One LOUD cat!!!

Our surviving cat will be 20 this year. He lost his buddy Sid last June. Sidney was 14-1/2 when he died. Was diabetic but died of cancer. We miss him greatly! Storm and Sid were best friends. We actually thought they were going to go together - Sid got dehydrated and super thin. So did Storm. But, Storm seemed to pull thru everything ok. It's kind of a testament to his whole life. He's very adaptable!

Storm has hyperthyroid and is on one methinimazole tablet twice daily. We've realized he's also deaf. His kidney levels are slightly off but have been stable for the last couple of years. They've also checked his blood pressure which is totally normal. Here's the problem. He howls. And when I say howls, he REALLY howls! Hunkers down and lets out this atrocious yell!!! He'll do it on and off all day but the biggest time he does it is in the morning aroun 8 or 9am. Since we're late night people (work 2nd and 3rd shift), that's about an hour or so before we'd like to get up in the morning.

If you walk up behind him when he's doing it and touch him, he'll stop but it also scares the crap out of him. He'll stop if I hold him but I can't really do that while I'm sleeping. (For instance, he's been howling for a good 2 hours this morning. I got up a little while ago and held him for about 15 minutes. He hasn't howled since. He'll probably wait til he needs some food but that's a different kind of meow.) He's never been a cat to sleep in our bed -- that was Sid's job. Even so, I would never lift him up there because he's pretty unsteady on his feet and wouldn't be able to jump down.

I've tried (with the vet) adjusting the hyperthyroid meds and giving him more food so he has more overnight but it doesn't seem to help. (FYI - his levels are continuously checked and they're fine) We've tried putting him in a small room so he feels safe but that doesn't help either. He's got lots of water and lots of food. Doesn't make a difference.

Anyone got any suggestions???

 

No suggestions. I had a cat who became deaf in her older years and HOWLED just as you are describing. We just tried to put her as far away from us in the house when we were sleeping.

 

I think the elderly ones, especially those that have lost their hearing, become a little senile and confused. They howl until you touch them and it's as though by touching you brought them back to reality like.....Oh, I'm home, you're here......do you have nightlights set up? Always has been with my old ones only.

 

Poor Sid.

I don't know if it would work, but couldn't hurt. I would use Feliway pherimone diffusers. Also, for kittens we have gotten a stuffed "momma kitty" that has a special rice sock we can warm in the microwave and a battery-operated heartbeat. I wonder if that would give Sid a sense of security? Put that and a soft shirt you've worn in his favorite bed/sleeping place with the feliway or pherimone calming spray/collar/dissuser and see if that all helps calm him.

 

mocha howls. She has ALWAYS howled. When we got her as a kitten, and the noises coming out of her were so foreign to us that we took her back to the vet, seriously believing she was rabid. The vet just laughed and said, oh this is your first Siamese I assume?

But I know exactly what you are going through. Mocha howls allllllllllllllll the time. She howls horrendous loud wails, almost from the deepest part of her soul. She does this if she can't find her favorite toy, if she can find her favorite toy, she does this when she is hungry, when she's full, she does this when it's dark, when it's light, she does this starring right at my face, she does this in a room by herself, she does this when twix is not where she thinks she should be, she does this when twix is where she should be ... she is L O U D! She does this majority of the nights and the sad thing is, we have to lock her up in our room, because twix is on dry cat food and mocha is on wet. We don't have any idea how to get her to stop. Sometimes if we yell her name, she will stop, but just for a few minutes. Then it starts alll over again.

 

LOL. Thanks for the laugh, anyway!

 

I've thought about trying the feliway pheromone too. I had it a long time ago when both cats started urinating on the dining room carpet but once we found out it was my cat's diabetes and not a behavioral issue, I never refilled it. Maybe I'll pick that up again and see if it helps. I'll give it a shot and reply back!!