Cat Howling All Night and Day

[ariinya]

Hi guys. I'm going through sort of a rough time. I just moved to a new apartment, and it definitely doesn't feel like home yet. It seems the same way for my cats. Little Molly is hiding under the blankets whenever she hears the upstairs neighbors tromping around, and Sammy......

Well, Sammy is the reason I'm here. He was cool with everything for a while. He's a pretty laid back cat. As long as mommy is there, he's good. Lately, though, he's been wanting to go outside, which wasn't such a big deal. I used to have a cat who walked on a leash, so I thought, "Hey, maybe Sammy would enjoy that, too!"

He did enjoy it. Maybe too much. After the second walk, he started howling at the top of his lungs day and night with only breaks for naps. Last night he went from 2:30am to 4:00am. And the night before that was the same. I've tried telling him "No!" in a stern voice, using deterrents (water bottles, cans of air) when he gets loud. Nothing stops him.

I've had Sammy for 13 years. He's my last link to my late mom and dad. But I can't keep him if this is going to continue, and I know that would be a death sentence for a 14–15 year old cat. And I would feel especially guilty and horrible since this is all my fault. I introduced him to the outdoors, and that's where this began.

What can I do?

 

[Furballsmom]

Hi for Molly, try cat music and calming treats and an anti-anxiety marshmallow bed.

Is there anyone you know that you could consider to give Sammy a home with a catio?

 

[ariinya]

Thank you for the advice!

I can definitely try the calming treats, but the cat bed looks extremely expensive, and he's never been one for beds in any case. He likes to find his own little hideaways. It might be nice for Molly, though.

There is absolutely no one I know who can take him. And items like that bed... while it might be nice to try, even if it ends up being more for Molly, because of my disability, I'm considered unfit to handle my own financial affairs. My aunt and uncle are currently my payees. They're supposed to be giving me a weekly stipend. They're not.

Thank you, though. I'll try to find some of those calming treats. He's a big boy, he loves his treats.

 

[CatladyJan]

Music too...

 

[ariinya]

Music too...

Meep! Silly me, I didn't read the music thing for some reason! I have an iPad I can hook up in the living room that would be purrrfect!

 

[KarenKat]

We have a cat that used to be fully outdoor before we adopted her. We tried the leash thing once with similar results - she would howl to get out and run to all the windows. We did cold turkey with no outdoor time and no windows open. Over time she got overnit. It it took some time ( a few weeks).

 

[Hanouf_and_cookie]

i suggest not letting him go outside again and rewarding him with a treat everytime he stays quiet even if for a short while

 

[ariinya]

I'll try those. The music didn't work, sadly.

Coincidentally, I lost my voice after a night of the music! xD

 

[susanm9006]

Give him some loose catnip. It usually mellows them out.

 

[She's a witch]

It’s unfortunately very common reaction in cats taken for walks, people should be warned about it before they start imo. But with time and patience he’ll forget it, you just need to stop walking him and ignore completely when he asks for it. It will take time but hopefully he will stop.

if you decide to continue with walks, you need to create a routine; start the walk preparation with some sound or word, always at the same time no matter the weather. Maybe it will be enough, but if his reaction was so strong, I truly doubt he’s harness walking potential.

 

[ariinya]

Should I offer the loose catnip on a paper plate? Maybe on his scratcher (it's a flat floor type)?

She's a witch , I was really looking forward to getting him on a harness and walking him! It would have been good for both of us. But I can't take the 2:30–4:00am serenades. -_-

Everyone has been focused on anti-anxiety and stopping the behavior before it starts, but is there anything you would suggest I do to discourage the yowling? So far, when he's screaming at the door itself, I spray him and make a noise. That stops him for like... 10 seconds. >_> He is a stubborn butt.

I've also had the thought that maybe he might be going deaf and doesn't realize how loud he's being. I need to get him to the vet. So, new question: About how much does a vet check-up cost? I know it really depends, but maybe a ballpark figure?

 

[di and bob]

Completely ignoring him will take a few weeks for him to stop. If you walk him at the same time every day it would be routine pretty quick and he would stop yowling in the night. I would suggest getting a large wire dog kennel right outside your door and putting him in there to enjoy some outside time. You could leave him out there for an Ifhour or even longer.

 

[susanm9006]

Should I offer the loose catnip on a paper plate? Maybe on his scratcher (it's a flat floor type)?

She's a witch , I was really looking forward to getting him on a harness and walking him! It would have been good for both of us. But I can't take the 2:30–4:00am serenades. -_-

Everyone has been focused on anti-anxiety and stopping the behavior before it starts, but is there anything you would suggest I do to discourage the yowling? So far, when he's screaming at the door itself, I spray him and make a noise. That stops him for like... 10 seconds. >_> He is a stubborn butt.

I've also had the thought that maybe he might be going deaf and doesn't realize how loud he's being. I need to get him to the vet. So, new question: About how much does a vet check-up cost? I know it really depends, but maybe a ballpark figure?

You can sprinkle a tablespoon of catnip onto a rug or carpet. He will eat some, roll in the rest and then hopefully take a nap. You could also out on a paper plate but he would probably prefer carpet or his scratcher.

 

[kissthisangel]

What about some indoor catifications? Nice cat friendly plants in heavy pots, an aquarium, to be honest the fish don't even need to be real, there are a few options for this, you can get either real tropical fish [very expensive ] real coldwater fish [medium expense] or false fish, these are made out of silk or similar material and basically run on batteries mimicking living animals in a tank.Not that exciting for you but the cats don't really care, they have these in butterflies as well. Or, regularly walk the cat for a while before work and after and consistently ignore cries in between and just hope routine will cease their incessant crying. basically the cat will only cry when it knows you can hear. If you "can't hear them" between certain times. you might be able to build a routine that way.

 

[Furballsmom]

The music didn't work, sadly.

Which did you try? Did Molly like it?

There's a harp collection called Cat In My Arms on Spotify, there's youtube, and there is Relax My Cat and MusicForCats as sources

 

[She's a witch]

So far, when he's screaming at the door itself, I spray him and make a noise. That stops him for like... 10 seconds. >_> He is a stubborn butt.

I wouldn’t do that, you need to ignore him by pretending nothing happens. Don’t react to his howling. You may need to use ear plugs at night for few weeks but really, there’s no other way.

 

[Lisannez]

I agree you are going to have to go cold turkey on the outdoors. And that is going to include hearing your cat meow and cry all hours of the day and night for two weeks. Then if the cat gets outside again, it is going to start all over again. It is just like this with some cats. We have two, both 14 now. We moved to a new house about a year ago. Before that they were in a condo with no access to the outside for two years, no issues at all. Before that for their whole lives the only outdoor access they had was to an enclosed balcony and both would go out on occasion but no asking. When we got her my fiance thought it was a good idea to let our tuxie out on our back balcony and she loved it a little too much. Then he took her out for a walk on a leash around the neighborhood and so it began. She would cry like she was injured for hours! Sometimes it would be in the middle of the night, but when we started working home due to COVID it was incessant to the point we had to put her in the basement. Fiance tried building a catio but it was not enough. She would cry in the catio. What I learned is that once a cat goes in a certain outdoor area they see it as part of their territory and they must inspect that territory daily. They also want to be able to go in and out freely. So our choices were to either let her be an outdoor cat totally (which we were not willing to to do we live in a city) or listen to her cry for two weeks and hope she stopped, we listened to the crying and it stopped she eventually did stop asking. I had another good friend whose cat was doing the same exact thing, they put up for it for several years, until she had a baby and then it was at the point where the cat was going to need to be rehomed because it would not be quiet and kept waking the baby. They needed a quick fix, so the husband stood upstairs and my friend let the cat out on the back porch and he dumped water on the cat. The cat never asked to go out that door again, the repeated that with the two other doors and it appears to have solved the problem. You gotta go cold turkey. Incidentally our other cat could care less to go outdoors.

 

[Lisannez]

I wouldn’t do that, you need to ignore him by pretending nothing happens. Don’t react to his howling. You may need to use ear plugs at night for few weeks but really, there’s no other way.

As someone who did this I agree. No reaction at all. Any reaction even a negative one leads the cat to believe their actions are working. It's like the Ferber method but for cats, let them cry it out, ignore them completely. Shut the door, use ear plugs turn on a sound machine. It will only last for a week or two.

 

[Lisannez]

What about some indoor catifications? Nice cat friendly plants in heavy pots, an aquarium, to be honest the fish don't even need to be real, there are a few options for this, you can get either real tropical fish [very expensive ] real coldwater fish [medium expense] or false fish, these are made out of silk or similar material and basically run on batteries mimicking living animals in a tank.Not that exciting for you but the cats don't really care, they have these in butterflies as well. Or, regularly walk the cat for a while before work and after and consistently ignore cries in between and just hope routine will cease their incessant crying. basically the cat will only cry when it knows you can hear. If you "can't hear them" between certain times. you might be able to build a routine that way.

With a cat that really wants to go outside this won't work unfortunately. Walking the cat just makes it worse. You have to cut them off cold turkey. Every cat is different of course but her cat sounds like mine.

 

[Lisannez]

It’s unfortunately very common reaction in cats taken for walks, people should be warned about it before they start imo. But with time and patience he’ll forget it, you just need to stop walking him and ignore completely when he asks for it. It will take time but hopefully he will stop.

if you decide to continue with walks, you need to create a routine; start the walk preparation with some sound or word, always at the same time no matter the weather. Maybe it will be enough, but if his reaction was so strong, I truly doubt he’s harness walking potential.

I agree I wish we would have known too.