Cat screams at odd hours of the night

Our Burmese has started to keep us a wake at night. We have two cats and have always kept them in at night when we go to sleep. The last couple of weeks our Burmese has now started to start screaming – a very horrible high pitched voice and running around the house and jumping on the window sills and knocking the wooden blinds as he knows that we get up. He has been going through a stage of fighting with all cats in the neighbour and we took him to the vet on Tuesday to check he is ok and was told he has a temperature due to all the sratches from fighting and is currently on medication and then the screaming stopped and we thought maybe his temparate was irrating him. However, this morning the scream started again about 3am and by 4am and my husband let him out but he was not really interested in to going out, just sat on the step outside the back door and then comes back to bed purring so load that I have not slept since about 3am this morning. We really do not know what to do as he has never been allowed out late at night when we go to sleep and it has never been a problem before. Can anyone suggest what may be wrong and is there anything we do. I am currently pregnant and need my sleep badly. We said to the Vet the other night our burmese is getting us ready for the new addition. We keep them in at night as my other cat has a habit of bringing us live mice. Hope someone can offer some advice or suggestions. Thanks

Is he neutered?

If he is not neutered please have him altered soon. His behavior will get worse as long as he is intact.

It sounds to me as if he is responding to a male cat who is outside the house at night. The wild leaping into windows and screaming is what you would expect to see in a cat whose territory has been invaded.

It sounds as if he gets into a lot of fights with other cats. This is not a good thing. Cat bites become infected very quickly and your cat can die with very little warning from of of these punctures. Again, if he is not neutered his aggression level and out-of-control behavior will only increase with time. Once he is neutered, he will mellow.

Congratulations on the new baby!

It also sounds to me like he might be responding to pain. Perhaps he has a bite wound that you can't see but is there bothering him. It would explain the fever, and bites are really hard to find. One way you can find a bite is wait until he is calm and at rest and sit down next to him. Take your hand and keeping it off his fur and skin, start passing your hand over the top of his body just about 2 inches above his fur. Go slow- and again, don't touch him. What you are looking for are heat patches, where you will feel heat on the palm of your hand. Concentrate on his front shoulders, his back legs and the tail (typical places for bites to show) Also check his stomach if he won't bite you for rolling him over. Check both sides of him.

If you feel heat, stop, then pass over again. If you still feel it, very gently lower you hand to the heat source- it should get really hot (if it is infected) don't lay your hand completely down on it, but visually mark where it is.

Then having someone scruff him gently while he is on the floor, take a pair of bandage scissors (blunt edge to his skin) and carefully clip the hair away without nicking him. What you should be seeing right now after the hair is removed, is a small hole either from a claw or a tooth. Take some betadine scrub and gently scrub the wound- if it is swollen and closed, take a pan of really warm water, and a gauze pad, and soak the pad well. Place the pad over the wound, scruff kitty a bit tighter, and squeeze gently. You need to open the wound so the bacteria will drain out. Then put antibiotic ointment on it and watch it for a few days.

As Renae has already mentioned if he is not neutered please get him neutered. You can also buy the comfort zone Feliway room plug in that will help calm him. Why do I think he might be responding to pain? His behavior and loud purring. Cats purr when they are in pain as well as when they are happy or scared.

If he does have a bite, your vet will need to put him on antibiotics fairly quickly.

Good luck!

Thanks Lotsocats & Hissy for your advice. My burmese is neutered and on Saturday we took him back to the vet, as they wanted to check how he has been after the medication he was on and his temperature is now fine. The vet also mentioned about the Feliway room plug which will calm him. i will also check him over daily and obviously if I am worried I will take him to the vet as we always do and oh yes he does not get aggressive with me when you pick him up.

Thanks again and I really appreciate your advice.