# Cat incessant meowing



## Emma002 (Jun 28, 2017)

Hi, am new to the forums and wondered if someone might be able to help... 

I have a 4yr old cat we got a year ago from Battersea cats home and although she's had a few issues (pooing indoors now and again, food anxiety to begin with) she was always a quiet cat and hardly meowed - only to tell us she wanted to go out or when we fed her. 

However, in the past few months she's become more and more noisy to the extent that we can't go near her without her meowing incessantly at us. She starts when she wakes up in the morning or hears us move, so we throw her out to wee, which is fair enough. But then when she's outside she continues to meow all day, the second she sees us approach the outside door or go outside, and then while we're outside she still meows if she approaches us. She literally walks and meows (like moany meows, not nice little ones) as if begging constantly. If we are indoors and she outside she jumps up on the windowsill and keeps meowing there. Inside, she walks around meowing like outside.

I thought it might be because she wanted to come in, but I'd go to the door whenever she meowed and she'd just rub against it and keep circling with meows, then walk away. Then I'd close the door and she'd keep going. I though it could be begging for food (I feed her 3 times a day, high protein Catessy and Smilla foods) as we would feed her outside the back door, so maybe she associated us opening the door with getting food. So I started standing there with her food whenever I fed her and would wait for a pause in her meows before feeding her - reading somewhere that this might help. But I actually think it made it worse! So now I've put a timed cat feeder outside to feed her each day so that she doesn't associate us with the feeding. But she still goes crazy with her meowing!

So now I've decided the only thing to do is ignore her whenever she meows, as in don't make eye contact and turn my back on her. Then give her fuss in the very few times she's quiet... but it's difficult as she's always THERE right by the back door waiting to meow at us, so we can't go outside without still feeling like we're rewarding her meows! 

Do you think I'm taking the right approach? On the weekend we will have a cat flap installed so maybe that will help? Anyone else had this issue?

Just looking to know if I'm doing the right thing really, it's so tiring but know I need to persevere! 

Thanks in advance.

Ps. She had a recent vet check and all fine there.


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## SusieRainbow (Jan 21, 2013)

Cat's mmeowing is their way of communicating , some are chattier than others. Why does it bother you ? Do you talk to her, play with her? Is she affectionate? How long have you had her ?


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## chillminx (Nov 22, 2010)

Hello Emma002 and welcome. 

Cats miaow to communicate with humans. As your cat has only recently started doing this, it could be she is chatting to you or it could be there is something wrong she is telling you about. It certainly doesn't sound right that she is constantly crying when outside.

Is the vet certain there are no health issues? Have blood tests and urinalysis been done? Cats in pain from e.g. cystitis, might cry constantly.

How is she with her litter tray ? Using it normally, and pooing once a day, peeing a couple of times a day? If she is shut indoors at night she is provided with a litter tray?

Tbh I do not think it's the right thing to do to ignore her when she cries. I would do the opposite and stop and give her one-to-one attention e.g. with strokes or rubbing her neck etc.

I wouldn't feed her outside with a feeder, as that way she is getting even less interaction with you, whereas what she wants and needs is _more _interaction.

However a little bit of independence might help her e.g. is it possible for her to have a microchip cat flap so she can come and go when she pleases?

One of my 4 yr old females sometimes cries a lot at me and it is not always easy to work out what she wants. Sometimes if I stroke her she will wander away from me, but then if I follow her and persist with the fussing she relaxes and starts to enjoy it, and wants me to continue for 10 minutes or more. Other times I get one of the rod toys out that she loves and play with her for 20 minutes. Basically she is asking for my attention.

However my cat does not cry all day long and I can understand it would get you down if it is almost constant and you can't work out what she wants.

Are you out a lot e.g. at work every day? If so it could be she gets lonely and then wants to tell you all about it when you get home. Again the worse thing would be to ignore her.

Have you considered taking advice about your cat's constant crying from a pet behaviourist? If you have pet insurance you will get your costs covered as long as a vet makes the referral. A behaviourist could observe the cat and would certainly be able to give you some possible reasons for the crying.

These people are good:

http://capbt.org/findabehaviourist.php

or

http://www.apbc.org.uk/

or

http://www.vickyhalls.net/ ( she has written several best sellers about cat behaviour)

It might be worth giving your cat a calming supplement such as Zylkene in her food. For a cat who weighs less than 5 kg the dose is the contents on one capsule a day mixed in with food. Cats don't mind the taste, and there are some good results.

http://www.petsathome.com/shop/en/pets/merch-groups/merch-groups/zylkene/zylkene-75mg-for-cats-and-small-dogs-20-capsules-(online-only)


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## Emma002 (Jun 28, 2017)

Hi, thank you all for your advice and suggestions - really appreciate it!

To answer a few of the queries, I work from home so have naturally been with her pretty much all the time since we got her. She's very affectionate (used to hate being held but now is a proper lap cat and will even let us stroke her belly, a right softy). She likes to be outside and very rarely comes in if we leave doors open for her. So she has a lot of freedom to move around. We're installing a microchip catflap for her this weekend too. 

The vet did check all that and she is using her tray/sandpit predictably every day so no change there, but thanks for the suggestion.

The issue with the meowing is that it's so constant and is irritating our neighbours too. We also can't be anywhere near her without her doing it. It’s not just when she sees us, it continues past that and is everytime she walks around near us or knows we are looking at her. It really sounds like constant begging.

We've really tried the responding to her meows thing by opening the door if she's at the door, stroking her, playing with her or talking to her, but I feel like it's encouraged it if anything as it's got worse over time. It feels as if we've perhaps baby-ed her a bit too much... so that's why I wondered if ignoring 'bad behaviour' might work instead. Am curious, do you think this never works then? Only that I read this can sometimes work.

I should probably mention too that I'm pregnant so before long she won't be able to have so much of my time. I worry that if I don't tackle it now or reinforce it with even more fuss that she'll get worse and worse - or will be fine for now when I start fussing over her, and then get like this again when the baby comes.

A behaviourist isn't really an option for us at the moment as I'll be giving birth very soon so really need to tackle this one at home. But thanks so much for the links (it may be a next step in a few months if we can't solve it! Had no idea you can claim on insurance). 

I think I will try the Zylkene and catflap install first to see what effect that has and report back - she has a food anxiety history and who knows if she has anxiety from ber past life, so maybe that will help calm her...


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## Smuge (Feb 6, 2017)

I used to think it was weird that people could get annoyed by a cat meowing

Then someone on here posted this and I 100% understood


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## Guest (Jun 29, 2017)

I have a Burmese, try a 250 mile car journey with her screaming at you from 2 feet, you will really know what moaning is  
Your cat is trying to tell you something & you are just not getting what it is. Cats don't meow at each other, only humans. It could well be your cat does not like, or, understand doors. I know this sounds mad, but, years ago we had one that was very similar. Would moan when the door was open, moan when it was closed. We fit a cat flap, she mostly shut up. Always was a vocal cat, but, nothing like she was previously. Does she miaow when she cannot see you? If not, she is clearly trying to tell you something. If the noise is causing problems with your neighbours, keep her inside.


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## Guest (Jun 29, 2017)

Smuge said:


> I used to think it was weird that people could get annoyed by a cat meowing
> 
> Then someone on here posted this and I 100% understood


That is so funny. Lithium does that to Daniel when he looks at her. Strangely, I don't find this annoying. I don't understand why she doesn't just shut the door, would solve a lot. Her cats actually sound really happy purring & moaning at the same time. Lith has more variety in her voice & it is higher & more persistent than that. She doesn't like me singing Robbie Williams Angels. When you get to the long note & through it AAAAALLLL, she will run up & box my ears. She takes no notice at all of any other singing, mine, or anybody elses


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## chillminx (Nov 22, 2010)

@Emma002, ignoring 'bad behaviour' can work sometimes with cats, but it depends on how you define 'bad' behaviour. To me crying a lot is NOT bad behaviour but a sign of distress. The cat is trying to communicate and tell you something is worrying her. So I would never ignore crying. The fact she cries less if you take no notice of her is not necessarily a sign she feels better or calmer but more that she has given up trying to tell you what's wrong. If so that is very sad. I have seen this happen in shelter cats - they give up trying to communicate and become withdrawn.

However as it happens you mention in your reply one very interesting fact that is definitely relevant, and that is that you are _pregnant!! _Cats are very sensitive to our scents and when a woman is pregnant her scent changes a lot. A cat's sense of smell is a thousand times more sensitive than a human's and therefore the change in your scent will be very apparent to your cat. Cats find it disconcerting when a human they are very close to begins to smell quite different. They do not understand why.

You mentioned the crying began a few mths ago and my guess is it coincided with the start of your pregnancy perhaps as early as your 1st trimester, but certainly by the start of the 2nd trimester. I have known quite a few cases of cats being disturbed by their owner's change in scent due to pregnancy.

Cats live in a hugely scent driven world, one we humans cannot even begin to imagine. Humans are very visual creatures and the the equivalent change to us would be if one of our loved ones' physical appearance suddenly changed dramatically without us knowing why. Imagine how scary and confusing that would feel for us!

I think it's possible that because of being pregnant you have a bit less time for your cat lately as you are busy preparing for the new baby, maybe feeling more easily tired and perhaps not feeling 100% sometimes. So this is another change on top of the change in your scent which will add to your cat's confusion about what is happening.

I am betting your cat is super sensitive about scents. I find female cats are more so that way than the males. When your hormones change again after the baby's birth your cat will recognise your scent again and feel reassured.

Meanwhile it is really important that you prepare your cat for as many as possible of the new scents that will be in the home once baby has arrived. So buy the creams, baby lotions etc that you will need and start to put a little bit on your hand or arm each day for your cat to learn the scent. Also allow your cat to inspect and sniff all the baby clothes etc that come into the home, and allow her to inspect the nursery with its new baby furniture etc.

In other words, involve her as much as you can in the preparations and constantly reassure her how important she is to you.

Once baby is here, let your cat be with you and baby when you are feeding baby, bathing baby, dressing baby etc. Again, allow her to be involved as much as she wants. Just shut her out of the nursery when baby is sleeping.

Also before baby arrives play your cat sounds of a baby crying - there are recordings on You Tube.

When is your baby due btw?


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## moggie14 (Sep 11, 2013)

Loads of great advice already given 
I also picked up on the fact you are feeding her outside. For her to feel safe and secure whilst eating she needs a quiet spot indoors which doesn't change. It doesn't really matter where, but keep it consistent and set up a feeding station for her. Keep in mind the location of the cat flap, ideally it would be somewhere that isn't visible from there. Please keep us posted.


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## Bertie'sMum (Mar 27, 2017)

I was also going to mention about the change in your smell due to pregnancy but chillminx beat me to it !


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