5 year old cat meows at night

[mrshuxtabones]

Hi
We recently bought a 5 year old male cat to keep our 2 year old tabby female company. They get on fine and this is not the problem. Mister Smudge (the 5yo) meows at night usually from 3am. He has access to litter, food, water and us but he still lets out these loud meows but he is usually just lying on the sofa with nothing wrong.

Websites advise that we ignore it & he will stop but it has been with us for 3 weeks and still does it. Do you have any advise??

 

[lamiatron]

do you know when he was neutered? was is recently meaning right before you adopted him or he was neutered a few years prior to that?

 

[mrshuxtabones]

I'm not quite sure think it was a while ago but not 100% sure.

 

[lamiatron]

hmm. i'm not too familiar with older cats, and cats meowing in the middle of the night...

both my cats are still under 1 year of age, and neither of them are really all that vocal (only when it comes time for food)

I suspect, that if he was adopted from a shelter, and he was neutered right before you adopted him, which is the case with most shelters, they wont fix the animal unless they've been adopted, then be might be crying to go outside. Intact Males and Females always cry to go out. He could be doing that. If he was neutered just recently, he would still have hormones in his system (which could take a few weeks to a few months to completely leave his system), and he's probably wanting to go outside.....that's the only thing i can think of...

sorry i am not able to offer much advice or help..i'm hoping someone who is more knowledgeable will chime in.

Do you think he maybe wants to sleep with you at night? he could be calling out because he wants your company....you did recently get him. He might not be used to his surroundings as of yet..and is feeling anxious

 

[oneandahalfcats]

If your cat has been checked out by a vet and found to be healthy, then this behavior is most likely due to feeling anxious with new surroundings.

When we first adopted our male and female (together), we went through the same thing. Max would let out these horrible screams in the middle of the night which were quite alarming at first. Not every night, but some nights. We determined that he was doing this most likely as the result of waking up from sleep and forgetting where he was. Being in a new, strange house can be frightening for a cat, just like the dark can be frightening for a young child. After getting up to be with him over the course of a few weeks, he settled down and stopped doing this.

I would suggest that you get up and go to where he is when this happens, to provide some calming reassurance and bonding during these times, and he will eventually feel less anxious over time. Setting up a bed or sleeping place in your bedroom, can also help. He will eventually work out of this behavior once he gets properly acclimatised to you and your home.

 

[mrshuxtabones]

Lamiatron;

thank  you for your advice anyway... its all helpful. He is (and was) an indoor cat. Unfortunately his old owners were horrible to him and left him in a room with no windows and he was malnourished... he's a lot healthier now since being at the rescue centre and here... he loves his food.
He doesn't like coming into the bedroom ... we pick him up and bring him into the bedroom and within 2 minutes he leaves. I know it could be him getting used to things but generally he seems fine .. he'll either just stay in the bed or on the blanket which he had since we had him or he will go sit in the hallway next to the bedroom.

 

 

[lamiatron]

poor guy

i'm so sorry he came from such a Sh***y place, but he's with you now

he sounds like he has some trust issues, that's why he doesn't want to stay in your bedroom with you. otherwise which cat would turn down a human bed to sleep on!

i think once he's started to trust you, and is more used to his surroundings, the middle of the night meows will stop 

i wish you guys good luck!

 

[mrshuxtabones]

oneandahalfcats;

 Mister Smudge got checked with the vet whilst at the rescue centre. He could be anxious but as I just said he seems fine apart from the bloody noise..haha.
How long did you have to get up with Max for? advise on websites state not to get up with them because previous advise says if you get up with them they expect it and then it gets you nowhere???!!!!

 

 

[mrshuxtabones]

Thanks Lamiatron. he is such a confident cat... he cuddles up on the sofa all the time. its just from midnight he meows.. i hope it stops soon too...lol.

 

[lamiatron]

my cat wakes me up with chewing my hair and licking my eye lids and eyebrows (i don't know why) be glad its not that!

 

[oneandahalfcats]

 
oneandahalfcats;

 Mister Smudge got checked with the vet whilst at the rescue centre. He could be anxious but as I just said he seems fine apart from the bloody noise..haha.
How long did you have to get up with Max for? advise on websites state not to get up with them because previous advise says if you get up with them they expect it and then it gets you nowhere???!!!!

 

Based on the additional information you have provided, would suggest that this cat may have some psychological issues as the result of the treatment he received from the previous owners, which sounds pretty horrible. The vocalizing in the night with Max was for different reasons than what you may be dealing with. The incidents didn't last long - Maybe a week or so. As he became more adjusted to us and the house, the vocalizing stopped.

It's up to you how you choose to handle this. You can take the advice of something you saw on another website and ignore this, or spend the time helping your cat to adjust. Its sounds like he could use your support. Good luck.

 

[mrshuxtabones]

Thanks for your comment.
We have had two nights in the past week where he hasn't meowed. I think he is settling more now and is generally a vocal cat as I've noticed he meows during the day again for no reason....he just likes being noisy.

 

[lamiatron]

my cats never meow...which is kinda sad. i wish they had other stuff to say to me aside from "FEED ME NOW OMG I"M GOING TO DIE I SEE THE FOOD IN YOUR HAND WHEN WILL YOU LET ME HAVE IT!! I WANT IT MEEEOOOWWWWWWWW!!!"

maybe next time your kitty randomly meows during the day, try to have a conversation with him
 

 

[betsygee]

Perhaps try a couple of small night lights.  They could help him be less disoriented when he wakes up during the night--especially if he was shut in a windowless room the last place he was, he might appreciate a little extra light when he wakes up during the night.

 

[mrshuxtabones]

I regularly have conversations with my cats. Proper adult conversations.

 

[mrshuxtabones]

Thanks for the advice betsygee..... Might try that. He has his good and bad nights so hopefully it's just that he needs time to settle. He's misbehaving in other ways now.

 

[larisla]

WE have just adopted a 7 year old cat, emma. she meows a lot at night every few hours it seems. she has plenty of water and things. she does come up to our room and we put her on bed but she doesn't stay long. she goes and plays at night too but still she is worrying us with loud meows at night. I am not sure what we can do but if she needs to be reassured we will do this. I just need help. we are at our wits end with trying to figure this out. thanks for your help. laurel

 

[larisla]

Emma came from a home and not a shelter and the owner said she would call her up to bed each night but we are unsure as what to do to reassure her and we are very upset as we cannot get any sleep with this going on every single night. She is wonderful otherwise she is 7 years old and so sweet. any suggestions would be appreciated.