How is her hearing? Abby started to howl more when her hearing started to go. She generally does it when she doesn’t know where we are. As soon as we go to check on her she stops.
-
Too many ads? Join our community of cat lovers now to reduce ads by 90%! Click here to join for free!
Howling, but only a couple of hours mid-day
- Thread starter FeebysOwner
- Start Date
- Thread Starter Thread Starter
- #22
I don't know if it is something I said, or something someone else said, but I didn't think I ever suggested that Feeby knows the time of day. I merely used the time of day to illustrate to my fellow humans the point that her howling is recurring in the exact same part of the day.
Most cats are creatures of habit, and like routines. But most routines/habits are triggered by the pet parents. Feeby is pretty old now, so she is relatively laid back and most of the time doesn't bother to move in the morning until a human moves first. That time of day varies by our schedules, so it's a pretty good clue she isn't going by any clock!!
- Thread Starter Thread Starter
- #23
The internist didn't seem to think her hearing is much affected, if at all. But I think she has lost some hearing over the past couple of years. She can be looking in another direction, and I can actually 'sneak' up behind her and get pretty close before she realizes I am there - that is when I get a 'squawk of surprise' - I swear she literally has a specific noise for that!!
But, to your point, she can be sitting close by where she can see me and start howling. Or she can be in another room where she can't see me and start to howl. Sometimes, she will walk to where she thinks I am, other times she just sits where she is and howls.
She has another much quieter howl-squawk type noise she makes when she goes to bed at night. It is for one of two reasons, she is announcing her 'arrival' to my husband who goes to bed before I do, or she is yelling at me to come to bed! The latter is usually a little louder than the former - but both sound different than the afternoon ruckus.
I was suggesting that, even though it often looks like an animal does things on a time schedule, it's really because of something humans do which happens on a time schedule.
My cousin has an African Gray parrot. He, once, told me that the parrot started squawking at the same time every evening at 8:00 p.m. He thought it was because the parrot could tell time but, one day, when I was visiting his house, it started squawking and I noticed that there was a clock in the kitchen. It was one of those bird clocks that plays back an electronic recording of a different bird chirping at the top of every hour.
It took me a while but I figured it out. Every evening at 8:00, the clock would play the sound of a bluebird chirping. The parrot learned that, every night, when it heard the sound of a bluebird chirping, his human came to feed him. I told my cousin to go into the kitchen and press the "silence" button on the back of the clock at 7:30. When the clock didn't make a sound at the usual time, the parrot didn't start squawking for its dinner.
Clearly, African Gray parrots are smart enough to associate the sound of a bluebird chirping with being fed, hence the squawking.
I'm sure that you already know about situations like this where animals seem to know what time it is but, in reality, there is an external trigger that happens at regular time intervals.
I wasn't trying to tell you something you already know. I was trying to remind everybody that it would be worthwhile to think about time cues that might be triggering a cat's (or other animal's) behavior.
- Thread Starter Thread Starter
- #25
That's OK. If it were something as obvious as the cuckoo-clock example, I think I would have figured it out by now!! If I had a routine schedule that I kept all week and weekend long, then it would be much easier to see if her howling is triggered by something I am doing during that time of day - but, I don't. I can't find a pattern of any sort that coincides with her howling session. If it is from a source outside, I don't stand a chance of being able to figure that out, since I don't see/hear/smell anything myself. I am not suggesting that she can't - I just know I can't.I wasn't trying to tell you something you already know. I was trying to remind everybody that it would be worthwhile to think about time cues that might be triggering a cat's (or other animal's) behavior.
High BP, which can occur in cats with hyperthyroidism and/or CKD, might be plausible, but I have not found any articles to suggest that one time of day or another is when a cat's BP might typically elevate, as is thought to be the case with most humans. Her last BP checks were in August, and they were only slightly high - both vets, from different practices, wrote it off to 'white coat syndrome'. And, when dementia is discussed, it seems most every article addresses the nighttime howling being the usual phenomenon.
I am still researching these possibilities, however.
Maybe it could be something associated with food or feeding times?
My ex-wife had problems with blood sugar spikes that caused her to feel sick after she ate. Her blood sugar levels naturally ran on the low side of normal. When she ate anything with a lot of starch or sugar in it, her body would pump out extra insulin to counteract the influx of sugar. That spike in insulin would make her glucose levels drop below normal, making her feel sick and woozy.
The solution to her problem was to be mindful of eating starchy/sugary food and to eat a few smaller meals or snacks, throughout the day, so that her blood glucose levels stayed consistent.
I don't know if this has anything to do with your cat's problem but, just for example, let's imagine that she eats at some time late in the evening and her sugar levels spike. Any time from minutes to hours later, she could feel the after effects and her howling could be because she's feeling woozy.
Maybe, now that your cat is getting "up there" in years, something like that is happening to her?
I know that being an older human, I occasionally feel poorly after eating things that, when I was younger, wouldn't have affected me at all.
My ex-wife had problems with blood sugar spikes that caused her to feel sick after she ate. Her blood sugar levels naturally ran on the low side of normal. When she ate anything with a lot of starch or sugar in it, her body would pump out extra insulin to counteract the influx of sugar. That spike in insulin would make her glucose levels drop below normal, making her feel sick and woozy.
The solution to her problem was to be mindful of eating starchy/sugary food and to eat a few smaller meals or snacks, throughout the day, so that her blood glucose levels stayed consistent.
I don't know if this has anything to do with your cat's problem but, just for example, let's imagine that she eats at some time late in the evening and her sugar levels spike. Any time from minutes to hours later, she could feel the after effects and her howling could be because she's feeling woozy.
Maybe, now that your cat is getting "up there" in years, something like that is happening to her?
I know that being an older human, I occasionally feel poorly after eating things that, when I was younger, wouldn't have affected me at all.
- Thread Starter Thread Starter
- #27
Other than her first meal of the day, which is around 8AM, when she eats the most at one time (probably about 1.5 to 2 oz), she nibbles on her food off and on all day long - a bite or two here and there ongoingly. She tapers off in the evenings, although she will eat a piece or two of our dinner meat (chicken, steak, turkey, fish) but still gets baby food meat before her bedtime which is around 1AM. My husband typically gives her more baby food meat around 5AM - but that time can vary from one day to the next depending on his schedule - and hers (she doesn't always get up to see if he will give her anything!).
I do know she has routinely tested negative for diabetes, but I suppose there are subtler/different afflictions that aren't typically tested for in cats? She eats mainly high protein foods, with the first 2-3 ingredients being a form of protein. She also gets a lickable treat in the evening for her second dose of H-T meds. Oh, and yeah, she will eat a cat sized bite or two of human bacon 2-3 times a week, mostly around 10AM.
How all this plays into the howling mostly between noon and 2PM, I have no idea. And I am only outlining it here in case it would ring a bell for you or any other members who might read this.
What my wife had was called “postparandial hypoglycemic episodes” where blood glucose levels run just above the lower limit for an average person. Then, when she ate, her body pumped out insulin to drop the glucose levels but, since her levels were already low, her reading went into the basement.
Monitoring sugar/starch intake and eating smaller meals throughout the day was the way to manage the problem.
I don’t know whether this can happen with cats but, since they can have diabetes, I don’t see why they can’t have hypoglycemia, as well.
I can’t say, for certain, whether this is your cat’s problem but, as Sherlock Holmes said, “When you eliminate all the reasons that are not possible, what’s left over must be the truth, no matter how improbable it might be.”.
Monitoring sugar/starch intake and eating smaller meals throughout the day was the way to manage the problem.
I don’t know whether this can happen with cats but, since they can have diabetes, I don’t see why they can’t have hypoglycemia, as well.
I can’t say, for certain, whether this is your cat’s problem but, as Sherlock Holmes said, “When you eliminate all the reasons that are not possible, what’s left over must be the truth, no matter how improbable it might be.”.
Oh I agree clock time is meaningless but that doesn't mean they can't timekeep to some degree.
The problem is that nobody knows for sure. It sure seems like it, sometimes!
My cat is also in the early stages off ckd. I took her to the vet because she started howling mid and not eating. I assume from being inflamed because the ultrasound showed slow progression of IBD. I think her health issues had slowly gotten worse so at first I thought it was just stress
Oh my cat keeps time! He knows he gets fed around 7 or 8, noon, 6 & midnight. Now he is demanding all his food an hour early! 
A senior vet check (& blood work) might be in order for your howling kitty. I would talk to your vet about the howling & run any tests she recommends.
Maybe even make a video of it to show your vet.
A senior vet check (& blood work) might be in order for your howling kitty. I would talk to your vet about the howling & run any tests she recommends.
Maybe even make a video of it to show your vet.
At this point I'm not sure what it is that you want to hear/read. The specific period of time on a regular daily basis does more than suggest that something environmental is being sensed by Feeby. You have no way of knowing what neighbors are doing and if there's a high pitched whine or really low bass sound that she can detect it could be enough to bother her. I don't know, but in any case I would like to reiterate that trying a sound machine, classical harp music or even a calming collar --or whatever calming product may appeal to you, could help her.
- Thread Starter Thread Starter
- #34
She is due for full scale bloodwork this week or next, and a 6 mo check up following the results. I'll see if I can catch it on video before the vet sees her.A senior vet check (& blood work) might be in order for your howling kitty. I would talk to your vet about the howling & run any tests she recommends.
- Thread Starter Thread Starter
- #35
Nope, I am good. The bottom line seems to be: 1.) Apparently, no other cat does this type of thing without it being some sort of 'outside source' provoking it. or 2.) It could be health related, be that pain or dementia, low blood sugar, etc., that is, so far, only occurring around the same time each day.
If it stops, then I guess I will have to assume the source must have ceased. If it extends to more/other times of the day, I will just have to assume whatever is causing it is progressing - be that health or something else.
I don't have access to music all over the house but can try to use it when she is close to the electronics, or I'll have to dig out my portable radio/CD player from storage and follow her around the house with it. If it works, I'll let you know.
Kind of where I started when I first asked, but it was worth a shot to ask anyway.
...sending good wishes to you and your furbaby, and everyone
oh, drat, I forgot to mention, I was also thinking what if you upend her routine? Can you give her a buggy ride in a pet buggy, that sort of thing.
- Thread Starter Thread Starter
- #38
My husband, who just retired, is the one who likes to take her for strolls around the yard. He has done this a lot over the years after work and on weekends. So, maybe not upending her routine entirely, but now that he is home to see her do this howling thing, he has been taking her out for walks at that time. Not sure it has made a difference, but it is a distraction most certainly, and he likes doing it for her. Now that he can do it more often, maybe it will help over time!
