Serious Meowing Issue

[elicia]

Here's my biggest issue:

Meowing.

My kitten, Aurelia, is 10 weeks old. When I acquired her from a ridiculously insane woman at 8 weeks (by ridiculously insane, I mean I made a police report because she claimed she would come to my apartment and murder me), she was quiet, calm, and happy. This, of course, doesn't hold so true anymore; she's getting older and more active, as babies often do, is getting super pushy and has gotten way too loud.

I have a 5 year old cat, Harley, who is very friendly, but gets very aggravated when Aurelia keeps pushing and pushing and pushing. He can bite her head, make all the angry kitty noises, and what does she do? Looks at him like OwO and continues to play, tug his tail, meow, climb on him, bite his paws, paw his face, and invade his personal space in various other means. Seriously, she couldn't care less about how he reacts. If she is respectful, both cats get along great. Aurelia also treats my papillon, Hopscotch, this way. Aurelia chases Hopscotch from her favourite sleeping places. Hopscotch will bark and growl, but Aurelia doesn't care.

I also have 3 dogs, my biggest of which (Catahoula Leopard Dog mix, Roulette) seems to be her best friend. This isn't surprising. Roulette is the den mother of my pack and often takes in all new faces whenever I bring them. I'm a dog behaviorist and I own my own dog rescue. I often utilize Roulette's willing nature to teach others, such as training dogs to stay quiet in the crate. Unfortunately, the farthest Aurelia has gotten with her studies is how to play with a dog twenty times her size.

Before I keep going, no, I'm not putting Aurelia in the crate with Roulette and no, I'm not putting Roulette in the spare room with Aurelia to teach her to be quiet. The room is set up for a kitten. Roulette will eat all of the food, tear up the toys, and probably pick up on the litterbox idea and try to go on the floor around it. So, no.

I've successfully taught Aurelia, to an extent, that "off" means "off." She will repeatedly jump on me when she wants to be with me. If I'm working or she's chewing my clothes/laptop wires, she is not allowed that privilege. So like I do with dogs, I pick her up, say "off," and repeat until she stays off. She is then rewarded.

Anyway, the meowing. It happens whenever she's alone in her room until she knocks herself out. When she IS finally quiet, I let her out, providing it's not 3am, 5am, or I'm not home. So far, ignoring her meowing has not been as successful as I'd hoped (the way it generally is with dogs.) In fact, she's gotten much worse. I live in a close-knit apartment complex and my apartment is located in an echoing area. The walls are all very thin. People upstairs, downstairs, and outside can hear her meow whether the windows are open or not.

I cannot be evicted from this apartment and I will NOT move. The very idea is completely out of the question. The complex I live in, by all means, does not have any reason to support my owning 3 dogs and 2 cats. I'm supposed to have 2 animals only. In fact, I only pay for 2 animals. On top of that, I'm constantly bringing in other dogs to foster (without having to pay for them as well). I've been living here for three years. I'm not leaving.

However, I am being pressed to do something about Aurelia's noise as it's becoming bothersome to neighbors. As I work in rescue, giving something up isn't really in my nature. I certainly love Aurelia and since she has bonded somewhat well with Harley (he grooms her and finally allows her to rub on him once in a while when she's being calm) and bonded very well with the girls (my 3 dogs). I don't want to give her to anybody else.

Oh and, no, I will not talk to her when she talks. I've seen that suggestion be thrown around, and it's pretty absurd. I'm trying NOT to enable her talking.

I've been working with dogs for 9 years, I'm trying to learn cat behavior, so this is all new to me! I also really don't use any tools aside from leashes and gentle leaders/haltis, as sometimes the streets of Los Angeles can really call for them. But ultimately, when it comes to cat products, I'm just not in the know!

I'm hoping this is part of being a kitten. I'm going to try one of those lavender collar things tomorrow in hopes it will work, but if anybody has any other suggestions, please send them all this way.

 

[princessesme]

First, WELCOME TO TCS!

When you brought her home, did you go through the introduction of cats to dogs and have her in isolation to get acclimated? By no means am I a cat behaviorist at all, but maybe she could use a re-introduction? Also, is she getting enough play time? With her being so young, maybe she is just doing it to get out some energy as well. Cat trees are also a great way to get some exercise.

 

[elicia]

Thank you! I'm happy to be here! I'll be stalking the boards when I can for information and education. <3 

Playtime daily- she'll be out of her room for about 10-16 hours a day (depending on work/sleep schedule), usually vigorous because she'll be playing with the dogs, I'll be playing with her, etc. Cat trees = +2! She's been acclimated since day 1; she's a really sturdy, carefree little gal.

I think honestly she's just lonely. She doesn't like to be away from everybody, which is understandable. She cannot sleep with me; she doesn't sleep, she stays up playing and meowing. The problem is that she needs to stay lonely and quiet :c Which sounds terrible, but, it's true.

Thank you very much for replying!!

 

[bookworm19]

Welcome! I'm fairly new too, but have had cats for eons. It seems like your baby is craving attention, and unlike dogs, you cannot totally train cats to do anything. Have you thought about getting her scratching posts, and toys for her own? Sometimes, cats need companions and entertainment. If they look to you for that, then that might lead to excessive, loud meowing. This could be the case, even with all of the other furry members of her family to play with. I can tell you one thing, though...locking her in her room is only reinforcing the crying. You obviously love Aurelia, and are trying super hard. Cats can be stubborn creatures. Keep up the good work!

 

[elicia]

-Sigh-

I've not had a chance to acquire a collar yet and I definitely need to invest in one asap, because neighbors are arriving at my door now. Apparently a "bunch of people" are really pissed.

If this meowing keeps up, she's going to have to be adopted out. She is pure black, which makes things difficult, and I may have to pound her if I keep getting hounded to shut her up.

I have to lock her away, or else I don't sleep because she'll scratch and bite at me all night, as well as bother Harley until he bites and throws her off, and even then, she keeps bothering him. Is a little meowing worth missing sleep for? Not in my lifestyle, because no one eats if momma doesn't work! On top of that, I tried a night with my bedroom door open and allowing her freedom. What happened, you ask? The underside of my bed was disneyland to her, the meowing did NOT stop while I tried to sleep because I wouldn't play, and finally at one point I woke up with a claw stuck in my eyelid. It literally got caught in my eyelid. I now am dealing with a case of conjunctivitis and a swollen eyelid.

As she's getting older, she's also getting MUCH louder.

She has toys, she has trees, food, water, litterbox, everything. There is absolutely nothing basic that she's missing. The only thing she does not have is consistent 24-hr companionship and playtime, which is what she whines and screams for.

I cannot afford the time, space, food, and potential health issues for another kitten.

Seriously, cat friends! Please offer me some more solutions! I want to be sure there are backup plans if the calming collar doesnt work

 

[bookworm19]

I would invest in some Feliway plugs as well, and place them throughout the apartment. This might calm her--she seems to be super-rambunctious, and want to play all of the time! I'm sorry about your eye...that sounds awful. All I can suggest is the Feliway plugs, as well as Whisker City's At Ease. Good luck! I hope that you can get your little one under control.

 

[ilovemia]

Mia meowed a lot when I got her at 7 weeks too. I just started talking back to her and that seemed to satisfy her to where she hardly does it at all now unless she is trying to tell me something. I would start talking with her. She might just need that little bit more attention.

 

[charlie05]

I have had serious meowing issues with my cats as well, but mostly they keep me up at night.  Here are some things I have tried:

- spray bottle- spray her when she meows

- motion detector- you can buy one on amazon, and place it by the door.  when she comes near the door to meow, it will blow air on her and make a loud noice.  My one cat was terrified of it and would stare at it and stopped meowing.

- a remote access plug (not sure of the official name)- you can buy this at the hardware store.  You plug it into the wall, and you plug something into it that scares the cat, like a vacumn cleaner or hairdryer.  When she meows, you use a remote control that comes with the device to turn on the vacum, hair dryer, etc.  Hopefully, that will reinforce her not to meow.

- Use a white noise machine (not sure how much that will help with neighbors, but who knows).

- Get an automatic laser pointer, so when you turn the device on, the laser moves by itself for a while.  It can keep her busy and not lonely.

 

[ldg]

What will help the most is stepping outside of the "animal training" mindset. Your kitty isn't doing anything wrong, she's trying to communicate. She's a baby, she's lonely, she's bored, and she's letting you know it. What you are facing is not how to correct a problem behavior, but how to resolve the problem, two very different things. :heart3:

Here's a different thought.

Cats are by nature nocturnal animals. You most likely are locking her up at night - which, by what you indicate - is when she's very active. There are two alternatives:

1) Get her a playmate and lock them up together.
2) Switch her schedule.

#2 does mean a sacrifice on your part. A member of TCS successfully switches the kittens' schedules by keeping them up all day. No naps, no downtime. Cats naturally sleep 16-18 hours a day (kittens a little less LOL), and most of that, until they adjust to our schedule, is during the day. By keeping them up all day, they're tired at night. But it means you must prevent her from sleeping all day. However, this approach may enable you to not have to lock her up at all. :cross:

 

[feralvr]

I have six cats and they sleep peacefully all night long mostly on our bed . Except for Presley He wants to snuggle and cuddle at about 3:00 a.m. and mews softly in my ears...... But I find if I keep the kitties busy during the daylight hours with two playtimes a day, a few small meals a day and trick training with treats at dinner time, they are all ready for bed by 10:00 p.m. And five of my cats just are only just one year olds...... But I am home during the day, so that helps with keeping my cats active during the daylight hours. A good play session before bed and then a small meal should settle your kitten in for the night :cross:. OR as Laurie suggested, I would consider getting another kitty playmate

 

[rafm]

Every time you see her sleeping during the day, wake her up. Get her so tired that by the time you go to bed, she's ready too. she's a kitten, she's going to be a bit crazy and attention seeking. If you keep her awake, you won't have to lock her away at night and she won't be lonely and crying for attention.

I have dogs and cats. And, in my first career I was a behaviorist, specializing in behavior modification. That said, I've yet to meet a cat where the 'ignore'concept actually works. You have to retrain their sleep patterns. Get her on and keep her on a schedule and above all, don't let her sleep during the day. It really works!

 

[nebula]

My baby bandit meows alot to. I don't get it, and so far neighbors have not complained!

I don't get whats wrong with solid black cats? They are beautiful!

Anyway, I found holding loving and extra TLC gets him to be quiet at times.. sounds simplistic but if he gets one on one meowmy time, he seems to do OK

he was a rescue kitty and neglected severely before coming to me 3  months ago..

They stay up at night, well bandit does- Smokie sleeps when we sleep

Just hang in there, if need be- move apartments to somewhere that the baby can meow and not disturb anyone.

Yea , I cater to my cats- but they are my world and aside from Jesus and my husband, they are my priority.

 

[misssara]

I think the constantly harassing the other animals thing is because she's a kitten. Kittens just don't get it. They want to play.

She's very young, she is quite possibly meowing because she's lonely. She wants to be with you... She'll get more independent as she gets older, but young kittens want their moms!