Lonely cat ?

[lainiej]

I have a 17yr old cat (also got a younger one) who is in pretty good health. She has started to meiow loudly during the night - so loudly that she wakes me up although she is downstairs with the door shut. i always make sure that there is food in their bowl.

Could it be that she is lonely ? She always sits on my knee when I am sitting down or at least sits very close to me. Its puzzling me.

[katietab]

my aunty had a cat around about the same age who meaowed really loudly at night. She found that the cat was actually deaf and didnt realise how loudly it was meaowing. Perhaps this may help? at night it did wake her up and sounded like it was crying. Hope your moggy is ok!!!

[undercovers]

exactly what i was going to say katie - my cat went deaf and did exactly the same thing, i think it scared him that he couldn't hear himself... the vet couldn't do anything for him but he did quieten down a bit in time (was horrible when he meiowed as he really did sound like he was crying). this all happened when he was about 16 years old - and happened when he had his first stroke... obviously this is just my cat so prob no need to worry but a quick trip to the vet might be in order - might just need his ears cleaned or something simple!

all the best

[lainiej]

Hi guys thanks for your posts.. I think I'll take Tilly for a check up anyway. I'm not sure about the deafness cos she can hear me calling her quietly.

[gessoo]

The most probable cause, at your cat's age, is senility, which is very common in elderly cats (and dogs). There are several threads on AB about it and lots if you 'Google'. Here is one of the threads. The classic symptom is crying at night.

http://www.theanswerbank.co.uk/Animals_and_Nature/Question211200.html

You do need to take her to the vets though for a check up in case it is anything else, and I believe they might be able to give her something to relieve it.

[Why??]

My 16 year old cat sometimes does this. To me it sounds like the noise she used to make when calling to her kittens, I usually have to call her and she will then stop, it's a totally different sound to her 'open the door and let me in' meow.

[lainiej]

Thanks all. Her call is like a 'bow wow' sort of sound. I'm going to make a vets appt for tomorrow or thursday.

[WendyS]

This seems to be a common problem with elderly cats. Either they become deaf, or a feline version of dimentia sets in and they can wake up, generally in the night and become very confused and frghtened. If it is dimentia 'm afraid there's very little you can do about it except to provide a safe environment, preferably with humans nearby to reassure them.

[lainiej]

Tilly update - been to vets and she's in really good nick for her age. Except that the vet says that her heart is beating faster than it should be. So she's taken blood and she thinks she might have over active thyroid. Get the results next week

[lainiej]

Hi all - dont know if anyone still interested in my post but Tillys blood showed that she is fine - no probs with thyroid. Only thing is now she;s got cystitis - blood in urine - is on anti biotics.