of chipmunks around the place. I regard him as my garden's guard cat. We feed him and spike his food with meds periodically.)

Thank you so much for the YouTube link, I'll watch it later tonight or tomorrow!

They sell a homeopathic  remedy for animals.
Called  Rescue remedy.  natural stress relief.  Alcohol free
Made by Bach  we paid $18 for a 10 ml bottle with dropper.
It works great on our cats and fast !
They mellow out almost immediately.

Another product type that works wonders on dogs and cats is cbd.
Not for stress but internal issues.  

OK, so Rescue Remedy has been mentioned twice so far, (I've never heard of it). I'll look into that.

I petsat once for a senior cat who had similar symptoms, would meow/howl randomly for a few minutes and then go back to normal. Their vet thought it might be some kind of dementia, where the cat might be forgetting where it is and who its people are, panics and gets stuck crying. They used a calming pheromone collar and it worked well. I don't remember the exact one, but it was purple. Something like this:




amazon

I have a nineteen year old cat.  He never used to meow hardly at all.  Now he does the same sort of seemingly random racket as yours.  Sometimes it means he is hungry and has forgotten there is food on his plate. I have to take him there. Sometimes he wants a drink out of the shower.  Sometimes I think he just wants cuddles or to let me know it is raining and he just got wet, or he is bored and thinks 5am is a good time for humans to get up.  He especially does this when I am on telecalls and if I let him come and sit on the desk he generally gives up after a while.

But I also suspect it could be thyroid issues, which is always the lurking fate of the older cat.  He does have a thyroid tumour but the last time he had a blood test it wasn't critical yet.  You might want to ask your vet if it could be that.

We did have some cat calming drops which here go under the brand name of Feliway.  The idea is they mimic the pheromone that mother cats give off to let their kittens know everything is fine. You can get it as a room diffuser.

Good luck with your cat!

If he were my cat, I would seek the advice of my vet.

I have used the calming Rescue which does work though the condition could be lots of things like a toothache, kidney infection, ache, and pain since he is an older cat.

It doesn't seem to be as bad these past few days; perhaps it was a weird 'phase' or something. Overall, his health is good, his weight is fine and he acts normally (for him.) I'll keep monitoring the situation. Sometimes it seems that his behavior is more when we are doing something other than paying attention to him. I don't know; I just felt suddenly inspired to ask the question here to see that people had in mind. I do like the idea of the homeopathic remedies suggested.