Cat meows like crazy ONLY in basement

[Daren1093251]

Hello! My name is Daren and this is my first post I'm so excited

So, I bought this house 3 years ago. I was renting out the basement as I live alone while my partner is away in college. The cat had never seen the basement as I saved her from the freezing Canadian weather after I bought the house.

The tenant finally moved out, he NEVER had pets, smoked, or anything of that sort. So naturally, I openedup the basement for myself, and, Flamme! (My cat, Flamme is, as you guessed, Flame in fench) evertime I'm in the basement,she starts to meow like she was in heat. (she is fixed by the way) and meows A LOT and LOUD. Its a high pitched I want attention meow. So I give her attention, and lots as usual. Brought her cat toys and scratch poles and excessive moewing. Visited a vet to make sure she is in good health - and, she is in excellent help. I asked the vet about this and it waa suggested to give her time as it was a new area. Well its been roughly 4-6 months now doing the same routine, playing with her,food treats, litter box etc. Still meows excessively to the point she will hve to stay upstairs. (Basement is my work office and due to COVID lots of meetings).

Any tips / ideas / pointers? She is my second cat as my first saved cat passed away before I moved here. RIP Velcro. I am young at 24 years old and have lots to learn.

Thank you for your time and I hope you're having a fantastic day.

Sincerely,

Daren

 

[Daren1093251]

Sorry!! I forgot to add! She is about 2 years old!

 

[susanm9006]

I think she just likes the sound of her own meow in that big space. Most of my cats have been basement howlers. Usually not until middle age but it is just something some cats do and doesn’t have a lot of meaning.

 

[ArtNJ]

Hmmm, I've had several sets of cats spend nights in a furnished basement, but I haven't personally seen this particular variant. Stil, even adult cats can learn new rituals on a seemingly random basis to get attention. "I meow in the basement and dad plays with me!" Here, since you are trying to work down there and can't easily ignore the cat, maybe its not even so random! It doesn't necessarily take much to reinforce a ritual -- *any* kind of attention is often attention to the cat.

If its a new learned ritual, the way to get rid of those is usually to deny all reinforcement, or if that isn't possible, deny access to the circumstance that makes the ritual possible. Translation: either wear headphones and have an iron will to totally ignore the cat when meowing for 2-3 weeks, or keep the cat out of the basement for a while and see if that breaks the ritual.

 

[Daren1093251]

Thank you both of you for the swift reply!! I will try to "ignore her" as suggested. Will hurt my heart but works needs to be done! Again very much appreciated have an amazing evening my friends

 

[Lisannez]

Our cat does that sometimes in our basement too, usually we are not there though. Ours is finished. When we first moved into our three level house, she would sometimes be in different rooms just meowing for no reason. She's 14 now, she was 12 then. Her sister (same age) would not do it. We surmised that she was getting used to things or maybe saying "where are you" because she was used to living in a two room condo. But what I suspect could be going on in your basement is critters. You may not hear them or see them, but your cat does and she's trying to alert you to that, or she's trying to tell you she was to play with them. Also does your cat go outdoors and does your basement maybe have an area where there is outdoor access? She may be asking to go outside. Our same cat will meow to go outside at the door and it sounds like a cat in heat, like she's literally crying because she wants to go outside. As for our basement, we had crickets and a few ants, once in a while a fly, but mostly the crickets and that's what she was telling us about. So could that be it?