Cats meow/possible 'spring fever'?

Hi All,

New member here. I've received some advice, but I wanted to join a cat forum to see what some other 'cat people' had to say. Please bear with me, this may get long.

Our cat just turned a year old. Last month he had major surgery due to intestinal blockage. He recovered very well. However, since this surgery, he has been a force to reckon with.

He meows constantly, day and night, no matter what is going on or who is doing what. He has toys to play with, a cat tree to run up, down, around and three dogs that often enjoy rough and tumble with him. He is worse when the dogs are outside playing (the meowing that is).

He has always been interested in the outside world, but having had indoor/outdoor cats all my life, I wanted to try to keep him an indoor cat. He and I were not on the same page. In the last week to two weeks, he's made daring escapes into the outside world. It was suggested to me that he may have some type of 'spring fever' and want to be outside. The other night he got out without anyone noticing and was gone for a few hours.

So, I bought a harness and thought, okay, if he wants to be outside, it will be supervised and on the harness. He wouldn't budge. Even with prompting him and calling him, he wouldn't move. So I put him on a tie out, with enough range to maneuver the backyard, without being able to climb up trees or fences and potentially injure himself. In the course of time it took me to take out the trash and turn on the front sprinklers, he had escaped from his harness and was gone. This was last night and he's been inside since he came back.

He is a Siamese and while he has always been vocal, this is a new level of "vocal". I can't truly describe it. It's a desperate meow that is rattling the whole house and I am starting to worry for one of my dogs who must have a stress-free environment due to health issues. This has been unsettling the home for quite some time now and we're all stressed about it. Any input/advice would be greatly appreciated.

Hi and welcome to TCS!

Sounds like your kitty might be lonely. Have you considered getting a second one to keep him company, or if that's not an option, getting in some structured play time/cuddle time with him every day (if you don't already)?

Originally Posted by Creativgirl

Hi and welcome to TCS!

Sounds like your kitty might be lonely. Have you considered getting a second one to keep him company, or if that's not an option, getting in some structured play time/cuddle time with him every day (if you don't already)?

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Thanks for the welcome.

We have considered another cat, but I wasn't sure that it was him being lonely? I've actually looked at cats for awhile now and obviously any new addition needs to do well with dogs.

He has as much structure that I can provide him with. We have our special time each day -it's not always at the same time due to my hectic schedule- and he gets rewarded after a long play session.

Perhaps some members can offer advice on what to look for in a new addition, other than the ability to get along with dogs, of course. TIA

This may be kind of a stupid question, but is he neutered? If he isn't, he's probably smelling the "girls" in heat outside and wants to go out and play, if you get my drift.

Sorry, yes, he is neutered.

Yeah, I'm gonna guess he wants to go rut

If he hasn't been fixed yet, that might solve your problem.

He is neutered.

Hey there, My Russian Blue used to do that ALLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLL the time - he was lonely. He stopped after we got another kitten. Now he just meows like that to get my attention.

Oh yeah, and PS

I thought Stoli wanted to go outside too. Putting him on a harness and taking him out was enjoyable - he would romp and play and then run and jump up on me. But when I didn't take him out - he got vocal. He's made some attempts to escape so I stopped taking him out. Now he's fine - after I got him a playmate.

*sigh*

What to look for in a playmate for an established household?

Rescue shelters can be wonderful because most of these cats have been a part of a household already. I assume you have dogs because of one of your posts...you can ask for a cat that has lived with dogs before and would be good with other cats.

I have 3 cats. My first one was very vocal and needy....i read about how getting another cat helps....so I did...and it did. I got a kitten because they too can be easily adapted to a household and resident animals are more tolerant of a kitten usually. They love each other.

I suggest reading up on how cats communicate. It will tell you alot about what your cat is trying to tell you, and when you get another cat how they interact can be strange to us but perfectly normal for them. Like hissing etc. It's not necessarily a bad thing for them all the time, it has different meanings.

I got my 3rd cat for ME lol He is older and he is much more affectionate than the other two. The other two could have cared less if he is around or not but they don't HATE him being there. I have had him for about 3 months now.

There are always unknowns. But it sounds like he needs a friend. Someone to speak "cat" to.

OK.. he needs someone to speak cat to... got it. We went to an adoption showcase today but the rescue wasn't there. Soo, we're going to go to another one tomorrow. We were lucky with him because he was a kitten and he had been raised from birth around dogs. I'd rather adopt an older cat as they are often the ones that get overlooked, but being older they have more of a transition to make and I'd consider us lucky if we stumbled upon an adult cat that is okay with dogs... thanks for the input everyone.