Cat walks around the house meowing very loudly

VinceL

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One of our cats, Lexi, is 13 years old. She has become deaf within the past year.

Over the last few months she has started walking around the house during the day meowing very loudly. Fortunately, she does not do this at night.

I thought maybe she was meowing because she was hungry. She no longer eats dry food. And, we can't leave wet food out for her 24/7 like we do with dry food. Since she can't graze on the dry food, I thought maybe the meowing was her saying she was hungry. On a few occasions I have snuck some food to her without the other cats knowing. She ate most of the food and then walked away. So, I figured she was full. A few minutes later she was walking around meowing.

I don't think she is in any pain. She runs and jumps like she always has, and she enjoys play sessions.

Our vet can't find any medical condition that he thinks could be causing her to meow. Her teeth look very good so he doesn't see how eating dry food would cause her any pain.

I am wondering if she is meowing to try to hear herself in what is now her silent world.:(

I have read that cats with dementia sometimes wonder around meowing and seeming very confused. Lexi does not appear confused. She demonstrates that she is familiar with her surroundings.

Any cat whisperers out there who can shed some light on Lexi's behavior?
 

Furballsmom

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Hi!
Start weighing her every couple weeks and keep a log, so that you catch if she starts losing weight beyond where she should be.

Does she respond, and stop meowing when she is petted?

Is she visual, in other words does she respond to a visual distraction such as a wand toy, a hexbug toy or a smartykat electronic motion toy?
 
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DreamerRose

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You may be on to something. She could possibly hear herself through the bones in her head.

On the other hand, my son had a cat with dementia, and she did go around the house meowing. She would also go to a corner of a room and meow at the wall.
 

ladytimedramon

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Is she spayed?

When I adopted Delilah, she was quiet for the first month or so. Then she started walking around yowling at the top of her lungs. My friends said she was finding her voice. Then other things started happening and I thought it was her having reactions to food changes. Things stopped for about a week. Then they started again and she started "assuming the position". After I took video of some things happening i showed it to cat owning friends. They said she was acting like she was in heat.

It turned out all of her yowling (and everything else) was because she had ovarian remnants. So Delilah was acting like she was in heat for about a week, acting normal for a week, heat for a week, etc. It didn't stop until surgery for the remnants.
 
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VinceL

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Thanks for all the responses.

Let me answer your questions:

Start weighing her every couple weeks and keep a log, so that you catch if she starts losing weight beyond where she should be.
She is very petite...only about 5.5 lbs. Because of her small size we regularly monitor her weight, and it is very stable.

Does she respond, and stop meowing when she is petted? Yes. She likes face rubs when she comes to me. If I am sitting or laying, she likes to get up on my stomach and be held and petted.

Is she visual, in other words does she respond to a visual distraction such as a wand toy, a hexbug toy or a smartykat electronic motion toy? Yes, she follows a thrown toy or rolled ball.

When she goes around the house meowing, she literally goes around the house....all rooms, on the floor, on our bed, on a cat tree, etc
.

Lexi was spayed as a kitten. ladytimedramon, your experience with your cat reminds me of our other female, Bonnie. We adopted her when she was about 8 months old. She had been spayed by the Humane Society. After we had her for about 6 months, she started the howling, rolling on her back, etc. And our 2 male cats (both neutered) reacted to Bonnie's signals. We had her spayed (again), and the vet removed tissue about the size of a pencil eraser. Never any problems since.

Because of her deafness, she is easily startled if you approach her from behind. So, I always go around her to get in her field of vision before I get too close.
 

FeebysOwner

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Hi. I think the meowing is very likely due to her hearing issues. Feeby (16+ yo) started walking around meowing loudly (I call it 'squawking'), almost like calling out to someone or announcing herself. She also does not do it at night, just during the day, and many times is does seem to be around food desires. She is quieter after eating, but will still squawk off and on shortly after. She also seems to squawk more when there is no one immediately around her, as if she wants to have company and to be acknowledged. She, too, can be startled if you walk up behind her, so I try to do as you do in order not to scare her.

Since these two things occurred around the same time, I am pretty sure the are connected. I am OK with it, since she seems happy otherwise.
 

Furballsmom

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and it is very stable.
On a few occasions I have snuck some food to her without the other cats knowing. She ate most of the food
Bless your hearts! Hopefully it stays stable as she's transitioning into a new normal, including wet food provided by you separately from the other cats 💞
she literally goes around the house....
I was thinking that maybe, with the distractions and lots of loving where additionally you search her out when she's on a wandering ramble :), she'll be quieter with a little time 🙏
 
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gilmargl

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This all sounds very familiar. Unfortunately, I don*t know of any remedies. One of my older cats started yowling at night after her cat companion died. They had been together for perhaps15 years, had never actually been friends, but the male had been the one to take a quick walk around the outside of the house before settling down for the night. I imagine, after he died, she felt insecure at night and yowled, hiding in the darkest corner of the living room. A short time later I took on a very placid second, unwanted older cat. Although, at first, the resident cat was not amused, she stopped yowling. She had something else to think about and right up until her death we had no more problems with a noisy cat at night.

Mogi (13 years old) started pacing up and down and yowling about 8 months ago. I'm told it's only when I'm at home, whatever that implies! I also thought she was hungry and have been feeding her extra portions - in the bathroom, away from the other cats. She was in rather bad shape - probably because I was away from home so often in the previous year. The vet could find nothing wrong, but I was also told to weigh her regularly and ensure she had enough fluids. She is much fitter now, has a constant weight having put on 200g in the first few months. But, she's still yowling. Unless I am really occupied (or just too tired to get out of bed), I let her take me into the bathroom where she rubs herself against my legs and then climbs on my lap to drink from the tap. She prefers to rub herself against objects to being stroked but she purrs for 3 or 4 minutes and then is happy to walk away. By the way, I don't think that water is the problem - she has 2 fountains and bowls of water which she uses. She's always loved taps.

Hopefully, someone will come up with some bright idea on how to help aging cats so that they keep their voices down and don't upset the two-legged residents. The noise certainly doesn't seem to bother the other cats.
 

tarasgirl06

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One of our cats, Lexi, is 13 years old. She has become deaf within the past year.

Over the last few months she has started walking around the house during the day meowing very loudly. Fortunately, she does not do this at night.

I thought maybe she was meowing because she was hungry. She no longer eats dry food. And, we can't leave wet food out for her 24/7 like we do with dry food. Since she can't graze on the dry food, I thought maybe the meowing was her saying she was hungry. On a few occasions I have snuck some food to her without the other cats knowing. She ate most of the food and then walked away. So, I figured she was full. A few minutes later she was walking around meowing.

I don't think she is in any pain. She runs and jumps like she always has, and she enjoys play sessions.

Our vet can't find any medical condition that he thinks could be causing her to meow. Her teeth look very good so he doesn't see how eating dry food would cause her any pain.

I am wondering if she is meowing to try to hear herself in what is now her silent world.:(

I have read that cats with dementia sometimes wonder around meowing and seeming very confused. Lexi does not appear confused. She demonstrates that she is familiar with her surroundings.

Any cat whisperers out there who can shed some light on Lexi's behavior?
Hello, VinceL VinceL and Lexi! Well, IDK about any clinical reason or diagnosis except that it is said mature cats sometimes do this because they are "forgetful". But I did want to share that during a period of several months, our beloved angel Tarifa, who left us at just shy of 18, would jump on the coffee table, seize a twinkle ball from one of two bowls of them in her mouth, and strut down the long hall that runs the length of our house, yargling loudly. I believe she was announcing her successful "kill" to us. She started leaving these for me and when I failed to take her hints and learn how to "hunt" properly, she decided to try my roommates' door. Yes, at dark-thirty. Then she gave up and just walked the halls bellowing. She'd bellow in the kitchen in the morning, too, exhorting me to get a move on and feed her.
We miss this so much.
:hearthrob::dancingblackcat::hearthrob:
IMG_1762.JPG

*Beloved angel Tarifa, our mighty hunter*
 

MiloTheBlackCat

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Yeah, it could have something to do with her hearing loss. Then again you said she goes to every. corner. and. room. so, she could be looking for something. I'm also pretty sure cats do that when they are grieving. It's kind of a personal question, but has anyone died around or in your house recently? If so, she could be looking for them or grieving for them. That's all I've heard- I'm not sure I'm 100% right though-
 
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