Yowling cat may have critical news for her Fremont owner
DEAR JOAN >> I have a healthy 17-yearold cat named Minnie. She was raised with a dachshund, who was 16 years old when he died last October.
Chevy was blind the last five years, and the two of them had a love-hate relationship. Soon after Chevy died, Minnie started peeing and pooping all over the house, which I read is quite common for a pet to do when losing another pet. She has gotten better about that, but what has continued is the crying and howling during the night.
This has been going on for almost three months. She does not do this during the day. What can I do to get her to stop? I am exhausted.
— Marie Seeds,
Fremont
DEAR MARIE >> The first thing to do is take Minnie to the vet for a checkup. Her behavior might be linked to the death of Chevy, but it can be a sign of a health problem.
Cats often communicate, perhaps unintentionally, through their litter box behavior. If they have urinary tract infections or kidney ailments, they often go in places other than the litter box. In catthink, they blame the litter box for the pain and discomfort, and believe that if they go somewhere else, it won’t hurt them.
Howling also can be a symptom of illness, so it’s important, especially at her age, that you get her a complete physical.
If it turns out that she’s fine, and I hope that’s the case, she might be suffering from a little old age dementia (aren’t we all?). In cats, as in humans, symptoms worsen at night. She might be confused about where she is, and not having Chevy around could have exacerbated things.
Her eyesight may be worsening, so she’s not seeing as well at night, and that confusion and fear is causing her to yowl, hoping that someone will comfort her or at least turn on the lights.
There are a few things you can do to make things better for Minnie and for you. The simplest is to leave some nightlights on for her.
If you think the nighttime howling could be related to hunger issues, try feeding her closer to bedtime and make sure she has access to water throughout the night.
Sometimes cats howl at night because they are lonely or bored. Minnie and Chevy might have played games while you were snoozing, and now she doesn’t have a playmate for company. You can try leaving some treats out for her, hidden in toys she has to play with to get the food out. Toys and rewards can occupy her for hours.
Cats tend to sleep a lot during the day, and the older they get, the more they nap. But that could mean she’s more active in the nighttime because of that. You can try playing with her more during the day so that she’s more likely to sleep at night.
Try cleaning the litter box before you go to bed. Cats are quite fastidious, and she could be a lot more content with a clean box at night.
If you’ve done all these things, then the next step is to ignore her. Cats quickly learn that knocking over a vase in the middle of the night will get their humans up and paying attention. If she howls and you don’t respond, she will eventually give up on that tactic.