Cat yowls when eating alone

[gabicards]

My cat has a great appetite and never makes a noise other than happy chirps and purrs when he's eating in my presence, yet he yowls whenever he's left alone with food.

I had noticed this before in the mornings... since I feed him at 7am, I often go back to bed on the weekends. When I do so, he finishes eating and then yowls, and early on the noise would give me chills. As soon as he sees me, he stops. He's never done it in my presence.

My work has a hybrid work policy, so I spend the day at the office a few times per week. I have started setting up an alarm to check on him while he eats, since he has an automatic feeder that opens at 1pm, and I have a camera... and I've noticed that he yowls a few times then, too.

On Monday, he ate, then went inside my bathroom, yowled for a bit and walked out. Today, he yowled once while looking around and then stopped. I don't actually think he's in any kind of discomfort, but the behavior intrigues me. My parents are convinced he does it because he's calling for me - evidenced by the fact that, when he does it in the morning, he stops as soon as he sees me. I think they might be right, but I'm wondering what you guys think. Do your cats do this, too?

 

[FeebysOwner]

Is your cat older? Is this a more recent event? I ask that because howling sometimes can be brought on by natural mental decline due to aging. It can also be brought on by arthritis causing some discomfort.

My cat howls at times - not so much while eating, but when she is moving about or using her steps to reach her hang out spot. She mostly does this when no one is present and generally she does stop when she sees one of us. In her case, I think it is a combination of both situations I described above. With mental decline due to aging, a lot of times it comes from insecurities that develop - not unlike humans as they get older.

 

[Seymour]

The issue of mental decline is something I never considered. I have an older tabby with multiple medical issues, most of which are treatable, and he occasionally walks around the house howling at the top of his lungs. He's always been quirky and literally trails me everywhere I go, but occasionally wanders off and starts the howling—which seems to be directed at absolutely nothing. And there is no pattern to it. His normal behavior is very different from my other cats, so I always chalked it up to his personality, but since this started in his later years, your comments are making me lean towards mental decline. He does have arthritis, which we treat with gabapentin.

That's an interesting observation.

 

[Kieka]

It could be a safety thing too, cats are naturally more vulnerable when eating so he wants someone to be watching his back while he eats.

It could just be personality, my boy has always been a talker. If you don't acknowledge him entering a room he will say something about it. We've all gotten in the habit of just talking to him or saying hi when we see him and it drastically impacts how much noise in general he makes. I've attributed it partially to I am pretty sure his vision is bad but also that he just likes being part of the group and likes the attention.

On the flip side, my girl will rarely eat when someone can see her. I catch her eating dry food maybe once a week, if that. She refused to eat anything (including wet food) in my presence for the first year. I am fairly certain she only started eating wet in front of me because otherwise her brother would eat her food while she was waiting for me to leave.

 

[game misconduct]

he might just want company while he eats graycie gets fed at 4pm and some times she will wait until gf and i are eating our dinner before she starts on hers she always keeps me company by my side at the table always

 

[Purrfect Meow]

One of my cats will come and get my wife and make sure she is there while he eats otherwise he howls. Once he is done he chirps and goes to his favorite spot and goes about his day.

 

[Caspers Human]

In my experience, cats often yowl as a means of locating others in their clan. One cat will yowl then another will answer. It's kind of like a feline game of "Marco Polo."

Second, cats often watch each other's backs while they are doing things like eating or using the litter box. A cat that's eating has to keep its head down so it can't watch out for danger. Therefore, other cats will stand guard while one cat eats. Then, when one is finished eating, they will trade places and the first one will stand guard while the second eats.

I think we all know that house cats view their humans as one of their clan so, if you put two and two together, it all makes sense.

Your cat wants you, the leader of the clan, to stand guard while he eats. He's yowling in order to find out where you are... Marco! Marco! Marco!

I suggest answering him... Polo!

Our youngest cat has separation anxiety issues and he yowls whenever he can't find one of his humans around the house. Even when we go to bed or use the bathroom, if he can't find one of us, he'll start yowling, "Marco!" until one of us answers, "Polo!"

He'll come a little bit closer and yowl again. We answer. This will repeat three or four times until he finds us.

If we're in bed, he'll hop up on the bed and start purring. If we're in the bathroom, he'll nose the door open and come in to "guard" us in the bathroom. Then, when we flush, he'll put his front paws up on the rim of the toilet and watch it go down. Yes, he understands the toilet as the "human litter box."

When your cat starts yowling by the food bowl, try calling back and see if that comforts him.

 

[Furballsmom]

Try some Cat Music.

 

[cmshap]

When your cat starts yowling by the food bowl, try calling back and see if that comforts him.

My cat never yowls while he eats, but my apartment has an open floorplan and so he can always see me when he's eating.

However, he does yowl often when he can't see me. My bedroom is behind a closed door, so if I'm in there, he yowls. He's also a pre-litter-box-use yowler, and the litter box is behind a corner in the hallway, so it's out of view of the rest of the apartment. I have wondered if he yowls near the litter box, in part, because he can't see me.

I often call back to him when he's yowling from another room, out of instinct... I don't have an objective, I just imagine that he's yowling to locate me, so I call out his name, or "what's the matter?" He usually actually dials it back after I do this. Like the loud, repeated yowl will turn into a more subdued trill.

I have never really thought about it before, but I guess there must be just enough instinctual mammalian communication between us for me to understand he is looking for me, and for him to calm down when I respond.

 

[misty8723]

Mine yowls when he's using the litter (not always). He's not in distress.

Is you cat maybe a social eater and wants you with him while he eats?

 

[Caspers Human]

I have never really thought about it before, but I guess there must be just enough instinctual mammalian communication between us for me to understand he is looking for me, and for him to calm down when I respond.

I think you've got it!

Mostly, he's making noise to keep tabs on his human like a game of Marco Polo. Dogs, wolves, coyotes and other animals all do it, too. Even humans!

Without seeing the circumstance and timing of when and where he yowls, we can't really say much more. Maybe he's saying, "Hey, Human! I'm done eating! Come clean up the dishes!" Maybe he's saying, "It's your turn to eat!"

Contrary to popular belief, cats ARE social. Also, against common wisdom, cats DO become attached to their humans. For whatever reason, your cat has developed some social custom revolving around suppertime and you are part of it.

It probably means that you are a good "cat mom."

 

[gabicards]

Is your cat older? Is this a more recent event? I ask that because howling sometimes can be brought on by natural mental decline due to aging. It can also be brought on by arthritis causing some discomfort.

My cat howls at times - not so much while eating, but when she is moving about or using her steps to reach her hang out spot. She mostly does this when no one is present and generally she does stop when she sees one of us. In her case, I think it is a combination of both situations I described above. With mental decline due to aging, a lot of times it comes from insecurities that develop - not unlike humans as they get older.

Hii

He will soon turn 2 years old. Also, it's not a recent event, and it didn't start abruptly, but it's hard to say when it did because 90% he does have company while he eats. In the mornings, I feed him while I make myself coffee, then at around 1pm when I'm making myself lunch, at 7pm when I'm about to eat dinner, and 11:30pm when I'm hanging around the living room, either using my computer or watching tv. The one exception is the few times per week in which he gets fed lunch by the cat feeder - and that's when he yowls. Or on the weekends when I go back to bed right after giving him breakfast.

It could be a safety thing too, cats are naturally more vulnerable when eating so he wants someone to be watching his back while he eats.

It could just be personality, my boy has always been a talker. If you don't acknowledge him entering a room he will say something about it. We've all gotten in the habit of just talking to him or saying hi when we see him and it drastically impacts how much noise in general he makes. I've attributed it partially to I am pretty sure his vision is bad but also that he just likes being part of the group and likes the attention.

On the flip side, my girl will rarely eat when someone can see her. I catch her eating dry food maybe once a week, if that. She refused to eat anything (including wet food) in my presence for the first year. I am fairly certain she only started eating wet in front of me because otherwise her brother would eat her food while she was waiting for me to leave.

Oh my cat is definitely a talker too! Spends his days chirping and trilling, it's really cute. In the mornings, by the time I wake up, he's very bored and seemingly quite hungry, so he meows a lot - I make a point not to give in, otherwise I know by experience he will start waking me up earlier and earlier so that we can play.

If I talk to him, he responds. I never talk back while he eats because when he yowls I'm not home... if he does it in the morning, when I go back to bed, whether or not I answer depends on how I'm feeling. If I'm more anxious, the yowling adds to it and I just go back to where he is to check that he *really* is okay (he always is, and stops immediately). If I'm more relaxed, I'll answer, or wait it out, and he will eventually come back to my bedroom and, more often than not, lay down with me again.

Mine yowls when he's using the litter (not always). He's not in distress.

Is you cat maybe a social eater and wants you with him while he eats?

Mine sometimes meows on his way to the litter box, too... it happened more often when he was a kitten, though, and usually when he wanted to poop. Since he's long haired and has a sensitive tummy, we used to check on him to make sure his stool wasn't soft and he wasn't dirty when he left the box, so he'd start meowing and my parents would go "oh, time to go after him" because we knew what was coming.

These days he's more discreet. He does sometimes meow on his way to the box - he never does it while using it, or after, so it feels like he's calling for me. I do think there's a possibility it's just his social side, but I find it intriguing nonetheless because it's not a regular meow, you know? It used to freak me out when he started doing it, until I realized nothing else was happening so it was unlikely he was hurt.

In my experience, cats often yowl as a means of locating others in their clan. One cat will yowl then another will answer. It's kind of like a feline game of "Marco Polo."

Second, cats often watch each other's backs while they are doing things like eating or using the litter box. A cat that's eating has to keep its head down so it can't watch out for danger. Therefore, other cats will stand guard while one cat eats. Then, when one is finished eating, they will trade places and the first one will stand guard while the second eats.

I think we all know that house cats view their humans as one of their clan so, if you put two and two together, it all makes sense.

Your cat wants you, the leader of the clan, to stand guard while he eats. He's yowling in order to find out where you are... Marco! Marco! Marco!

I suggest answering him... Polo!

Our youngest cat has separation anxiety issues and he yowls whenever he can't find one of his humans around the house. Even when we go to bed or use the bathroom, if he can't find one of us, he'll start yowling, "Marco!" until one of us answers, "Polo!"

He'll come a little bit closer and yowl again. We answer. This will repeat three or four times until he finds us.

If we're in bed, he'll hop up on the bed and start purring. If we're in the bathroom, he'll nose the door open and come in to "guard" us in the bathroom. Then, when we flush, he'll put his front paws up on the rim of the toilet and watch it go down. Yes, he understands the toilet as the "human litter box."

When your cat starts yowling by the food bowl, try calling back and see if that comforts him.

This is an interesting way to look at it... I think it makes sense based on what I see. Mainly because he stops immediately when he sees me, also because when I see this happen over the camera, he seems to be looking around.

I have found one recording that shows this behavior. For context - my bedroom's door was closed, and he can see the rest of the apartment from where he eats, with the exception of the bathroom. So what it looks like to me is that he finished eating, went into the bathroom looking for me, saw that I wasn't in there and started yowling. Then he walked out, stopped and moved on with his day.

What I focus on is that there are no signs of distress, he just starts cleaning himself as he always does after he eats. I checked the bathroom when I got home, of course, and nothing had happened in there, he just walked in and out.

What I normally see are variations of this. He doesn't always walk around, sometimes he sits up after eating, looks around, yowls, and then goes back to licking the bowl or goes somewhere else. The common denominators are that he looks around when yowling, and he only does it when he's eating alone. I've caught him doing it *while* he eats, he'll suddenly sit up straight and look around, but more often than not he only starts when he's finished.

2887BA183BCE_20230918130003616.mp4

 

[Alldara]

Magnus howls when he's frustrated. He will take a temper-tantrum if he really wants something we don't give. (Company may sometimes be the want)

He also sometimes howls after doing a poop. He only started this after he graduated out of his kitten room AND if we aren't in the room when he poops. You see, when he first came home he had some constipation and we always had to check on his poo. So now, he thinks he has to tell us he did a poo so we can check it. I'd you say, "Did you poop?" He will chirp back. If he poos while we are already in the room he doesn't bowl, even if it was a difficult poo.

 

[maggie101]

I took care of a big male stray. After eating he would walk away making continuous meows like he was chatting to himself.
I have a cat with a medical condition. If I leave,she stops eating. She cries for attention if I'm doing a crossword. My cat Coco meows in her sleep and moves her paws. She's dreaming!

Do his meows sound like he's upset or enjoying himself?

 

[gabicards]

I took care of a big male stray. After eating he would walk away making continuous meows like he was chatting to himself.
I have a cat with a medical condition. If I leave,she stops eating. She cries for attention if I'm doing a crossword. My cat Coco meows in her sleep and moves her paws. She's dreaming!

Do his meows sound like he's upset or enjoying himself?

He does a variety of noises, his meows can go from sounding conversational/happy to sounding like he's crying, specially if he's asking for food. He also chirps and trills.

The yowling you see on the video has always sounded like he's in agony to me, which is why early on it would freak me out. The thing is... it's not accompanied by anything else. I brought this up with a vet once and she had a thorough look at his mouth, all was well in there and it continues to look well now - no red gums, no unusual smells, all teeth look fine to me. There aren't any signs of gastric upset either, as his appetite is great, he doesn't regurgitate and very rarely throws up (most recently, when he did it, I think it was caused by me adding too much egg to his meals). He's also alert. I eventually just accepted that this is something he does, but was curious as to whether it was a common thing (it seems that it is?), and how other people interpret it.

I'd feel differently towards it if he did it every time he ate, including when I'm around, or if he'd get into a different position while doing it - like loafing, or something else that could indicate discomfort. As far as cat noises go, that's the only one I dislike, so I'm glad he doesn't do it often. The only time I ever heard my previous cat yowling was right before he was about to throw up a hairball - it happened about once a month. Topaz doesn't do it when he has a hairball coming, or at any other time, only when he eats alone. It's brief, too... he does it for a few seconds and then goes somewhere to get comfy and clean himself.

 

[lollie]

The yowling thing is something I have been deeply curious about for some time. My girl will do it maybe once a day. It only lasts for a few seconds usually. I don’t think she’s looking for me, although she will immediately stop when she sees me. It’s almost like I’ve interrupted a private mood or conversation. I took it as frustration or boredom. She usually does it when she is playing with her stuffy, and wrestling him to the ground.

 

[cmshap]

It probably means that you are a good "cat mom."

Cat dad, actually.

The only reason I take the time to correct this is because I actually see this assumption a lot online (not just here on TCS but in general). I'm not really sure why.

It doesn't bother me, so no worries, but I see this enough that I just want to take a few seconds to represent guys with cats

 

[Caspers Human]

Yeah, I struggled with using “mom” or “dad” but it often seems like there is a bias on the internet toward “mom” even though, statistically either one has equal chance of being true.

When speaking about a cat of unknown gender, more people use “she” when “it” would be the grammatically correct term.

Given all that, I flipped a coin and went with “mom.”

 

[cmshap]

Yeah, I struggled with using “mom” or “dad” but it often seems like there is a bias on the internet toward “mom” even though, statistically either one has equal chance of being true.

When speaking about a cat of unknown gender, more people use “she” when “it” would be the grammatically correct term.

Given all that, I flipped a coin and went with “mom.”

No problem, and "mom" would be the overwhelmingly likely guess, based on my observations.

Perhaps I should start a thread in the general chat forum on this, because I find it interesting, and I don't want to take this thread more off-topic... so this is the last post I will write about it here.

I've encountered the "single guys with cats = weird" stereotype elsewhere in life, which is maybe part of why I instinctually want to correct the record. (I don't think anybody on TCS would espouse that stereotype, as we are all cat lovers, but it seems to exist elsewhere.)

I encourage anyone who has more to say on this to just DM me about it, because I will start a new thread and we can continue the discussion there. I don't want to take away more attention from this topic.

 

[cmshap]

I don’t think she’s looking for me, although she will immediately stop when she sees me. It’s almost like I’ve interrupted a private mood or conversation.

Just wondering, how much time do you spend at home with your cat? I.e., do you work from home, or stay home for other reasons, or do you leave for the day on a daily basis?

I spend almost all of my time at home, as I work mostly from home, so my cat is used to me being there all the time. I wonder if that accounts for why he sometimes yowls when I am just around the corner, but not visible to him. As if he expects me to be there all the time, so on the odd occasion that I am not, he panics.