Meowing at night

[muffles]

I've had my cat for about a year now and he has always been very quiet and shy. Until about 2 months ago when he started wanting to go outside all of a sudden. He meows at the door every night when I go to bed usually around 11, but if I stay up later he will do it again when I get in bed. He meows nonstop, really loudly, making horrible sounds. He is neutered, but I expect it has something to do with hormones or something like that. I've tried giving him a time out when he does it, but he just starts again as soon as he's let out from time out. Also I got him a harness and tried taking him outside, but he got scared and broke out of the harness and hid in a neighbors yard all night, so I'm afraid to try taking him out at night. Help! My cat is going crazy and so am I!

 

[mani]

There may well be other cats out there and he's just discovered them.  And if you respond to him, he's got what he wants.. your attention!

Then it becomes a habit. 

Of course you need to be sure that there isn't a medical reason, but he would probably be meowing during the day if that were the problem.

If there are cats around (and you may not even be aware of them) see if you can make sure there's nowhere he can have a view outside.  He can probably still sense them, but no point in adding to his experience of them.

Other things are to play with him late, and even give him food late, as cats do tend to have a nice long sleep after a meal.  It's a case of breaking the habit.

Good luck!

 

[tulosai]

Pretty much what Mani said.  At this point, I'd also invest in earplugs and just ignore him totally for several weeks.  The worst thing you can do is give him any attention for the behavior.

 

[muffles]

Earplugs it is! Thanks for the advice!

 

[pascal]

I brought home my cat about two months ago and we had major issues with nighttime meowing after she stopped being terrified of her new home. In our case, I think Pascal has separation anxiety. We got one of the anti-anxiety wall plug ins and, I'm not sure how much it helped, but she is pretty quiet at night now.

Pascal is generally a chatty cat and I also noticed that I was responding to her meows. As others have said, this reinforces the behavior.

 

[chloespriestess]

I think you might have a nightly visitor that come to your door every night. I'm guessing it may be a raccoon, a opossum or a cat. Other types of animals may be living in your area, but these animals tend to venture more readily into the area where humans live, attracted to the garbage, even in urban areas. They all tend to stick to certain schedule and make their "rounds" nightly, sticking to the same path as always, and they are most active starting around our bedtime. (Less human walking about then.)

You can set up a surveillance camera and if it is an animal indeed, you can take a step to discourage them from coming to your door.

If you can't set up a camera, you can spread some powder just outside of your door and see if there are any foot prints left in the morning.

(And again, it did occur to me that I could be completely wrong, that maybe you live in a high rise, and outside of your door is nothing but a carpeted hallway, the only "visitor" between 2300h-0600h is the newspaper delivery man! Well, that's another possibility: maybe someone is coming home at the same time every night and your cat is reacting to it?)

 

[angela1573]

Try giving him a different evening activity. Maybe a food dispenser with a timer or hidden treats to hunt or try a few special toys that only come out at bedtime. If he is acting nocturnal, just try to give him a little something to do rather that meow. My Cherise was always a nighttime singer, and now that shes gone, id give anything to hear her sing again.