Yowling over water dish

[darkhorse321]

Hey folks! Hope you are all having a good 2017. It's been ....hard for me. Miss my little Boo.

Skye is doing well!! She's 17 and she's got her share of issues--namely arthritis, for which I'm finding a regime for her needs.

Skye, for about 2 years now, has started that 'getting older and possibly deaf meowing'. She did it long before we lost Bandit, and having had another kitty who did the same, I just carried on.

Recently, I've noticed she tends to 'howl' at her water dish. Before or after. This is new to me. I asked the vets if she could be nauseated, as her pancreatic levels are high--but only those levels. ALL her blood work is normal--even kidney levels!!! They said normally a cat that is nauseated won't eat/drink and vomits. Skye hasn't vomited since August (yay!).  On her last check up, she does have stage 1 (early, early) cataracts. Could this meowing at her water dish be sight related? I plan on getting her to the vet next week for new blood work to make sure all is ok, but wasn't sure if anyone here had an experience with this.

I know she used to yowl and Bandit would come to see her, and I do wonder if she has gotten more vocal to find him. I am searching for a new kitten (has to be young because Skye is very passive and any older kitty would dominate her), but they are hard to find right now. I wish we had pet stores---rescues seem to act like god, and that honestly ticks me off. (trying to tell me NOT to get a KITTEN because of Skye's advanced age---folks, I"ve worked and owned animals for about 40 yrs--I know what I'm doing).

Anyhow, mini rant about that over---has anyone had a cat that yowled over their water dish or after drinking? Even if I am in plain sight....bizarre!

 

[mservant]

It is always wise to get any changes in behaviour checked out, esp with our m,ore mature fur-family members, but I wonder like you do if this latest meowling at the water bowl is related to Skye's sight.

My former 'girl' Pal, was pretty arthritic and then from around 19 she developed high blood pressure and it affected her kidneys and also damaged her sight.   It was constant meowling that got me taking her to the vet but once she was more comfortable and on medication for her blood pressure and relieve pressure on her kidneys she quietened down a lot.   She would meowl at almost anything that was in front of her or in her way or she wasn't sure about after that, as well as when she wanted me to do something (usually to pick her up and carry her around).   She would meowl at her water and food bowls if she thought they were empty and preferred me to tell her things were OK than to check them out with her own paws.    

I never got a replacement cat companion for Pal because she had been bullied by her litter sister for 18 years and after the inital couple of weeks calling and searching for her I saw a startling transformation from nervous, jumpy cat to chilled out babe who loved nothing more than attention from anyone who would lavish her with gentle strokes. You might like to know she enjoyed her chilled out lifestyle so much she hung out with me for another 4 years (almost to the day) !!! I can identify with your frustration on how other people not so familiar with a cat will make judgements on what would work though.  Here it is almost impossible to get a kitten or cat from a rescue place unless you have someone at home all the time, safe garden and will let the cat out, and no other pets unless the rescue has previously lived with a dog.  How they manage to home any of the animals I will never know.  

I hope you find there are no new health issues for Skye and that you find a new snuggle-buddy for her that she enjoys teasing with her tail from time to time.

 

[calibali]

I have an 18 year old, Cali, who has been yowling or howling at her water dish for at least a year right before she drinks from it. If I'm in the other room, I come running because it sounds like she's in pain but when she sees me she stops doing it. I have been wondering what's going on as well. She was in to the vet recently and I didn't think to mention it. She also spends all her time on my bed, getting down to use the little box but very little else. I am guessing its age related.

 

[darkhorse321]

Thanks folks--I do plan to get her to the vet for blood work---her last blood work in December showed only elevated pancretic levels, but everything else was find. I do want to check her thyroid though as the meowling over the water is new. She was diagnosed with stage 1 cataracts, but so far, she's not bumping into things.

I do wonder...she is deaf---or pretty much deaf----and her water dish is new--a metal one that sits up off the ground: Do you think she's using that as a way to hear? Like she meowls and the metal dish bounces sound and she is hearing herself? That would make sense to me--I know she hears--mostly loud sounds (snow plow on the road that bangs, me dropping stuff etc), so that did come to mind.

I know that her pancreas is likely damaged from a severe attack of pancreatitis that nearly took her from me. As a result, I have wondered if she has an upset tummy and howls because it's upset? I read online that cats drink more with pancreatitis to keep stomach acid down---but when I mentioned this to the vet, they said usually when cats have upset stomachs, they throw up. Skye's not thrown up in ages. I have noticed that when she yowls, I give her a 1/4 tablet of Pepcid AC and she settles. Very odd and the vets are baffled, but if it works, I do it.

Another this is of course, pain---it's hard to tell if her pain is arthritis based or pancreatic based--I DO notice that since our weather has warmed up, what a different kitty she is!!! More active/up on the bed, cuddly and rolling around happily. That to me is a huge sign of a happy kitty.

Hopefully blood work will show her pancreatic enzymes lower---if so, I will drop her prednisone to a half tabelt a day.

As for a new kitty---I am really annoyed by rescues atm----that they not only seem to play 'god' with 'who gets a cat', but that they are trapping feral cats and attempting to make them house cats??? Why don't they just catch and release them after neutering??? Who wants to force an animal indoors, who will be scared and wild?? To me, that's just cruel!!! It's one thing if a feral cats becomes content with being a house cat, but I've been reading SO many bios of 'I'm scared, but will warm up to you'. Well, of course it's SCARED...they are WILD! Let them stay wild! We do this at the farms I work at---we do catch and release so they can't breed, but why keep them inside? A few of our feral cats become domesticated and stay at the barn, realizing we feed them and play with them. Hahahaha. But we never force them. And they are pretty good mousers...well, that is if they can be bothered

 

[JaylaP]

Hi, I have a 19 and 20 year old cat and they are dong really well. I started them on adequan 5 years ago to slow progression of arthritis (is an amazing product) and 1 is on dasaquan the other is diabetic and cannot have that but both are on canna pet as well. My 19 year old (diabetic) has started the yowling at the water bowl and it drives me kookoo. He is not in pain and he is active happy and bright. It must just be age? They also both get SQ fluids and are hydrated. Bloodwork is great so I have no clue. I just wanted to let others know it may not be "pain". I wish I knew the answer tho.

 

[stellr]

Our 19 yr old was yowling at the water bowl. I found this thread looking for an answer. Later, my brilliant spouse wondered if Cleo was sensitive to water temperature. It's January and about 15F outside. We speculated her whiskers or teeth were bothered by the cold so we microwaved the water for 20 seconds and she drank like a fish. Repeated success many times today. Shopping for a water heater.

 

[Ejano]

Wow this is so interesting. It seems no one knows quite what this could be.. yet it must be age related somehow I think.

We also have a old kitty 18-19yrs now and he started meowing at the outdoor water bowl about a year ago now. He is on medication for arthritis and recently got blood tests showing very early signs of kidney disease but I don't think this has to do with it. In the past two years he has definitely become more vocal and 'needy'; ie he demands to get carried up the stairs now even though ive watched him do it fine on his own still.

At first I thought he was yowling like that as some form of territory call since its outside; its supposed to be for the birds and one day he found it and started taking preference for it than his normal bowl even though he is more of an indoor cat! After reading this thread I wonder maybe that its more sight/hearing related? He definitely seems a bit harder of hearing and while he never bumps into things i think his eyesight is worse than it used to be. He never meows at his normal bowl Im assuming because hes used to it? We recently put a small water dish upstairs in the bedroom and ive heard him make that same yowling at it a few times (but more rare). Its so weird.