question about meowing

meekocat

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About a year ago (a year ago the end of this month), I adopted a BEAUTIFUL calico cat.  She is super smart, loving, and purrs like a motor boat.  (That's how she got her name--she sat next to me and purred the first night I had her--I named her Melody because she makes melody).  I have not had a rescue cat before.  I got Melody from the humane society as a hopeful heart kitty--she'd already been returned once before.  Anyway, enough bragging.  While I have no interest in returning her, I am concerned and annoyed by her meowing.  She will meow an hour after I go to bed and keep it up for 15-20 minutes, then she'll stop and go to sleep or play with her toys or whatever she does at night.  Then, starting between 4 and 4:30, she'll start up again.  This time she'll go for over an hour, only stopping when I get up at 5:30.  I refuse to get up before then as I don't want the cat dictating when I get up.  She is a needy cat--she'll follow me everywhere, including the bathroom and kitchen.  I work 2 jobs and am often exhausted when I get home, but I make sure to cuddle with her and play a few minutes.  She gets fresh food and water and I clean out her box right before I go to bed each night.  I take the litter out once a week, usually Mondays and give her all new litter.  It did start raining around the time she started meowing today, but she does it almost every day and being in AZ it DEFINITELY doesn't rain every morning.   Any tips, tricks or suggestions?  Thanks!
 
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meekocat

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Unfortunately, I do not have the resources to adopt another cat.  I don't think Mel had a friend at the shelter.
 

micknsnicks2mom

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hi and welcome to TCS!

your melody sure is a pretty girl!

how about a timed feeder? you could set it for about 15 minutes after you go to bed at night, and have it set for a second small snack at around 4am. if you don't serve melody dry cat food, then you could have freeze dried treats or such in the timed feeder. it might be interesting to switch up what dry foods you stick in the timed feeder, so your girl gets a pleasant surprise when the feeder opens for her snacks.

or another idea might be a treat ball. you fill the treat ball will some dry food or treat pieces, then let your melody roll it around to get the treats to come out. this may make some noise though. you could also hide pieces of dry food or treats around your home, and let your girl hunt for them during the night.

do you have any games for melody? like a ball track, or a peek-a-prize? these can help keep cats occupied during our sleep time.

you could try any of these ideas, or you could rotate between all of them and give melody more variety -- to help keep her interest.
 

micknsnicks2mom

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another thought might be to run wildlife tv shows or dvd's at night, with the sound turned way down/off. not all cats enjoy watching things on a tv, but one of mine does -- loves watching nature shows, animals and insects and birds, etc.
 

stephanie42

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melody is beautiful :) i think you've gotten some great ideas.  i, too, refuse to get up before a certain time because i won't let the cats (or puppy) dictate when i get up.  it sounds like melody may just be lonely and want some time with you.  i think i'd try some of the interactive toy ideas - treat ball, something on a track that she can bat around - first because they're probably the least expensive choices!  also, maybe try some crazy play time right before bed.  when we were working out some issues with jake, we had a hard play session right before bed, about 15 minutes of him running and jumping and twisting.  

also, we had a cat that was going deaf in his old age that would yowl a lot, especially at night.  is there any chance there is anything medical like that going on?
 
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meekocat

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Thank you all for such good ideas!! (I'll apologize for misspellings and grammar errors--it's been a long day and my shift key appears to not want to work!!!) I went out and bought a laser for Melody.  Only took 3 times to get her to play--now she can't get enough!!!  And I'm laughing non stop at her--she's going nuts with it!!  Anyway, she only meowed once or twice last night when I went to bed and didn't wake up until 5:15--MUCH better than she has been (and I needed to get up anyway!)  She does sleep on the foot of my bed or on the windowsill above my bed.  Will try to get a video of her.  Thanks again!!
 

beachlover

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My cat is 18 years old and about a year ago she started howling in the middle of the night after she used the litter box downstairs so I took her to the vet and she said it's probably tied to her pain in using the litter box but could find nothing else wrong with her so I also put her on a plain wet food diet but it just gets worse as she gets older. She has no interest in playing with me or her ten year old younger brother so I just want her to sleep through the night. Any suggestions?
 

detmut

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My cat is 18 years old and about a year ago she started howling in the middle of the night after she used the litter box downstairs so I took her to the vet and she said it's probably tied to her pain in using the litter box but could find nothing else wrong with her so I also put her on a plain wet food diet but it just gets worse as she gets older. She has no interest in playing with me or her ten year old younger brother so I just want her to sleep through the night. Any suggestions?
arthritis pain? you could try supplements for that. 
 

mymykittymom

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Have you done any labs? If the kitty has hyperthyroid then they will howl at night. My cat howls because he wants my attention.
 
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