Rescue kitten over-attachment and excessive meowing

[dlkhain]

Hi,

I'm posting this on behalf of a friend of mine who recently (early November) got a rescue female orange cat who's now 8 months old.

Some background and misc info:
- She was removed from her litter because the mother had tyhpus
- Spent her first 3 months with kittens from another litter
- Quite fearful by nature, but extremely cuddly with her family
- Initially thought to be 2 months younger than she actually was, so neutering happened a bit later than it should have

She now lives in a flat with my friend and her 6 year old son, with access to a small garden. She's being well looked after, played with daily (which she enjoys, she's very good at fetching).

The main issue is her constant meowing, which I'm thinking is some kind of separation anxiety.
Meowing will start as early as 6am and can be pretty much constant until given attention. Initially we thought the meowing was because she was in heat and not neutered yet because of her age being miscalculated, but it carried on after neutering.
Also worth noting is her attitude towards foot: she used to actually steal from the table but doesn't do it anymore, but she will beg for food loudly despite being well fed.

As soon as there's a lap available she will jump on it and settle there purring. Basically she's extremely chatty and clingy.

The vet recommended ignoring her which doesn't seem to help much, although when the meowing gets too much in the evening and it wakes the kid up, there's not much other choice than to let her outside for a bit.

Feliway has been also tried to calm her down but doesn't seem to have much effect either.

My theory is that due to her history she's scared this situation won't last and needs constant reassuring, but it doesn't really seem to get better with time.

So the crux of it is, is there a way to give her the confidence to be on her own without feeling the need to meow for attention? Would this kind of behaviour get better on its own after a while?

Thanks in advance for any recommendations

PS: if it helps, we've got some short videos of her behaviour that we can potentially upload somewhere and link here (technically maybe filming her is giving her attention and encouraging her though?)

 

[Furballsmom]

Hi
She may need to be fed more, she's still a baby--well, a teenager, and needs a lot of food. Three meals daily, enough so there's a little left on the dish when she's done and walks away (indicating she's truly full), with some Kibble for snacks and overnight.

I have an adult orange chatterbox boy who, when he first came home with us from the shelter was very clingy. He's better now

Have them try a purr toy, a heartbeat toy, a self warming bed and cat music. I'm concerned she's being seen more as a problem than for the absolutely darling individual that she is, with whatever quirks her personality is comprised of.