my old deaf cat is driving me crazy with screaming!

My cat Berto is nearly 17years old now and lost more and more of his hearing over the past 2 years. I think now he is completly deaf.. the only problem is, i am not! or should i say, not yet!! because he screams and screams. He has always been a pretty loud cat and demanded attention, food, or someone to watch him go to the litterbox (? has anybody else ever seen this behaviour in cats?). But now it's getting worse and worse and he wakes me and my husband up at 5.30 in the morning, and screams at night when he comes to bed and during the day. I give him food, cuddle with him, but sometimes he just walks around the flat miauing.
I think he can't hear himself anymore and I used to talk to him a lot and he might miss that (think I am ignoring him), so I try to use a kind "sign-language". But his constant screaming is driving me insane. I cant study or talk on the phone or sleep one night through. In the mornings I have to lock him in the bathroom for 2 hours so I can get some sleep and I don't like doing that.

Anybody got any ideas on what might help? Or experiance with older deaf cats? I go to the vet regularly and he is healthy, apart from not hearing and not being able to jump on high things anymore.

Thank you for all your help.

I'm sorry to hear about your problems, and I can't relly offer you any help, except to say have you asked your vets if they can recommend anything?

I have heard of a similar cat, this was when we were at the shelter looking for cats to adopt. There was one there which the lady who ran the place said could never be rehomed as all he did was howl all day - he was completely deaf. Don't worry, he wasn't put to sleep, she kept him in her house instead of in the rehoming pens, and I think that's where he ended up staying, but she couldn't stop him howling. I think you are right about yours maybe being a bit traumatised by not being able to hear, so perhaps a calming something might help?

Good luck,

Sue

I have a similar problem, except my cat is young and has no hearing problems. I don't know what to do. She is driving my partner and I completely nuts with her crying all night. She is spayed, so I know she's not in heat. She has plenty of food and water at night and access to any room in the apartment that she wants. My other cat rarely makes a peep at night. I don't know what to do.

maybe he's going blind too and feeling a little disorientated. this would explain why its particuarly bad at night.

is he an only cat?

I just saw an Anim@l Pl@net show about this...I can't remember the name of the show. Anyway, the cat wasn't deaf, but she was quite old. The expert thought that she was going senile...the cat would walk into a room and start crying because she couldn't remember why she was there, or because she didn't recognize things. The suggestions were:
-confine the cat to a smaller space if you have a big house/apartment, so that s/he doesn't get overwhelmed
-create a special "safe spot" for the cat. In this show, they used a cardboard box with no top, high sides, and an opening cut in the front so she could access it without jumping. It was put near a warm place with plenty of bedding, and her food dishes were right outside. The litterbox was also within her line of sight (though not close to the food).

For your deaf cat, I'd also suggest trying the "blinking" talked about on this forum. It's a way of communicating without sound that your cat will understand.

For cats that cry a lot, try (I know, it's REALLY hard) to ignore them when they're crying, then load praise and attention on them when they're quiet. If you pay attention when they're making noise, even if it's negative attention, it reinforces that they'll "get what they want" when they're loud.

Hi and thank you all for your replies. I was also wondering if he couldn't see that well anymore eventhough he still loves sitting by the window and look (and scream! ) at the world outside. But it would explain why he screams before he comes to bed, because he cant see well and not just because he can't jump very high anymore.
He is an only cat and has lived inside all his life. We don't have a very big appartment so I think he still remebers where what is. I guess he just feels isolated because he is deaf now.
Ignoring is not that easy.. i've tried but don't do very well at it. I'll try again.

If anybody has any good tipps or explanations, I'll be glad to hear about them.

Shelagh (and Berto)

i did a quick internet search for sites about deaf cats and found these:

http://www.petpeoplesplace.com/Care/Cats/004/06d.htm

http://dspace.dial.pipex.com/brini/whtdeaf/advice.htm

http://www.bestfriendspetcare.com/ca.../deafcats2.cfm

if you search the forums a few other members have deaf cats and might be able to give you tips.

I know, ignoring is really, really hard! How long has your cat been exhibiting this behavior?

A couple more suggestions: There's a section of this forum called "Sharing Golden Moments." It's no longer active (you can't post there), but you might want to look through it to see if anything there is helpful.
Also, try talking to your vet. You don't even have to go in for an appointment--just give him/her a call and ask if s/he has any advice, or can point you toward any resources.

Good luck, and let us know what happens.

Has your kitty had a senior panel done? It sounds like he may have some of the signs of hyperthyroidism. If he's lost any weight in addition to his yowling, you might want to have him checked again, possibly with a Free T4 test (it's a more accurate measurement). Good luck!

Uh boy.... I just went around and around... registered because not only do I agree with Cloud Shade... please check for hyper thyroid...but also...
Dear Cloud Shade,
You have no idea how rare it is to see correct advice given concerning FreeT 4 being the only accurate measurement of true thyroid levels. ! ! ! Rare indeed. This is a source of personal constant frustration.

I hope the rest of this forum is as up to date. I shall be looking around and with any luck... I shall be bugging all of you with queries. So... You've been warned. lol

Yippie... I'm so happy now. And if I figure out how to add an avatar, I'll be ecstatic

Hi Berto,

It addition to my last post...
I lived with a wonderful deaf cat for his entire 17 years. I'm not sure if this would apply but the way we communicated was sign language, as you attempted. But I had to first teach him to look at me. I developed taps on the floor that had meaning. The first was the most basic...just look here. We invented things as we went along, and I discovered cats little foot pads are extremely sensitive. Much more than folks might imagine.
Squeek was devoted, and seemed to understand he had a disadvantage... so we always went outside and gardened together...and he always stayed within sight....not necessarily close, but all I had to do was bang a bit on the ground, and his face would appear from where ever he had got off to.

He would look to see what I wanted... and only come if I asked him to. I believe he felt safe because he did have a means of communicating. As cats do, he taught me many signs too.
My kitty was deaf from birth, so many things would be different. he rarely made any sound at all, as it had no meaning to him. When he did attempt to meow, it came out as a 'squeak'... thus his name.
The only time he every made a loud meow noise, he was in complete panic and screamed at the top of his lungs... that was horrid. Only twice in his life that I've ever remembered. but ya don' forget something like that.

My gut feeling on your cat is that this is a distress call , not comforting to him. I'm pleased you are looking into it.
IF it is hyperthyroid, the meds work very well, and are the safest option in the long run. Let me know if you should ever need any help on that topic. I'm a hyperthyroid human bean.

As he became elderly his main comfort was a heating pad left on the lowest setting with a terry cloth towel over it. Just enough to allow a comfy heat. His joints ached him badly and this heat eased his pain. Power outages proved that to me.
If he fell asleep not on the heat, when he woke he had much trouble doing any strenuous movement too. So I ended up with two pads. One by the favorite window, and one on the end of the sofa.

You could check with the experts on my other solution. When he was stressed out from situations, or just having a bad pain day and feeling stressed from that, I used Bach Flower drops. Their Rescue Remedy.
BUT... I stress... I only did this on my own. Check with the experts.

My goes out to your sweet kitty. I hope my registering here and posting can be of some help to him.