Very Loud, Deep Meow. Almost a howl...

Sounds like my cat Nabu. He's been doing it since he was 1 or 2 yrs old. And he does it when he feels we're "neglecting" him. In Nabu's case he just wants attention.

All of mine do that from time to time, usually when they're wanting attention!

OMG! that's what i'm on the computer looking for info on... my cat is doing exactly that! you even got his "howl" down! he's 5 years old and neutered and he lives with another cat (since he was 1 and the other cat was a kitten).... he's always been talkative... i moved about 3 weeks ago though and ever since ALL night he meows/howls his head off.... i really don't know what to do about it... he has food, water, toys, litter, a buddy to play with.... i keep my door open if he wanted to sleep with me... he has his blankets and stuff... people have said by 3 weeks he should be adjusted... he doesn't seem to need anything... i wake up (like i have a choice!) and he just keeps going.... i was thinking today that he doesn't do it much when i'm around and up, only when i'm sleeping... but today i got home from work and it seems like for the next hour he was howling quite a bit! don't know if i just noticed it more or what... i fed him, gave him water, and he kept meowing.... now he's quietly sitting on my bed sleeping with his head up as only cats can do (and quiet!)

what does this mean??? you mentioned kidney stones.... i was thinking that too... how did you know your cat had them?? his appetite is normal and he's drinking water... i haven't specifically seen him use the bathroom but i wasn't really watching either and there's 2 so i can't be certain.. i do know he meows lot in the bathroom and he's taken to unrolling my toilet paper....

he needs to be sedated to see a vet so i'm trying to rule out all options before i put him through that... i'm thinking of an in-house vet too.

indoor only too (fyi)

When Marcie does this, it generally means that I have disappeared and she is trying to find me. It sounds so hollow and loud and creepy that the hairs on my neck stand up

Heh.. I call that the yelling meow. Niko will start that if he's been calling for me to play, but I'm busy and ignore him. It goes from a very baby-soft, "question" meow to that yowl you described. I'll also get that when I shoo him out of my room (usually for doing something naughty) and he'll toss it at me from the hallway as if to get the last "talk back" word in.. or at least, that's how I take it.

My cat has been doing EXACTLY that for the past year or so. He's has these "phases" where he won't do it for months and then he will start again.

He's 2.5 years old and I had him since he was 3 months old. He isn't neutered and we don't plan to neuter him anytime.

When he does this, he usually goes into the basement (maybe he's smart enough to know that a loud noise in the basement can be heard all around the house because of the ventilation system ) and does either a normal loud meow or a very low-pitched meow, or like a howl like you said.

He's very healthy and lovable when he's normal; he eats right and uses the litter box regularly.

Also, he can tend to pee somewhere in the basement (unfinished basement with lots of junk in boxes) when he does this; does that mean he's like giving us a sign that he's not happy with us because he doesn't get any attention?

Our Sterling does that. Almost a broken-hearted cry. He does it when Dottie goes out the door, and he thinks he's been abandoned. It's loud enough we can hear it outdoors!

It means he can't find her, and feels like he's been abandoned again (we got him from the shelter). As soon as he sees one of us, he quits.

Maisie used to do that when she was living in the bedroom. She usually did it at night but when I looked she`d be yowling at a toy


Now Sooty is in the bedroom and I know from where he was before that he does it when he is alone and shut in. I have a baby gate up for him but he will still do it if he can`t see me. I call him and he stops. It is very loud though!

Rocky, who's 10, does the same thing when he wants to play. The howling will always bring one, if not both of his "siblings" running over and the chase is on.

Max calls like that when he's in the mood to play and wants Baby Bonnie to come and play with him. He won't come look for her, instead, he stands on the stairs and hollers until she goes looking for him.

If I ask him what's wrong, he sends back a very tiny, innocent "maow."

My Dave (who is around 10) has had chronic constipation problems (megacolon?) for years now, and when he does this, I know he has to make a boom-boom..It either hurts him or he feels like he has to "go", and he gets scared..

That sounds like my Obie! He does it when he's playing with his favorite toy. He'll bat it around, chase it, bat it some more. Then pick it up in his mouth and..... "aaaaaauuuUUUUU!" a few times as he goes to another room. Put it down, and do it all over again. He stops when he catches us watching him and continues when we look away.

Health wise, he's fine. My girlfriend thinks he's just expressing how much fun he's having.

The other two cats don't seem to mind him doing this and leave him alone.

Can I ask a question? How old was he when you neutered him?

We had a cat named Geo that had a really deep meow that was almost musical. I would go to feed all the kitties, and Geo would tag along after me singing away! It was hilarious! He sounded like a bass singer!

My Floyd does this for short spurts of time..but always is just wanting attention.

BUT....!!!
Last night, I have NO idea what happened. He started up as he usually does, cause we go to bed and he sometimes gets lost...! But once I yell "Floyd! BEDTIME!" I hear him jingle his way to the room. Last night, however, this did not work a bit. He would not stop with the mewing, the howling, it kept on for a couple of hours til my boyfriend decided to go sleep on the couch, in case that is where Floyd wanted to be. Nope, still kept mewing. I changed his food, water, even his litter, and still he kept mewing. No matter what we did he would not stop. That started all around 9 pm, and lasted until I left for work this morning at 6:30 (without a wink of sleep)

Any ideas, health wise, what would cause this at all?? This is far from his normal behavior.. I am worried about my little guy.

he is 1.5 years old, I got him as an infant almost (rescued at 4 weeks old), and I am "mom" to him...! He is not sterilized, but he has never, EVER acted this way..could it be a health problem??? He hates the vet, I am also trying to avoid this trip..if I can

Bad news/good news. He needs to be neutered. All he has to do is smell a female in heat outside, and you will get exactly the result you described.

I hope thats the case, but oddly enough: The apartments I live in don't allow cats.. I had to pay a hefty deposit to get him in here, as well as provide a Dr note for "pet therapy" (anxiety) to keep him here. I am hoping he did somehow smell a cat outside, but I am in MN, and its been under 20 degrees every night for a while..Not sure how he would have smelled one with windows shut.. but next paycheck I planned to get him neutered anyhow... ^-^

My cat, Luke (age 6, fixed, fat cat, lives with 2 others), does the same thing. I call it his "mommy meow"... he's just looking for me and wants loving. Im sure your cat is doing the same.

Jack does it, and it's when he brings a toy to me in his mouth. When l first heard him l thought he was in pain, but l get it several times a day with a lot of toys at my feet  Clever boy!

I have a unique perspective, but my kitty I had growing up, Angel (we named him that because he was solid white and looked like an angel)... Anyway, he started howling like that when he started losing his hearing.  Have you noticed that he seems to be "out of sorts", as well?  We just noticed Angel howling a lot and also when we would call him, he wouldn't always come.  But, more than that, he'd be sleeping and we would be talking to him and he'd feel our vibrations or we'd pet him and he would jump.  When we finally took him to a vet, we found out he could hear next to nothing and he was almost completely blind and very nearsighted. 

Mine all howl like that when they think they are being neglected or not fed at the 'proper' rime. Da Lip is the worst as he gets up on something close to my face and starts shouting and even almost silent TIppy can make a meow that will carry across the whole yard.; inside he lets the rest shout for him.  

Tumbles howls like this frequently.  He's a talkative chap, especially if he wants attention, but he sometimes does this particularly deep, throaty, gutteral howl when he needs to poop.    He's fine health-wise, just feels the need to announce his intentions.

I once had a cat that reached maturity before being neutered, therefore he learned to caterwhal (or however it's spelled). Tom would sit on my front porch every morning at 5:30 wailing an almost unearthly meow/howl "heh-whoa" (sounding like a cat attempting hello) greeting me and demanding breakfast. I miss that cat, he sure was chatty.
I just think some cats like to make noise and communicate "verbally" more than others. But I'm just a cat lover, by no means an expert.

I am so happy to find this website. My cat does this weird howling, too. She wakes us up all night. She does it in the basement, the bathroom and not when we can see her. She stops when we are near, so I can never catch her doing it and see what she does. She is 20 years old and has done this for several years, although it has gotten worse in the last year. I thought she was searching for my other cat after he died.  Then I thought she was ill or scared.  Now, I do think she is confused and searching for something.  I would love to hear more about your experiences.

Tumbles was neutered long before reaching adulthood, but didn't start this howling thing at night until he was about a year old.  After we've gone to bed, sometimes I hear him howling.  He's usually walking around with his woobie in his mouth bringing us his "catch".  I never see him carrying the woobie around, but I find it in different places everyday.  It doesn't move all day long, so I know he's carrying it at night.  He also makes a different crying/howling noise before he pukes.  I heard it this morning!

Jamie has always caterwauled, and his siblings did it, too. By "always" I mean from the time I brought him home at 10 weeks, and he'll be 13 in April; he was castrated at 6 months. He tends to do it while sitting in the cellar window and usually starts around dusk. The behavior is really pronounced when there's a full moon. We call it "singing". It's gotten so loud now that he's a senior cat that it sets the dog next door to barking, and sometimes she howls along. He'll stop when you ask him what he's "singing" about, but starts back up after a couple of minutes.

Since he mainly does it between dusk and dawn, I've always figured that he sees/hears/smells nocturnal animals. Or maybe he really is an alien, as my mom always claimed, and is "calling home".

Bigtime.  Our eldest, Samuda, "yargles" earsplittingly at all times of the day and night; he's announcing his supremacy, as he's Head Cat around here, and he's also just telling everyone he's around.  I talk back with him, and sometimes we get quite a conversation going.  Rani and Maryam like to "kill" a sparkle ball and tell the world about their hunting prowess in a similar way, often with the ball in the mouth.  It's very funny, but of course it wouldn't be proper to laugh at them, so I always let them know I'm laughing WITH, not at, them.  

I recently allowed a stray male cat to come into my home.He was not altered at the time and I was advised to be a "responsible owner" and have him castrated.Before the surgery he used the litter box,learned to use the scratching post,was broken of getting on the counters and kitchen table.In short he did anything asked of him.
Upon returning from the castration surgery,it sprayed in the house,(never did that before).Hissed at my partner when she attempted to put the e collar back on after eating,clawed the drapes and crawled through the mini blinds to get to windows.When not displaying these behaviors,it went from door to door yowling to get out.
Finally the post op period was ended and I gratefully opened the door to let this horrid animal out to freedom. I haven't seen it since.
I wasted a considerable ammount of money on the surgery that turned a calm well behaved animal into  something that no one would want in their home.
Anyone contemplating this surgery for a outdoor cat should think long and hard before going forward with it.

Really sorry you feel that way.  IMHO, and the opinion of those of us who love cats, cats are not "it" or "horrid animals that no one would want"; they are individual living beings with great value, whom we love very much.  While you had a bad experience, I nevertheless thank you for doing the right thing in getting him neutered, as he will not contribute to the senseless tragedy of adding to the population of homeless cats who lose their lives through no fault of their own, because humans are so ignorant, irresponsible and uncaring that they do not do the right thing by spaying/neutering.  Those of us in the advocacy community work very hard, spending our own funds in most cases, doing exactly what you did, not because we expect anything in return, but to reduce the numbers of cats who do not have loving, forever homes, as every cat so richly deserves.  So, thank you again for getting him neutered! and I hope this offsets a little, your feeling of having done something for nothing, when actually you have done the right thing, and a very good thing.

Are you serious? Who cares what the cat's attitude is afterward? You're saying it's better for an unneutered tomcat to roam outside, impregnating possibly hundreds of outdoor female cats? You did a wonderful thing having him neutered, even if he did become a TNR and you couldn't keep him afterward. Just because he acted poorly (wouldn't you if you were an outdoor cat who was first forced inside, then went to a strange place where you were knocked out, and woke up groggy, disoriented and sore?) is no reason to proclaim that anyone with an outdoor cat should avoid neutering or spaying.