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Meowing for no reason

post #1 of 26
2/7/11 at 6:38am
Thread Starter 
I need some help, I have owned a few cats. Never owned a Russian Blue supposedly I heard they are quite cats. This one (Rasputin) is fairly quiet during the day but at night makes a strange gurgling meow.

He was a house cat that was abandoned and was being fed outside by someone that was giving the cat to a good home on craigslist. The vet checked him out and he is about 4 years old.

Also he is odd in that he will give a "I want attention" meow but the minute you turn to pet him or answer he will go into another room. Last night his meowing woke me up at 10, 11:30, 1:30, 3:00 and 4:20 and his meow is the type that makes one instantly wake and react. We have tried food, toys, ignoring him etc.. (granted we only had him a few days).

Alot of people say its just a phase, but I fear me and my fiance may not have the patience or time to wait out this phase since we both work full time (my fiance is home until Friday due to gall bladder surgery). I don't really want to keep the cat shut in the laudry room at night (its not insulated plus once spring comes there will be more foot traffic going in and out of that room into the backyard) not to mention I don't think its fair to him.

Our only other choice is to take him to a shelter (the person we got them for recommended a good no kill shelter).

Edit ***Rescue Shelter not Pound***

Thanks in Advance.
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post #2 of 26
2/7/11 at 2:10pm
Is he neutered? Or was he an outdoor cat? and he's meowing because he wants to go outside?
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post #3 of 26
2/7/11 at 3:20pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by OrionDarkwood View Post
I need some help, I have owned a few cats. Never owned a Russian Blue supposedly I heard they are quite cats. This one (Rasputin) is fairly quiet during the day but at night makes a strange gurgling meow.
Wesley makes the same meow. He usually does it when he is alone in a room and he wants someone to come to him. After one or two mrr-gr-gr-eow Buttercup will usually get up and go running to him, and they play, and he is quiet. So I would reckon he is bored and beckoning you to come, which obviously isn't an option at those hours.
Quote:
Originally Posted by OrionDarkwood View Post
Also he is odd in that he will give a "I want attention" meow but the minute you turn to pet him or answer he will go into another room.
Wesley does that, and it means "stop being boring sitting motionless staring at a color-screen and follow me into the living room so we can play with the toys".
Quote:
Originally Posted by OrionDarkwood View Post
Last night his meowing woke me up at 10, 11:30, 1:30, 3:00 and 4:20 and his meow is the type that makes one instantly wake and react. We have tried food, toys, ignoring him etc.. (granted we only had him a few days).

Alot of people say its just a phase, but I fear me and my fiance may not have the patience or time to wait out this phase since we both work full time (my fiance is home until Friday due to gall bladder surgery).
Its not a phase with Wesley. He did it on day one, and he does it now. I don't respond to it, but Buttercup does, so perhaps if yours doesn't ever get encouragement that it works, he may give up. IMO though a vocal cat is a vocal cat, so if you can't address the request that the call is for (companionship, wanting outside, food, etc) then you may be SOL.
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post #4 of 26
2/7/11 at 3:25pm
Well yes, I hope he is neutered. If not, that needs to be done ASAP. Otherwise, he will not settle down.

It takes some time for cats to adjust to a new environment. It is very stressful for them. I don't know if you went through the recommended process of confining him to a quiet room for a few days, or longer, when he came to your home. There are plenty of articles on this site as to how to introduce a cat to your home.

I hope you find the patience to give him a chance. Cats are sensitive creatures, and with time and patience they can become wonderful pets. But it can take some time. Hopefully, you are just tired and will give him a couple of weeks to settle down.

Good luck to you and him!


Robin
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post #5 of 26
2/7/11 at 3:27pm
Hi and welcome. This poor cat sounds like he gets anxiety at night and has had a difficult past too. He is still adjusting to his new home and it will just take some time to settle down at night and feel safe. Try playing before bed with some toys, those wand toys are the best and it will help your cat feel happy and burn off some energy too before bed. Just give it a few more days for the cat to settle in as you said you just adopted the cat. Any new cat you adopt will go through an adjustment period and have some behavior's that will go away once they know they are home to stay. Stick it out and just give the cat lots of love and attention.
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post #6 of 26
2/7/11 at 4:36pm
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by My4LLMA View Post
Is he neutered? Or was he an outdoor cat? and he's meowing because he wants to go outside?
He was living outdoors before we (me and my fiancee) got him we are unsure how long he was living outdoors. Before that we don't know if he was a indoor or outdoor cat (we assume indoor, at least partially since he knows how to use a litter box and knows the sound of a can being open).

He is neutered and the vet said he is about 4 years old.
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post #7 of 26
2/7/11 at 4:43pm
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by Ducman69 View Post
Wesley makes the same meow. He usually does it when he is alone in a room and he wants someone to come to him. After one or two mrr-gr-gr-eow Buttercup will usually get up and go running to him, and they play, and he is quiet. So I would reckon he is bored and beckoning you to come, which obviously isn't an option at those hours.

Wesley does that, and it means "stop being boring sitting motionless staring at a color-screen and follow me into the living room so we can play with the toys".

Its not a phase with Wesley. He did it on day one, and he does it now. I don't respond to it, but Buttercup does, so perhaps if yours doesn't ever get encouragement that it works, he may give up. IMO though a vocal cat is a vocal cat, so if you can't address the request that the call is for (companionship, wanting outside, food, etc) then you may be SOL.
Ducman69,

That sounds like the meow I hear, weird thing is he is not really into toys, we have balls, catnip rats and balls, a laser pointer and a wand. He plays a little bit then is bored and goes into another room. He could care less about the laser pointer.

Sadly getting another cat is not an option at this point (I live in a rental home). Letting him outside is not really an option either, we live in town.

Do you think putting him in a room and shutting the door at night will make our problems worse? I really hate to shut him up but I need to sleep.
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post #8 of 26
2/7/11 at 4:45pm
His beckoning call is probably just wanting to go out then I would wager, since there is nothing interesting going on in the otherwise dead house at night when he's awake.

On the plus side if thats all it is, when I first got Wesley he would always try to sneak out and succeeded a couple times, but now is mostly afraid of outdoors now that he's established in the house as his exclusive territory.

So that would probably resolve itself in due time just getting settled in, and that is a good point that he's still new to the house which isn't easy for cats. So he may still be vocal when he has a want, but the middle of the night wants may just go away.
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post #9 of 26
2/7/11 at 4:47pm
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by bastetservant View Post
Well yes, I hope he is neutered. If not, that needs to be done ASAP. Otherwise, he will not settle down.

It takes some time for cats to adjust to a new environment. It is very stressful for them. I don't know if you went through the recommended process of confining him to a quiet room for a few days, or longer, when he came to your home. There are plenty of articles on this site as to how to introduce a cat to your home.

I hope you find the patience to give him a chance. Cats are sensitive creatures, and with time and patience they can become wonderful pets. But it can take some time. Hopefully, you are just tired and will give him a couple of weeks to settle down.

Good luck to you and him!


Robin
We did that for the first couple of days, should we kept him there longer? Should we put him back into a single room for a few more days and then try again? I am willing to give him a chance but I also need sleep and sadly me and my fiancee both work and can not work properly under little sleep
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post #10 of 26
2/7/11 at 4:56pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by OrionDarkwood View Post
Do you think putting him in a room and shutting the door at night will make our problems worse? I really hate to shut him up but I need to sleep.
I'd wear him out with playtime and food right before bed. Giving mine a greenie treat gets them excited into "spaz mode" (I toss them across the floor or high up on their window perches and what not, two per cat) and then a da bird wand toy with mouse or feather attachments really gets em jumping and panting or the bouncy balls on my tile floor which they chase after when I throw em, and then I give em dry food in the food ball (takes about an hour for them to finish) right before I go to sleep.

Mine aren't very keen on it, but shutting in a room isn't so bad. A cat tree or perch by the window would be nice, and if its enough to muffle any noise in the mean time would work I would think.

Cats need to sleep about 18hrs a day, much more than people, so once adjusted to the new sleep schedule he'll probably start sleeping when you are as well with nothing going on in that room.
Quote:
Originally Posted by OrionDarkwood View Post
We did that for the first couple of days, should we kept him there longer? Should we put him back into a single room for a few more days and then try again? I am willing to give him a chance but I also need sleep and sadly me and my fiancee both work and can not work properly under little sleep
Mine were in their safe room with food, water fountain, and litterboxes for a week before I opened up other rooms in the house to them.
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post #11 of 26
2/7/11 at 5:11pm
Welcome to TCS, Orion!

I don't know that you'll get better advice than I already gave you/your woman (I get all my great cat slave info here,) but it's a great site, and there are lots and lots of folks that are going through/have gone through what you are dealing with now.

He really does sound like he loves it there, and he truly should settle down over the next couple of weeks. Ya just gotta give it time!
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post #12 of 26
2/7/11 at 5:14pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Ducman69 View Post
His beckoning call is probably just wanting to go out then I would wager, since there is nothing interesting going on in the otherwise dead house at night when he's awake.

On the plus side if thats all it is, when I first got Wesley he would always try to sneak out and succeeded a couple times, but now is mostly afraid of outdoors now that he's established in the house as his exclusive territory.

So that would probably resolve itself in due time just getting settled in, and that is a good point that he's still new to the house which isn't easy for cats. So he may still be vocal when he has a want, but the middle of the night wants may just go away.


GREAT point!

Squeaky was outside for quite a long time before I took her in, and for the first week or so, she'd wander about the house and give a particularly sharp "Can I go outside?!" meow.
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post #13 of 26
2/7/11 at 5:15pm
The only other thing I can suggest is to have bloodwork done by the vet to rule out any medical condition.
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post #14 of 26
2/7/11 at 8:40pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Feralvr View Post
Hi and welcome. This poor cat sounds like he gets anxiety at night and has had a difficult past too. He is still adjusting to his new home and it will just take some time to settle down at night and feel safe. Try playing before bed with some toys, those wand toys are the best and it will help your cat feel happy and burn off some energy too before bed. Just give it a few more days for the cat to settle in as you said you just adopted the cat. Any new cat you adopt will go through an adjustment period and have some behavior's that will go away once they know they are home to stay. Stick it out and just give the cat lots of love and attention.


Both Thomas and Sebastian had really bad anxiety when they first got here. They would both go to the top of our stairs (they came to our house at different times, so it's funny they both did the exact same thing) and let out this horrid cry, over and over and over again. Since you've only had him for a few days, I would assume that is what is going on. Thomas and Seb did it for a few days and then they stopped. As Feralvr said, just give it a few more days, he should calm down and relax.

Welcome, btw!!
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post #15 of 26
2/8/11 at 7:26am
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by Ducman69 View Post
His beckoning call is probably just wanting to go out then I would wager, since there is nothing interesting going on in the otherwise dead house at night when he's awake.

On the plus side if thats all it is, when I first got Wesley he would always try to sneak out and succeeded a couple times, but now is mostly afraid of outdoors now that he's established in the house as his exclusive territory.

So that would probably resolve itself in due time just getting settled in, and that is a good point that he's still new to the house which isn't easy for cats. So he may still be vocal when he has a want, but the middle of the night wants may just go away.
Should I put him in a cat carrier and walk him around outside to see his reaction? A friend suggested putting him in a cat carrier near our bed and squirting him with water until he learns not to meow unless its a actual need at night. Sorry for all the questions, every cat I have owned in the past never had this issue, even the ones that where outside or partially outside cats. I have owned tabbies, calicos, and mutt cats, I readily admit this is the first time owning a Russian Blue.
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post #16 of 26
2/8/11 at 9:09am
Squirting him with water will make him more anxious and, possibly afraid if you.

What I would do and what I am confident would work is to play with him actively before bed. Then feed him a big meal of canned food in a room far away from my bedroom. He'd have in that room: water, litter box, cozy bedding, and perhaps a radio playing soft, classical music, and a night light. Shut the door and leave him until morning.

I'd run a fan in my bedroom, or mke some other white noise so I wouldn't hear him. Ear plugs may help.

Then give it a few nights. He'll adjust and learn to be quiet all night. It has nothing to do with his coloring or breed. He is anxious and confused. Love him a lot. If he hasn't been checked by a vet, that needs to be done ASAP!

There is no point in taking him outside in a carrier. Or keeping him in a carrier at night. Keep him inside for his safety.

Robin
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post #17 of 26
2/8/11 at 9:44am
Quote:
Originally Posted by bastetservant View Post
Squirting him with water will make him more anxious and, possibly afraid if you.

What I would do and what I am confident would work is to play with him actively before bed. Then feed him a big meal of canned food in a room far away from my bedroom. He'd have in that room: water, litter box, cozy bedding, and perhaps a radio playing soft, classical music, and a night light. Shut the door and leave him until morning.

I'd run a fan in my bedroom, or mke some other white noise so I wouldn't hear him. Ear plugs may help.

Then give it a few nights. He'll adjust and learn to be quiet all night. It has nothing to do with his coloring or breed. He is anxious and confused. Love him a lot. If he hasn't been checked by a vet, that needs to be done ASAP!

There is no point in taking him outside in a carrier. Or keeping him in a carrier at night. Keep him inside for his safety.

Robin
This is excellant advice. Please do not confine your cat to a carrier. Cats are not dogs and cannot be confined to such a space. They need access to their litter and water at all times. I would go back to confining the cat to one room till he gets acclimated. Also, spend alot of quality time with him. Your his whole world now! Don't forget how dependant an animal is on its owner. Earplugs are the friend of anyone with a loud mouth cat. I have one myself and most nights I'll leave him out of my room and I have a white noise machine and my earplugs in...he has gotten used to being shut out of my bedroom and hardly cries at the door anymore....so he is learning. Your cat will too.....in time.
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post #18 of 26
2/8/11 at 2:41pm
Thread Starter 
We've gotten him to play some, but he is interested for a whopping 5 minutes then it's forget you, I wanna nap! How are we supposed to keep him awake during the day enough to tire him out for night time?
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post #19 of 26
2/8/11 at 4:21pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by OrionDarkwood View Post
Should I put him in a cat carrier and walk him around outside to see his reaction? A friend suggested putting him in a cat carrier near our bed and squirting him with water until he learns not to meow unless its a actual need at night.
I don't know of any cat that likes a carrier (being trapped, the odd swaying motion, and not having control), and the squirting idea sounds pretty traumatizing. The cat is likely to feel trapped, and when making a "help" cry (probably not the same in his mind as his mrr-gr-gr-eow beckoning call) is getting visibly punished by you, likely leading to confusion, fear, and loss of trust. No one can know what cats think 100% for sure, but it sounds like a bad idea I think.

Nothing against squirting as a disciplinary method, but from everything I have read it works best when the spray is NOT associated with you (ninja squirts) and done to correct a very specific action the cat can understand.
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post #20 of 26
2/9/11 at 5:23am
Thread Starter 
We are trying the keeping in enclosed in one room (laundry room) for a couple of nights (this weekend). Last night we didn't hear him, I don't think he started until I came into the kitchen (the room next to the laundry room). Should we left him out as soon as we wake up and go near where he is or let him stay that until we are ready to let him out? He did go hide behind the washing machine (where he mainly stayed the first couple of days) when I did not let him out while I was in the kitchen. Sorry to sound like a new owner but as I said none of the cats either one of us has owned have had this issue.
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post #21 of 26
2/9/11 at 10:57am
I am no expert on cat behavior, so I'm not sure about how putting him in 1 room for a while during the night will work out. Sounds like it went alright last night though. I would agree with others about not squirting him in a carrier though, but you're not doing that anyway. He probably just needs some time to adjust.

That said, 2.5 weeks ago we adopted our 2nd cat Dorothy. Shelter said she was 5. We got her on a Saturday, and I took her to my vet on Monday for her initial wellness exam. Well, over the weekend she meowed ALL NIGHT LONG. And she drinks a whole lot too. So I mentioned both of these to the vet after she looked her over. Before I said that, the vet didn't question Dot's age of 5. After I mentioned meowing at night and excessive drinking, she thought she may be older. Her teeth are good, and they usually age cats by the teeth, but it wasn't accurate in our case I guess. So we had a blood panel done and it turns out she's got hyperthyroidism, so the vet thinks she's closer to 10 than to 5, because that usually only happens in older cats. So we have to give her medicine everyday for the rest of her life. After just 2 days of being on the HT pills, she doesn't meow at night anymore!

Just something to consider... unless you know for sure that your cat is 4. Dot came in to the shelter as a stray, that's why they estimated her age.
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post #22 of 26
2/10/11 at 4:41am
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by DarkMavis View Post
I am no expert on cat behavior, so I'm not sure about how putting him in 1 room for a while during the night will work out. Sounds like it went alright last night though. I would agree with others about not squirting him in a carrier though, but you're not doing that anyway. He probably just needs some time to adjust.

That said, 2.5 weeks ago we adopted our 2nd cat Dorothy. Shelter said she was 5. We got her on a Saturday, and I took her to my vet on Monday for her initial wellness exam. Well, over the weekend she meowed ALL NIGHT LONG. And she drinks a whole lot too. So I mentioned both of these to the vet after she looked her over. Before I said that, the vet didn't question Dot's age of 5. After I mentioned meowing at night and excessive drinking, she thought she may be older. Her teeth are good, and they usually age cats by the teeth, but it wasn't accurate in our case I guess. So we had a blood panel done and it turns out she's got hyperthyroidism, so the vet thinks she's closer to 10 than to 5, because that usually only happens in older cats. So we have to give her medicine everyday for the rest of her life. After just 2 days of being on the HT pills, she doesn't meow at night anymore!

Just something to consider... unless you know for sure that your cat is 4. Dot came in to the shelter as a stray, that's why they estimated her age.
We probably try again on letting him roam the house at night this weekend. As for the blood work I don't know if the one lady we got him from had that done at the vet (I would assume not since it doesn't sound cheap). Today I didn't hear any meowing until I let him out when I got up. Rasi (Rasputin) is bonding more with my fiancee than me (simply because she is around the house more than me), however I am unsure how he is going to react when she goes back to work tommorrow.
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post #23 of 26
2/10/11 at 9:40am
Well if he's not meowing so much already, then he probably just needed time to kind of get used to his new house and start to feel comfortable. That's good news!

He is a cutie, by the way!
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post #24 of 26
2/10/11 at 12:20pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by OrionDarkwood View Post
We probably try again on letting him roam the house at night this weekend. As for the blood work I don't know if the one lady we got him from had that done at the vet (I would assume not since it doesn't sound cheap). Today I didn't hear any meowing until I let him out when I got up. Rasi (Rasputin) is bonding more with my fiancee than me (simply because she is around the house more than me), however I am unsure how he is going to react when she goes back to work tommorrow.
It is good news that the meowing has lessened....your on the right track. You can try to let him roam at night again but I think if he starts meowing and won't stop after say, and hour? than put him back into his safe room. May take a little while to get him where he can fully be out of that room. But sounds like the fact he quiets when in that room is a good sign that he is feeling more secure there for whatever reason. So at least you know you can get the sleep you need and someday I am sure he will be able to come out.

I got blood work done for my cats...it was close to $200 a piece but worth it to me. Nothing was wrong (thankfully) but now they also have a baseline to go by so in future they can compare new bloodwork to the old one to see if anything is out of the "normal" range for them as individuals. So thats cool. Kinda get ahead of serious issues before they can get out of control and be potentially fatal.
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post #25 of 26
2/11/11 at 4:56am
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by DarkMavis View Post
Well if he's not meowing so much already, then he probably just needed time to kind of get used to his new house and start to feel comfortable. That's good news!

He is a cutie, by the way!
Thanks, this morning he wasn't meowing. Just kinda sitting next to the washer (I walked into the kitchen but didn't turn on the light and we have a night light in the laundry room so I could see him). I let him in he meowed at me a couple of times then walked around a bit before settling in his cat house (did look at me like you going to open the blinds so I can see LOL). We are going to let him out tonight and see what happens. He has issues with people walking in a room he tends to run to the next room then check to see if you are following him, as well he tends to run out of rooms that are enclosed and someone walks into it. I guess its just going to take time.
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post #26 of 26
2/12/11 at 6:15am
Thread Starter 
from the fiancée in regards to Rasi's overnight behavior

well, we let him out last night, he meowed a few times, but only like once, then walk off. about 5 am (when our alarm normally goes off) he comes in starts talking to us, like he was saying "isn't it time for y'all to be awake?" So I say "Rasi, it's time to sleep", pat the bed and he decides to come join me on the bed. he started at the foot of the bed until I had switched positions and ended up on my back(which I don't sleep in that position for long) and decided that he would step on my tummy (ouch - those incisions are still a little sensitive) and sleep halfway on my tummy and my body pillow. He starts pattycaking my stomach, and then lets out this god awful SBD fart. He slept there until I changed positions. About 6 he starts again, I have to wake up my fiance to get him to open Rasi's window in front of his perch, that shut him back up. We'll see what tonight brings.
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