Obsessive Meowing, Please Help!

[VivienneCrow]

My cat, Copper, is 5 years old and just recently started to meow obsessively. No matter what I do she will not stop. I'm surprised she hasn't lost her voice. This has been going on for a month now and I can't get her to stop. I check her food and it's full. I've taken her to the vet with nothing wrong with her. I try to play with her even if she isn't very interested.

I keep he out of my room because I like to have a free space for me and my boyfriend. My cats have never been allowed in my room since I got them ... but lately she just screams at the door and claws at the space between the floor and the bottom of the door. If the window is open she claws at the screen.

I've tried letting her go outside with me when I'm hanging out on the porch. She has always been an indoor cat. But nothing works... it's always meowing and howling and screaming from her all day even when she's in your lap getting pets. I'm at my wits end and really need help.

I think maybe she just wants to be outside all the time but I live right next to a busy street and don't trust her to be smart enough not to get run over. My boyfriend wants to make a catio on the porch to see if it helps.

Any advice?

 

[danteshuman]

Is she spayed? If she is well I would ignore her loud meows. Respond to the softer meows immediately. Cats are like little kids, they will drive you nuts to get attention. The best you can do is reward her good meows/behavior & ignore her when she is annoying.

 

[VivienneCrow]

Is she spayed? If she is well I would ignore her loud meows. Respond to the softer meows immediately. Cats are like little kids, they will drive you nuts to get attention. The best you can do is reward her good meows/behavior & ignore her when she is annoying.

She is spayed and has been since 10 months old. We tried ignoring her but she will follow one of us around and her crying will get louder. We only show her attention when she jumps on our laps when we are watching tv on the couch. We stop petting her once she starts crying again

 

[ArtNJ]

I've never heard of generalized obsessive meowing not specifically and clearly tied to a particular desire (food, outside, attention, etc), but on his tv show My Cat from Hell Jackson Galaxy seems to solve literally every single cat problem by having the owners build a catio. Which I think is ridiculous, but nonetheless, it always seems to work on the show, so your boyfriend's idea could well help.

 

[pippapurring]

Is meowing the only issue she's experiencing? She hasn't started behaving differently in any other way?

If meowing is the only issue, this could be an anxiety problem. My cat has an anxiety disorder and unprovoked meowing is part of it. If it doesn't stop soon, I would take her to the vet to discuss any potential medical causes and possibly seek help from a behaviorist. Sometimes medication (antianxiety/antidepressants) are the only thing that help behavioral problems like this.

In the meantime I would completely ignore the meowing - don't even look at her while she's doing it. I know it's really frustrating but any reaction you give her whether it's positive or negative is reinforcing the behavior. Praise her a lot when she's silent - use her favorite treats, give lots of affection, etc. Do it randomly whenever she's behaving and also just after she stops meowing.