New cat. He won't stop meowing

[heisgarfield]

Hello. I'm new here. Our cat's name is Garfield. Here's a picture of him

2cpfbx1.png

• heisgarfield
• Aug 6, 2014

He's a 13-week old orange tabby, we adopted him from a nice woman who rescued him. We've had him since August 3 now

At first he was super shy and we gave him some time to warm up and get used to the bathroom

Then we gave it some attention and he started eating

Two nights ago he started constantly meowing, with breaks in between

Yesterday we spent lots of quality time with him (he only acknowledge him when he is quiet). He wasn't comfortable yet leaving the bathroom (let alone running around and playing)

Last night, around 2:30am, he found his way into our bedroom (it was closed, but not shut completely) and meowed in front of our bed for about an hour until I couldn't ignore him anymore (that's what we're supposed to do, right?). As soon as I got out of bed, he ran out of the room, back into the bathroom, and I closed the bedroom door. He later woke me up again around 4am by meowing loudly and I'm not a fan of this at all.

Here's an audio clip of him a few minutes ago. He's been meowing all day, very different than the first 24-48 hours he was with us.

https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/34382/garfield5.wav

He still meows often. Constantly. I'm aware that it is supposed to take time to train him to be quiet. But it's the meowing and waking us up in the middle of the night that I'm most worried about. We fed him, gave him water, and played around with him for a few hours before going to bed. Do yall have any advice so that all parties involved can get our beauty sleep?

Thank you in advance.

 

[alistair]

Can you keep your bedroom door shut and run a fan for white noise to tune him out? I'll let others with this kind of experience explain what to do with him but for now I hope that will let you guys get some sleep.

 

[sivyaleah]

Cats being chatty at times when you want to rest can be quite annoying, I agree.  A few things pop into my mind.

First, he may be lonely.  He's still fairly young, and may be missing the company of siblings for instance.  A lot of times, people adopt in pairs to ensure the kittens have companionship.  However, I understand this isn't for everyone due to various constraints of time, finances, and such.  

If it were me, I wouldn't be locking him in a bathroom by himself.  If you must, be sure he has a night light, some fresh water, something to eat and a clean litterbox.  Also, someplace comfortable for him to lay down on.  A few toys to amuse him is a must as well.  I might also try a Feliway plug-in.  These emit a scent which mimics the smell of the mama cat nursing and for many cats helps calm them if stressed.  They are somewhat pricey, but it worked for us personally and lots of others here.

Anyway, I'd allow him in the bedroom.  But before bedtime, you need to have a good, long playtime with him to wear him out.  Do you do this yet?  If so, for how long? Get a wand toy or laser pointer and make him really run around "hunting" it.  Once you have him good and tired (he should be panting lightly) you can then bring him to your bed and make a little ritual out of it.  We have one with our older boy where he gives us head bumps for a while as he paces on the bed, and eventually flumps over.  Explain to him it's bed time.  Yea, sounds dumb but I think explaining to our cats the reasons why we are doing what we are doing does have some impact on their behavior.  Not that they understand our words, but they can understand the feelings behind them.

Yes, he may still be rambunctious but give it some time.  If he does come up and try to wake you, give him hugs and pets.  He'll learn that his vocalizations aren't going to get him anything else and one of two things probably will happen.  Either he'll settle down, and take a nap or he'll be so annoyed by your attention, he'll leave.  Either one would be a win.

Remember, again, he is really young still.  Kittens take a while to train.  I think once he's neutered he probably will calm down somewhat also.  He looks pretty big for 13 weeks and if over 2 pounds, can already have that surgery, if healthy.

Oh goodness, I just noticed you've only adopted him 3 days ago.  Please, give him more time.  He's still acclimating to all the change he's been through.

If all else fails, yep, ear plugs work wonders. I like the soft cushy ones that squish into your ear myself 

 

 

[heisgarfield]

wow, thanks for the advice so far!

While I was writing this post, Garfield snuck into the bedroom and peed on our bed. My SO wasn't very pleased, especially after we found out that he also peed on the living room carpet a while ago...so tonight we're not leaving the bathroom door open

how do I wear him out? I bought a laser pointer and he only follows it with his eyes. He goes after with it with his paw if it's within reach. Clearly that didn't wear him out because he woke up 2 hours later to meow at us

He does look big for 13 weeks, doesn't he? But I think he's just long, he seems a bit on the skinny side when he's not curled up

 

[Draco]

Have you taken him to the vet to rule out health issues? The peeing outside the box is usually the cat trying to tell you something's not right.

How many litter boxes do you have and how often do you clean it? Ideally it's one box per cat plus one and cleaned daily- more if you can.

I second playing with him lots before bed- get him running around after a wand and strong toy until he's clearly tired. Also feed him after playing and before bed so he won't be begging you for food.

 

[sivyaleah]

I agree with the above,  You've only had him a few days.  It's very important to have him vetted for health reasons (he could have a urinary tract infection for instance) but, also so you can establish a relationship with your vet.  Do you know if the woman who rescued him was attending to his health needs?  Also, do you know how old he was when found?  This is also important information which may help us give advice.