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Yowling and ball play

post #1 of 13
1/4/11 at 1:46pm
Thread Starter 
Hi all,

Our cat has recently developed a behaviour where he will play with those little squishy soccer ball cat toys (batting them around and chasing after them, biting them, etc) and then start yowling (meowing loudly, uncharacteristic of his other vocalizations). He's always played with toys, but never this yowling. What might he be trying to do?

It's not really a nuisance, and is actually kinda cute when it isn't in the middle of the night I'm just wondering if you guys might know why the heck he might do this! He never did it in the 2 years he was an only cat, but since we've brought another 2 cats into the house he's developed this strange behaviour.

He's a 4yo, neutered DSH if it matters!

Thanks!
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post #2 of 13
1/4/11 at 1:50pm
Whoa, how weird is it that we both just posted about our cats howling in the night???

So... sorry, no answers from me on this one! It is curious though...
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post #3 of 13
1/4/11 at 2:01pm
Are the toys getting stuck under sofas or consoles or other large furniture?

DarkMavis: I know. I posted something about non-clumping litter after someone else posted about clumping litter that was failing to clump.
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post #4 of 13
1/4/11 at 2:15pm
Thread Starter 
Oh yes, judging by how many of those little balls I dig out of every crevice in the apartment, they certainly are! You're right that he could be upset that he's losing them.

Strangely, the cat will be yowling with the ball even in his mouth! I don't get it! Haha
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post #5 of 13
1/4/11 at 3:31pm
My kitten shoves toys into unreachable places so often, I buy toys in bulk so I can just toss another one rather than go searching every time. He also meows when he has lost a toy, so I often have 4 or 5 cat toys in my pockets when I'm home.
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post #6 of 13
1/5/11 at 3:43am
Does he carry them in his mouth when he yowls?. If so my Jack does that all the time with his toys. I've even got a short video of him crying upstairs and he finally brings the toy down and drops it in front of me. This happens several times a day and late at night as soon as i get into bed, but i tell him what a good boy he is for bringing me a present
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post #7 of 13
1/5/11 at 6:02am
When BooBoo was younger, he loved to play with sparkly balls. He'd chase them around the kitchen and when the ball went under the stove, he'd start to howl. It was cute, but not so much when he did it at 3:00 in the morning. I always got up, though, and fished the ball back out, so he could keep playing.

BooBoo is the same cat who loved to jump up on top of the kitchen cupboards and then howl because he was afraid to jump back down....again at 3:00 in the morning. So I'd go out to the kitchen, pull a chair over to where he was and bring him back down to the floor. I spent many a sleepless night catering to that boy.

Cat moms and dads don't get a lot of sleep! I think it's a rule or something.
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post #8 of 13
1/5/11 at 9:38am
Thread Starter 
Haha, yep he'll yowl while he's got the ball in his mouth! So strange!

I guess it's just another one of those feline mysteries! Who knows why do they do the things they do!
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post #9 of 13
1/5/11 at 10:35am
I think they just think it's fun. Seti does it when he plays too and Kit will make this weird guttural growl when she races up and down the hallway. When she first did it I thought she and Seti were fighting (oh, so normal) but she was just being silly dashing back and forth.
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post #10 of 13
1/6/11 at 1:43am
I remember the first time i heard Rosie do it it scared me because i thought something was wrong. She's 8 now and she still does it, but Jack does it several times a day.

I can guarantee when i pick their toys up first thing in the morning and put them in their toy box, they'll be back out again by the end of the day

Heres a short video of Jack

http://smg.photobucket.com/albums/v2...icture1221.mp4
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post #11 of 13
1/6/11 at 10:41am
That video of Jack is cute! That's just about the same howling type of meow that Genever does at night. Not usually with toys though, at least not that I know of.. mysteries of the cat.
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post #12 of 13
1/6/11 at 6:22pm
Thread Starter 
Awwww Jack!!! That is tooo cute. And exactly what Stan does!

Haha, silly cats! Thanks for sharing!!!
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post #13 of 13
12/25/11 at 10:26pm

I have this EXACT problem except my Sneaky Pete is a 3 yr old DSH. He never meowed at all b4 but when I got my 3rd cat he started becoming more vocal and then began the yowling.I call it the kitty scream.  He only does it with these little stuffed mice I got for all the cats. But it is very territorial with one of the mice.  He does not allow the other two to touch The orange one. I think maybe he's letting them know that it is his mouse and it's off limits !

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