My Cat Start To Meow In The Middle Of Night

[Kattis]

Hi, I have a problem with my cat he never meow and is a very quiet and very calm old cat but sometimes at night he goes to my basement and start meowing at the wall. I then wake up and go to get him but then he start running away from the basement afraid and when he is upstairs he goes back to normal. I usually check the basement afterword but can't find anything. It can be a bit scary cause he usually does it very late at night.
I now close the basement at night but open it in the morning. But now he sometimes goes to the basement at day time a does the same thing is he seeing something I don't see or just playing with me?

 

[Elfilou]

This kinda made me laugh! Cats are such little creeps. Who knows what he's thinking, really. This behavior is common in older cats who just forget where they are in the pitch black of the night, but from what you describe this could be a learned behavior.

He may now know that if he meows, you will come to him and he'll get attention. The only thing you can really do is ignore him for about a week or two and see if he stops.

 

[Cat_mediator]

First of all, does your cat have any physical problems? Some cats become vocal because of some health issues. Second of all, is your basement connected to the outside? any windows etc ? It seems like he is trying to defend his territory (especially he is meowing at the wall). Maybe he smells and hears outside cats (or other animals) at night. That's why he went to the basement ! You know most outdoor cats are nocturnal animals. You might not see them during the day, but they are active at night. I would like to know the set up of your house in order to give you more advice.

 

[Lunarmewn]

Cats are notorious for being quite odd at night. It’s just the way they are. This is usually when they’re most active too.
One of my cats is also a very quieter cat, but will meow and yowl at night. She’s just playing. It’s a pretty common behavior, and most cats just start doing it out of the blue.
I was startled too when she started doing it, especially at 3am. She’ll be sound asleep one minute, then meowing loudly and running about the house the next.
Cats are weird, and this behavior isn’t really understood.

 

[susanm9006]

A majority of my cats have developed basement nighttime howling as they have gotten older. I don’t think it means a lot, they do their howling and then come back upstairs to play or snuggle.