Hi everyone. I'm new to this site and certainly know someone will be able to help us with our question.
We have a nearly 11 year old cat, Casper. We adopted him from a close friend of mine nearly a year ago due to the fact that he couldn't keep him any longer. My friend, was heart broken over this but, felt secure that my BF and I were the right people to give Casper his new home since both of us had cat's previously (my BF in particular, had many through the years).
Casper entered our lives as if he always lived in the house. Neither of us have ever encountered such a confident, self-assured cat. He settled in very well from the get go. Never showed any hesitation living here; no litterbox issues, no bad behaviors other than the first few weeks he seemed a bit needy for company (he had been living alone in my friends house more or less while he had neighbors checking in on him since he had moved to another state and was only able to come home on weekends). He was even good about not trying to get into the bedroom at night if we closed the door (we have since, allowed him in most of the time). If we could just stop him from gobbling up his kibble in the morning and then throwing it up - he'd be the perfect kitty :D
He was not, a vocal cat at all. He communicates very well via body language and we are able to figure out what his needs are from that. When he does use his "voice" it is a very low tone, nearly imperceivable in fact. It was rare for him to ever "say anything" to us.
So here is the issue. Lately he's been yowling like crazy, a plaintive cry like he's upset, lonely or wants us in the room together, or something. He'll stand at the bottom of the stairs meowing like crazy UP the stairs for my BF, while he's up there. I mean, he certainly can hear him up there. My BF will call him, tell him to come up, and he'll just yowl sadly. It's like he's waiting for a personal invitation from him - waiting for him to walk down the stairs and freaking pick him up and bring him up there, instead of him walking up himself.
Or he'll wait there while we're both in the living room watching TV, doing the same thing. If we go upstairs he'll run after us, come into the bedroom and settle in with us for a while (or all night, depends). I mean, it's like he's telling us sometimes "hey guys, time to go to bed!"
Mind you, there isn't anything wrong with him health-wise. He's been checked out. He did have a bout of a bladder infection some months ago, but that has long been resolved. His legs are just fine lol. He runs around the house playing perfectly well when he is up to it (he's nearly 11 after all - sleep is a big past time these days). He's been poked and prodded for every time of infection there is - all is well. It seems to be behavioral issue for sure.
We think it may be related to the fact that my BF had been out of work the entire time Casper has been with us and just recently found a job in the past month. He's out of the house now 12 hours a day, like me. It's very possible Casper is missing him very much, they get along famously - best buds kind of thing. He will keep him company in his office, on a pillow by his desk overlooking the window or on the little couch in the room. He's by his side a lot. Even more than mine.
Anyway, if there are any other ideas someone may have I'd love to hear it - or ideas on how to make him more secure right now. We're home with him a lot on the weekends, and interact with him as much as possible (and, leave him be when he needs that too). The meowing is concerning to us since it's so out of character for how we've gotten to know him and he never does it directly to our faces - only out of earshot. There is a small part of us that is toying with the idea of a little sister or brother for him, but we're not sure this is the right thing for all of us right now; emotionally, time wise or financially.
Thanks!
