pitiful meowing

Hi all this is my first thread here. I am so glad I found this site maybe someone can help.

I have a 4month old kitten, she was abandoned at a young age (4 weeks) and when I found her she was starving and flea/wormy. After only a few weeks she made a remarkable recovery. Now Bitts is a SO PLAYFUL and energetic that she wears me out.

The problem is about a month ago she started this meowing behavior. She goes into the hall by the front door and plantively MEOWs very loudly.

Sometimes she'll do the same thing by the back door but not as often. I took her to the vet, she said she's fine & is too young to go into heat. There is no set TIME she does it, altho in the morning it drives me the most crazy. I am also worried becasue I live in an apt and fear she might be driving the neighbors crazy when I'm at work.

If I call her she comes right to me, looking completely normal, no meowing. If I peek around the corner at her while she is meowing, she stops. I give her lots of time and attention, she has toys and kitty condo & a bird feeder to watch. I can't figure out WHY she is doing this. It's Driving me NUTS!

If you found her outside it is possible that she wants back outside to play. Try getting her into a harness and taking her for a walk. make sure she is treated with revolution or something first though or she might pick the fleas and worms back up and that wuold be bad.

thx phenomsmom, maybe she needs to go out more. Bitts has a harness and leash, we go out when the weather is nice enough but she is VERY skittish outside so I don't keep her out long. But maybe I should consider a daily outting, like a dog. She kind of thinks she's a dog anyway (begging for food & chasing balls). My poor confused little Bitts.

I disagree that 4 months old is too young to go into estrus. This could be the early "kitten heat" cycle, which is the beginning of sexual maturity for females. I would be very watchful of her, even on a lead and harness, when outside until you get her altered.

Yep I agree with Gaye, I have had strays go into heat that early. I would suggest you get her spayed as soon as possible and see if that doesn't take care of the problem.

maybe shes lonely and can smell other cats outside?

anther explanation is that she realises that this gets her attention.

Originally Posted by gayef

I disagree that 4 months old is too young to go into estrus. This could be the early "kitten heat" cycle, which is the beginning of sexual maturity for females. I would be very watchful of her, even on a lead and harness, when outside until you get her altered.

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My cat Cubby was 4 months old when she went into heat...I'd get her spayed too...good luck!

Both my kitties were strays that I took in. They both are fixed and they still make that loud meowing sound. I think in their case they used to be outside cats and they want to go outside. I found Tiger pretty young so he doesn't do it as much. I agree with the spaying though, I would go ahead and do it. I try to let Ginger go outside with me on the porch, but she gets too curious and wants to go further. Maybe I should try a harness, I just think people would think I'm weird for walking my cat. But if it makes her happy, who cares?

Originally Posted by gayef

I disagree that 4 months old is too young to go into estrus. This could be the early "kitten heat" cycle, which is the beginning of sexual maturity for females. I would be very watchful of her, even on a lead and harness, when outside until you get her altered.

Click to expand...

My cat always goes near a door when she's yelping and in heat. They know that's the gateway to the outside where potential mates are waiting. Mine started these preheat cycles around 4 months and then had her first full blown heat cycle around 6 months.

Oooh I'd get her spayed. My Sashka definitely went into heat that early and her spay made all the difference. I made the mistake of thinking she was too young to be in heat but eventually I couldn't ignore the signs and had her fixed up. It made her a lot happier and certainly curbed her `I MUST GO OUTSIDE NOW!' desires!

I have a 9 month old female kitten, who was a stray to feral parents. She's been with me for about 5 months and has been spayed. However, in the past few weeks, every morning, without fail, she will make the pitiful sound over an over, roaming thru my small condo. It doesn't sound like a meow, but something else. It begins almost the same time everyday, between 5 and 6 most often, though it has started earlier sometimes. It's so annoying that I have to kick her out of the bedroom so I can sleep. I can't pinpoint when it began, trying to determine if something triggered it. I did get a second kitten about 3 months ago, but this behavior began well after they became friends. She's made this sound at other times of the day, but it's this early morning ritual that makes me nuts. If she's looking for attention, she isn't getting it as I put her and the other cat outside the bedroom. She might continue the sound while out of the room, but she eventually stops.
I do bring her to my neighbors once in awhile so she can play with her brothers (my neighbor has 2 of the stray kittens), but this happens in the evening, not at 5 in the morning, so the 2 don't seem to be related.
Does anyone have any advice? I get very frustrated but want to understand this behavior.
Thank you

She wants breakfast. I haven't slept past 6 a.m. in years and years and years... Or else she's smelling another cat out there and wants to play.

I have one that does the pitiful meowing too. It's apparent that Tigger does it for attention because as soon as I call her name she stops and comes running. She'll often do it at night when she wants mommy to go to bed. The minute I get settled in bed she curls up on my chest (with her butt in my face!) and goes to sleep. Pooh also sometimes does the meowing thing when she's playing with something. She loves the plastic rings from the milk jug and she meows like someone is killing her when she's playing with one

If it is truly driving you mad (and you're sure she's not in heat) I would suggest trying to ignore her when she does it. If she doesn't get the "reward" of your attention she may just stop doing it.

I have a young female kitten too- she is almost 6 months old, and for the last month I have been hearing her meow much more often. She also does it more when it's breakfast time. She does it way more than her brother or my other cats do. So I think it is very possible that she is having a "preheat" cycle or going into heat. I am hoping that when is spayed this stops.
On the other hand, it could be an attention getting/slash i want food call. When we first got Zakk when he was 6 months he would wake me up every morning very early demanding food. It was getting earlier, and earlier. When he was almost a year old we got Rocky. It seemed Rocky was enough distraction that he didn't need to bug us anymore in the morning.