# Cat HOWLING at night - what to do??



## vanojr9

Any cat owners out there that can give me advice?

I have an approx. 6 year old spayed female cat who has taken to howling her lungs out every morning around 3-4.  I have tried everything in my power to make her be quiet - first I would tell her to be quiet, then I'd try petting her, then finally I'd scold her and now I'm down to chasing her out of the bedroom and locking her out for the night (she just howls by the bedroom door instead, no better!).  She's never done this before!  She's in good health, she's been to the vet recently, so I don't think it's a medical issue.  She does have the tendency to act out for attention...sometimes if I'm working and don't want to pet her at the exact moment she wants to be pet, she'll destroy the nearest object available, papers, a sack, whatever.  So it seems like the solution might be to just ignore her howling, but it's going to lead to a lot of lost sleep on my part.  Any suggestions, I just want to get some rest


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## chicky

Oh dear! 
I know it may sound harsh, but the only thing you may reasonably be able to do to get some rest is to lock pussy cat in to a downstairs room (assuming you live in a two storey building?)

My cats always sleep in the kitchen downstairs now, i got fed up of being woken up at 3 am by them play-fighting and jumping on and off the bed... 

They are fine in there, they even have their own comfy sofa bed and they do still get the run of the house when i'm at home and up and about.

They're no worse off for it, in fact, i think they're glad of the extra attention they get in the mornings! 

It sounds like yours is definitely after attention - and if that means waking you in the dead of night, then she'll keep doing it, until it becomes so much of a habit that it's just 'normal' - you definitely need to break the cycle as soon as you can. 

Good luck xx


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## The Snorks

vanojr9 said:


> Any cat owners out there that can give me advice?
> 
> I have an approx. 6 year old spayed female cat who has taken to howling her lungs out every morning around 3-4.  I have tried everything in my power to make her be quiet - first I would tell her to be quiet, then I'd try petting her, then finally I'd scold her and now I'm down to chasing her out of the bedroom and locking her out for the night (she just howls by the bedroom door instead, no better!).  She's never done this before!  She's in good health, she's been to the vet recently, so I don't think it's a medical issue.  She does have the tendency to act out for attention...sometimes if I'm working and don't want to pet her at the exact moment she wants to be pet, she'll destroy the nearest object available, papers, a sack, whatever.  So it seems like the solution might be to just ignore her howling, but it's going to lead to a lot of lost sleep on my part.  Any suggestions, I just want to get some rest




Has your routine changed lately?  Have you been busier than usual?  What time do you normally wake up?  Perhaps kitty is DEMANDING you to pay ATTENTION to her for a specific amount of time before you go to work?  Cats are clever, and she is getting a reaction out of you.  If she wants attention, even negative attention is better than none at all.  My DH & I learned the hard way about negative attention with our first puppy, who would shriek like a baboon in the middle of the night.  We would think that she needed to pee, but nope, she just wanted to play.  You can imagine how infuriating this is, standing out in the cold at 3 am, and the bratty dog just wants to play.  So we would put her back in her crate and she would shriek even louder.  We'd knock on the crate, shake a can of pennies, plead with her to PLEASE BE QUIET.  Finally, we dragged her crate out into the living room (she was in our bedroom) and let her shriek to her heart's content ,and ignored her, for three nights.  The fourth night, we took the crate back into the bedrooom and she was quiet.  She learned that if she wanted to sleep in the same room as us, she needed to stay quiet.

If you can buy a pair of ear plugs (that's what we did) and sleep through the howling for a couple of nights, kitty will eventually learn that you are not going to give in to her fits.


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## Bal bag Blonde

You have to ignore her! My cat's vet told me issues like this are 'learned behaviour'....you'll only lose a few nights sleep before she adapts. Good luck!


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## winona77

my cat used to do this every night when we went to bed (also a 6 year old spayed female!) we set up a room for her in the basement and put her down there if she started howling when we went to bed.
She's suddenly stopped.
The last 6 months.
No howling, unless she thinks she's alone.
No rhyme or reason.

Best of luck, I know it's super annoying!


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## vanojr9

Thanks for all of the advice, ladies!  I'm going to try to ignore her for a few nights and see if she stops.  The earplugs are a great suggestion but I'm afraid I'll sleep through my alarm in the morning too!  Maybe for next weekend if she's still howling.  I don't think her routine has changed too much recently, I'm home as much as usual and I haven't moved anything around.  My boyfriend was in town last weekend, which she loathes (her reaction to my boyfriend is something we refer to as "spite vomiting," which pretty much says it all), but the howling started before that.  I bet as Blonde says, though, that I'm encouraging her behavior by paying attention to her and that leaving her alone is the best tactic, despite the lack of sleep.


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## vanojr9

Oh, I wish I could put her downstairs as a few ladies suggested, but I live in an apartment, so it's either the bedroom or the living room!


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## purplekitty

I read in a Cat Fancy issue about something called Separation Anxiety(something like that.)  What you are describing somewhat sounds like that.  Also her howling could be a recent medical issue, b/c it seems like she could be crying b/c she is in pain.  I would first try to ignore her for about a week, but if it persists, I would go see the vet.  Good luck!!


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## aldavis7

I feel for you!  My Bengal does this some mornings (if she hears us turn over in bed) she'll yowl outside our bedroom door... it's annoying but we've learned that if we ignore her she'll usually stop... or my husband yelling at her makes her stop.. (she doesn't when I yell for some reason)... this used to happen every day, now it's a couple times a month.  I think it's attention seeking behavior.. she gets spooked in the night and think she's all alone and wants to be reassured that you are actually still in your bedroom.  Just ignore it, that's my advice.  Good luck!!!


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## Saphynne

Kitties do that when they are either very worried or when they first wake up and looking for comfort.

In fact, it is common in senior cats (but your cat is only 6).

One cat who recenlty passed at the tender age of six, would howl everymorning and if you say blitzen its ok, it would stop.  (i miss my lil' fur ball so much) 

Another cat, his buddy is really senior she's 17 1/2 and she just started howling in the morning, (she also stops if you tell her its ok), and the cat tree her and other baby shared (sniff); and when she can't climb to the top of the cabinets like she used to.


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## Nola

You really need to take notice of her during the day more. Do you work long days? How about getting her a friend? Cats do better in twos.


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## MissV

you must be very tired, Im sorry i dont have any cats but I just wanted to say that reading your intial post made me giggle!! just the imagining a cat howling....


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## bagsnbags

Poor baby.. Our female cat did that often when she was sick. Lately I notice she is howling when she need extra attention, something in her eyes or because we have new drapes near her sleping area. She's stoping howling when I pet her and whisper sweet nothing LOL

May be give her a treat before you go to bed ..


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## caitlin1214

Is she in heat? Has she been fixed yet? That's the only possible reason I can come up with for this.


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## vanojr9

Hi ladies, quick update: the howling has stopped, yay!  I think something about our environment must have set her off.  Now that it's gotten cooler I've been keeping the windows shut at night and she hasn't made so much as a peep, maybe it was something outside that she was howling at/about.  She still occasionally yowls when my boyfriend is in town, but she was very good this last weekend, no howling at all.  I'm home an average amount with her, so I don't think that's the problem, and she is a ONE CAT kind of cat, I actually tried to introduce her to another cat a few years ago and it resulted in 9 months of cat fights and her hiding under the bed almost constantly.  But the problem seems to be averted for now, I guess it was something outside that was bugging her!


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## angelica

Glad to here she's doing better!  It had to be something outside that was bothering her.  Now you'll be sleeping well!


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