Cat goes to another room / wanders and meows - even when we are home!

[anothercatguy]

Hello all.

We have a 1.5 year old male tabby (neutered) who consistently exhibits the following behavior.

At any time of day or evening (but not night!) he will randomly walk into another room - whatever room we are NOT in but especially closets and bathrooms - and meow.  It's loud and sometimes sounds like whining or a question but mainly it's just loud meowing.  MEOW.. MEOW.  MRRROW.  MRRROW.  Usually 5-10 times.  Then he stops.  If we call to him he may skip a meow and then continue.  If we call to him again he might stop for a few minutes.  But he doesn't come to us.  He usually starts again every half hour to hour and this might happen only once or it might happen for several hours in a row.

He also shows no interest when we go TO him when he does this - in fact he walks three feet away and lays down for a minute, or just walks away entirely and into a different room.  He doesn't appear desperate or scared.  He's not sad.  He doesn't show an interest in toys if we bring those down.  He's not sick.  He's not hungry or thirsty.  Sometimes our other cat will perk up and run to him and try to play (by leaping on him or batting him) but this seems to annoy him and he usually changes his meow into a complaint like rrrreeeEEEEOW.  If you know what I mean. 

So I don't think it's companionship or loneliness that makes him do this.

So ... what is this about?  I did a search and found many people have this issue with their cats -- but no one actually had any real behavioral insight as to the cause.

 

[tulosai]

Honestly, while I am not sure about the cause and I realize that was your main question, if he isn't distressed I don't think you should be.  Like you've found out many cats do this, seemingly for no reason.  As long as he's okay, I'd just let him carry on.  

My one cat sometimes does this as well,  and I've just come to accept it

I do hope others will come and offer more insight

 

[p3 and the king]

My Persian, Piper, does this once in awhile.  She will be 10 in May.  She's my oldest.  When she does this I say out loud "Yes, Piper?  It's OK.  Come love on mommy!"  For some reason, my answering her seems to calm her and make her stop.  Usually she will come and love on me.  She is relatively quiet most of the time except for this.  I think it's out of boredom myself.  She may be asking if someone wants to do something? 

 

[jamie hunt]

Both of my cats do this. My female cat seemingly does it because she wants me to come to her (on the bathroom counter, the only spot she likes to cuddle). My male cat seemingly does it because he wants to play with or just be near my female cat.  She can be standoffish to him from time to time usually when his play gets too rough for her tastes. Either way it seems to be a "hey pay attn to me, in the spot that I want it" thing. That is just my gut feeling though. I've had these two cats since they were 10 days old and bottle fed them myself, so I feel like I'm pretty observant of them, but I could be wrong. 

 

[gareth]

I wouldn't worry about it. Loki regularly wands around the empty rooms of the house shouting at things. We have no idea what he's on about. If we go to see what's bothered him there is clearly nothing distressing him, he just likes to shout at things. When a Burmese shouts, everything else listens. We're used to it, and actually find it quite funny, I sometimes miaow loudly back at him in the same tone, and he comes to see what on earth I am shouting at,

I do realise I just typed that I miaow back to my cats. Good grief.

 

[les26]

Years ago we had a cat Sassy who used to do that, went downstairs in the basement and cried a lot. We adopted her from the local Humane Society so we had the phone number of the woman who had her, Sassy lived in Tennessee and when they came here they moved in with someone and a child was allergic so they had to put Sassy up for adoption and were so thrilled that we adopted her, but anyway she told me that at their home in Tennessee she used to be able to go into the basement and go outside, so she was probably looking for that in our home! I wonder did you have your cat all it's life or did he live somewhere else like she did?

Sassy used to also get excited when she would hear the doorbell on a show on tv! We don't have one, but her ears and head would perk up, and she used to get up and run to the door, and her old owner said she used to love company that's why lol!!

Stanley does that now too, goes downstairs, meow cries and I just go up to him and say "what's the matter Stanley, don't cry?!" and he is okay. I have no idea why either.....

 

[Chasecka]

Everyone on here says "don't worry about it if they aren't sick" well the point is it drive my neighbors and I INSANE! So yeah that's a big concern.

 

[saladflambe]

I've had 2 cats who do this - caterwauling is annoying, but as long as you've ruled out physical illness, it's just that: annoying. The one thing we did check on the first one who did this was thyroid as thyroid issues can cause a cat to have strange yowly behavior patterns. But, his thyroid was fine, and it was just, well, a thing he did...

 

[maggiedemi]

Is everything okay in the litterbox, are his pee clumps big enough? My male cat Demi cries when he has urinary issues. Also, has he been de-wormed lately? Parasites like fleas and worms can make them not feel good and cry.

 

[KarenKat]

Our cat Gohan does this and we guess at different things depending on the situation. Sometimes it’s after we started sautéing or turn on the water (he hates that), sometimes he sees the new cat and run upstairs ( to complain? Assert dominance?). He’s always done this since I knew him, and my boyfriend adopted him as a feral kitten at 5 weeks.

Once it got really bad and he was doing it constantly. Ended up being that we moved into an apartment with no vertical space (other places he could go above the cabinets or fridge). We added some cat shelves and he meowwd much less frequently.

 

[Klimmie]

Hello!
I had this question my self
I recently adopted a Himalayan kitty and he will be 4 months. He went into the bathroom this morning and started to meow meow meow, so I went in and he started to rub against me and started being very affectionate
Now, he is doesn’t show much affection most times and doesn’t really rub against my legs and things like that as much I would love him too. So this morning I was in complete awe and felt so happy . Is this a normal thing? I wish he would be more affectionate and cuddly... he hates to be cuddled Although he doesn’t mind me petting him thankfully.
I just hope he wasn’t sad or anything this morning.. he did this after he ate breakfast.
BTW My first kitty ever and loving it

 

[les26]

Hello!
I had this question my self
I recently adopted a Himalayan kitty and he will be 4 months. He went into the bathroom this morning and started to meow meow meow, so I went in and he started to rub against me and started being very affectionate
Now, he is doesn’t show much affection most times and doesn’t really rub against my legs and things like that as much I would love him too. So this morning I was in complete awe and felt so happy . Is this a normal thing? I wish he would be more affectionate and cuddly... he hates to be cuddled Although he doesn’t mind me petting him thankfully.
I just hope he wasn’t sad or anything this morning.. he did this after he ate breakfast.
BTW My first kitty ever and loving it

Stanley is usually standing on the bathroom sink waiting for me or Deb and when he sees us he meows, the other day he was almost literally screaming at me so much I said "what's the matter, quiet, I 'm right here!", that's just how he is, and he waits for me to turn the faucet on really slow so he can drink from it, maybe your cat is wanting that too if there is a sink that he jumps on lol!

I think it is just something that they do, sometimes to the point where it drives us all nuts!

 

[KavKit]

I realize this thread is from 2015 from OP. But my two cents is that I also have a 1.5 year old male tabby rescue who did this. Meowed loudly and often seemingly for no reason. Also perfectly healthy, plenty of toys and food. He too was and is not an affectionate boy.

After weeks of this we were at or end! My husband threatened to give him back to the agency it was so bad. Not a moments peace. But then one day, out of the blue. It stopped. Probably 3 months after we adopted him. Our conclusion after talking with some people and vets is that he was anxious about his new normal. He was rescued from a dumpster as a kitten and spent the first part of his life in a shelter until we adopted him. He was almost feral. The determination was he didn't trust us or that this was his home. He was wailing to go out, or maybe to leave, or maybe he (putting human emotions into him) he didn't think this was permanent.

In any case. As I said. One day, he just stopped. I think after a while he accepted us as his forever home. And began to relax. He was never sad per say, or a violent kitty, or skittish or shy. He just wandered around like this was just another temporary facility.

In the mean time. For anyone still reading this. To get him to stop. Or to make our lives easier while he decided that he wanted to stay. We did several things. First was gave him his own room and locked him in at night so we wouldn't hear him. Lots of blankets and beds and toys and cat box and food and water. During the day we ignored him when he got the meows and gave affection and attention when he was calm. Ignoring "bad behavior" rewarding "positive". We also quickly realized he was used to fending for himself and being outside. So we put him in a harness (we live in a city so there is no backyard or barn happening here)...and started bringing him on hikes with us away from the city. He loves it. Gets him exercise and let's him prowl and pounce outside. He will sleep for two days after a hike. It has made a huge difference. As I said before, he is not a snuggler, but over time after this. He has decided we are his and he sleeps every night at the foot of our bed and follows us from room to room never being out of eye shot. That is how he shows love. He is our little monster. Quirks and all.

 

[les26]

I realize this thread is from 2015 from OP. But my two cents is that I also have a 1.5 year old male tabby rescue who did this. Meowed loudly and often seemingly for no reason. Also perfectly healthy, plenty of toys and food. He too was and is not an affectionate boy.

After weeks of this we were at or end! My husband threatened to give him back to the agency it was so bad. Not a moments peace. But then one day, out of the blue. It stopped. Probably 3 months after we adopted him. Our conclusion after talking with some people and vets is that he was anxious about his new normal. He was rescued from a dumpster as a kitten and spent the first part of his life in a shelter until we adopted him. He was almost feral. The determination was he didn't trust us or that this was his home. He was wailing to go out, or maybe to leave, or maybe he (putting human emotions into him) he didn't think this was permanent.

In any case. As I said. One day, he just stopped. I think after a while he accepted us as his forever home. And began to relax. He was never sad per say, or a violent kitty, or skittish or shy. He just wandered around like this was just another temporary facility.

In the mean time. For anyone still reading this. To get him to stop. Or to make our lives easier while he decided that he wanted to stay. We did several things. First was gave him his own room and locked him in at night so we wouldn't hear him. Lots of blankets and beds and toys and cat box and food and water. During the day we ignored him when he got the meows and gave affection and attention when he was calm. Ignoring "bad behavior" rewarding "positive". We also quickly realized he was used to fending for himself and being outside. So we put him in a harness (we live in a city so there is no backyard or barn happening here)...and started bringing him on hikes with us away from the city. He loves it. Gets him exercise and let's him prowl and pounce outside. He will sleep for two days after a hike. It has made a huge difference. As I said before, he is not a snuggler, but over time after this. He has decided we are his and he sleeps every night at the foot of our bed and follows us from room to room never being out of eye shot. That is how he shows love. He is our little monster. Quirks and all.

The picture of him in the harness in the water is too cute!!

 

[fionasmom]

Yes, it is....you can see he is very happy now.