11 week old will NOT. STOP. SCREAMING.

I have to clarify one thing up front: he's not meowing. He is SCREAMING. And people find this one hard to wrap their head around too: HE DOES NOT STOP. He is either asleep or screaming. Period.

Kitty is an 11 week old spotted male Bengal I got last week from his breeder. I've been visiting him since he was born but about a week before I picked him up he got sick. That's when him and the rest of the litter picked up their screaming habits from the one original screaming cat in the litter.

According to the vet he is all better now but he still has diarrhea.

Anyways, the point of this post is that he is absolutely driving us nuts. All the advice I have read in books and on the internet says to treat him good and give him positive reinforcement when he is not crying and then ignore him when he is. Well, what do you do when he never stops? I've tried snuggling him, I've tried playing with him, I've tried leaving him alone, I've tried shushing him. None of that works.

I tried shooting canned air at him but that didn't work either. Since he is always screaming he doesn't associate the canned air with the screaming. He just runs away still screaming and then I feel like a jerk for chasing him around with a can of compressed air.

My girlfriend and I are at our wits' end. We just paid $500 for this cat last week and we are already ready to give him away.

He has been to the vet and the vet is dumbfounded. They have no idea what to do.

Does anybody have ANY helpful advice before we give our new kitten away?

Please don't say to reward him when he is not meowing or to ignore him when he is. I know I have already said this but I keep having to repeat myself because people do not understand that he does not stop. Everybody thinks I am exaggerating until they hear him on the phone or meet him in person. He literally does not stop.

We are going crazy from lack of sleep and nothing we have tried is working. Any ideas?

I would go to a other vet with your kitten again due to the diarrhea. Do you still give him medication for him , or do you have meds for him ? It sounds to me that this kitten is in disstress and in pain . Cats/kitten don't know how to tell you if they are in pain , some hide away and some will screem . I think his little belly hurts . Also food change can do this to a kitten . Please see a other vet , there is something wrong with this kitten in order to screem like that . Maybe you have a feline specialist near you , if you do go there . I would go asap with the kitten to a new vet .

i agree, you need to get this kitten checked out, let us know how it goes.

I have to third this motion to get your kitten to another vet. Unfortunately it can take a day or two to get bloodwork back, but he needs a thorough examination - or tell your original vet you'd like to get another opinion before giving him up, and get copies of their records (though new tests wouldn't hurt). I'm sorry for the agony you're having with your new kitten.

I don't know where you live, but if it's an urban area please try to locate a feline internist specialist. I know this is nothing like the problem you're experiencing, but one of our cats ate litter all the time. Several vets told us to ignore it, they all said it couldn't hurt him and he had no mineral deficiency or anything. He became extremely anemic, and we went to see a specialist in feline internal medicine. When we told him the cat was eating litter, he said "he's anemic. Happens all the time." He developed the anemia over a long period of time, so initial blood work didn't turn up the problem. But we would have monitored his red blood cell count far more closely had we known that eating litter was an indication of developing anemia. Our cat was so anemic he was near death, but the sign that something was wrong was there all the time, just non-specialist vets were unfamiliar with this symptom, so we only went for yearly check-ups.

A screaming cat has a problem, and it isn't one of behavior.

Also, if you do not have the patience for this poor guy, you should be able to return him to the breeder, you should not have to give him away.

As soon as I read about him screaming, I thought straight away that he is poorly and in pain. I strongly agree that you take him to a different vet, and a specialist one if possible. Hope the poor little kittie goes on Ok. Please let us know what happens.

That really doesn't sound good at all. Have you talked to the breeder you originally purchased him from??

Katie

Again a second opinion is needed but have you tried Snuggle kittie maybe that will calm baby down.

Here is the website for snuggle kitty

http://www.epets.com/snugglekitty.html

Originally Posted by TNR1

That really doesn't sound good at all. Have you talked to the breeder you originally purchased him from??

Katie

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Yes. The breeder has done fairly well in upsetting me at this point. First off she failed to tell me when they kittens got sick. I called her on the day I was supposed to pick him up and she said "oh you can't. They've all been sick."

Secondly, she knew I was concerned about getting an overly vocal kitty. There was one in the litter that was already like this and she knew he annoyed me. On the day I picked him up she quickly got my money and rushed me out the door with him, assuring me that he was only crying "because he knows he is leaving."

Later when I talked to her she told me that he learned it from the other loud kitty while he was sick. Then a few days later I called her again and all she said was "Yeah, the males are pretty vocal."

OH...not good at all. Did you sign a contract?? I really suggest you see about her "return" policy and whether you should be able to get your money back.

Katie

Goodness you and your girlfriend must be so stressed out. I can't imagine a screaming kitten especially non-stop. Have you talked to anyone who also got a littermate? And did the breeder tell you what the kitten was "sick" with? I would at the very least ask to see copies of the vet visit (if there was one). The screaming could be an indication of pain- but if the kitten were in non-stop pain you would see evidence of it elsewhere. Litter pan behavior, not eating, not drinking? do you see that at all?

For your own peace of mind, I would certainly take this kitten into a specialist and have him checked upside and sideways. But my guess is this isn't pain related it could just be his way, or perhaps hew was either being ignored, or tormented by others where he was before. He could also just be lonely for his littermates. I would also search out some bengal breeders and email them and ask them if this is a common trait for the breed? He is so young to be so anxious all the time.

Good luck-

I have here a Bengal yahoo group and you may want to check this out

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Bengals-L/

And here is a Bengal rescue group you may want to check in

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/bengalcatrescue/

There are a few things that may be going on with him. When a kitten gets separated from mom in the wild, a kitten will scream and scream so that mom can find him. He may be screaming like this because he has just been separated from his mom and littermates and is calling for her. He is 'lost' in this new house and feels vulnerable and frightened.

Another thing that can cause constant screaming is worms. They can cause serious tummy pain as well as diahorrea. Has he been treated for worms in the last week? If not, that's something you can do.

For now, you need to confine him to a small area of your house so he doesn't feel lost. Choose a room that's warm, where he can have his food and litter tray at opposite ends of the room. Put his bed and toys in there as well. If you don't want to get a snugglekitty, wrap a clock that ticks in a sock and place this in his bed. Also you can fill a clean sock with uncooked white rice or white beans until the sock feels firm. Tie a secure knot in the open end and place the sock in the microwave for 60 seconds. Test the temperature before you put the sock heater in with your kitten. Make sure the sock is not too hot. This sock will take the place of his littermates and the clock mimics the mom-cat's heartbeat.

Good luck with him.

Originally posted by Kumbulu
When a kitten gets separated from mom in the wild, a kitten will scream and scream so that mom can find him. He may be screaming like this because he has just been separated from his mom and littermates and is calling for her. He is 'lost' in this new house and feels vulnerable and frightened

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I was wondering what generation of bengal your kitten is that he is screaming instead of meowing?

I had a kitten fairly recently that did this too, and the one thing that worked to stop it was to give him a bottle with kmr. I know at 11 weeks, he's old enough to be eating food, but he might associate the bottle and the milk with comfort, and his mom, and it might just help settle him down. I had to bottle feed a baby cat I got that was younger then I thought (only 7 weeks when I had been told 10) who was inconsolable. One bottle later, and he was like a new cat. Plus the bottle feeding really helps with you bonding to him too. Are you sure your guy is definitely as old as you think? I have heard some stories of people being lied to about the age of the kittens they are getting for one reason or another. I have three cats (two bengals), and have only had the screaming issue with the one, but I know it is hard to deal with because it's literally non stop. I hope this helps you like it did us. Our screamer is the best cat ever now. Good luck!

Originally Posted by Kumbulu

There are a few things that may be going on with him. When a kitten gets separated from mom in the wild, a kitten will scream and scream so that mom can find him. He may be screaming like this because he has just been separated from his mom and littermates and is calling for her. He is 'lost' in this new house and feels vulnerable and frightened.

Another thing that can cause constant screaming is worms. They can cause serious tummy pain as well as diahorrea. Has he been treated for worms in the last week? If not, that's something you can do.

For now, you need to confine him to a small area of your house so he doesn't feel lost. Choose a room that's warm, where he can have his food and litter tray at opposite ends of the room. Put his bed and toys in there as well. If you don't want to get a snugglekitty, wrap a clock that ticks in a sock and place this in his bed. Also you can fill a clean sock with uncooked white rice or white beans until the sock feels firm. Tie a secure knot in the open end and place the sock in the microwave for 60 seconds. Test the temperature before you put the sock heater in with your kitten. Make sure the sock is not too hot. This sock will take the place of his littermates and the clock mimics the mom-cat's heartbeat.

Good luck with him.

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This is what I was going to say too. When I got my kitten she was 8 weeks old and from a farm where she had no human contact. The 1st night she spent with us we kept her in the bedroom with the master bathroom for her litter box. She screamed all night, my boyfriend or I got no sleep, I really do think it was because she was looking for her family. I was so sad, that she seemed unhappy but we gave her comfort items like towels to lay on and just spent time in the room watching TV and reading so she would get used to us. The second night she screamed some when i asked the vet I donâ€[emoji]8482[/emoji]t think they understood when I said she is screaming, they told me that Siamese have odd vocals. Then the third night she screamed a little less until she stopped. Now she is my little love bug and she no longer does it the only sound you hear from her a purrs all the way across the room. Occasionally she will let out this very funny meow when we have wet food in our hands, other than that she is quite. Please give your kitty some more time to get used to you and not having the litter mates near