WWYD very vocal cat ruining our lives.

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This sounds so ridiculous but it’s been such a big issue for so long and I just don’t know what to do.

I rehomed my parent’s cat.
My dad absolutely adored the cat but after he died my mum had him, she died and I took him in as I knew how much they loved him and wanted him to have a good life.

This cat is the loudest cat you’ve ever heard, he’s also the hungriest.
Whenever he wants something he miaows incessantly at a loud volume that ends up escalating to howls. We feed him 4-6 100g cat food pouches a day and he stands by his bowl getting louder and louder till we feed him immediately.
He has started making a noise that’s like a loud high pitched howl mixed with a growling noise that I can’t explain but is really jarring and can’t be tuned out.
You can hear it even with earplugs.

The vet checked him multiple times saying he’s just a vocal cat but you really don’t understand his volume till you hear him.

He has started mioawing/howling through the night and my autistic DP just can’t cope. He works early shifts and is woken up often in the early hours of the morning from continuous loud howling. When the cat wants food one of us has to drop everything and feed him because DP gets so distressed by the noise. He can miaow/howl for hours with absolutely no reason anyone has been able to find.

The cat sometimes eats half his food but howls until we put more in his dish, we thought he was just eating the jelly but he eats it all when we have piled food in his dish. He won’t eat dry food no matter how long we don’t give him wet.

I started to put the cat outside when it starts at night but the neighbours started complaining and one said she gets less sleep from my cat then from her baby crying.

DP and the neighbours said they are constantly on edge waiting for it to start, I hardly sleep as the slightest noise means I need to wake up and feed him or put him outside before it ramps up.

I love cats, I’ve always had them and a lot of my friends do, I’ve never witnessed this from any other cat. People who visit always seem shocked and a friend who stayed with us as she was locked out ended up sleeping in her car as she couldn’t stand the noise. It’s often a case of being woken up by random high pitched sounds through the night for no reason.

My DP of 12 years said he’s moving out unless I rehome the cat, my neighbours have begged me to keep him quiet.

I really don’t know what to do and this has been going on for 5 years and is getting worse. The cat is 17 but in great health, he’s unlikely to be rehomed though. He was a rescue cat to start then moved when my parents died and they adored him so much I just feel so much guilt.
I fell out with my sister 3 years ago when I said I’d rehome the cat and she thought I was heartless, she has dogs the cat wouldn’t live with.

So far I’ve lost my sister, my relationship is suffering, my neighbours hate me, I get no sleep and I’m constantly on edge, I never wanted the cat on the furniture but gave in to shut him up so my sofa is trashed and it costs me a fortune in food.

I know it’s easy to just say rehome him but the guilt is so bad. I finally decided to post on here to get an unbiased opinion about what to do.

The cats miaow is literally like a high pitched siren so it jolts everyone from sleep through the night. I have tried so hard to train him by putting him out the second he miaows and other methods.

Would I be unreasonable to finally decide on taking him to a shelter and living a more peaceful life? People can suggest tips on how to stop this but I’ve tried so many suggestions from the vet and other professionals.
It’s 3.38 and I have insomnia so being woken up just after I’d just gotten to sleep makes me angry and tearful. My next door neighbour put her lights on as soon as I put the cat out so she was obviously disturbed too.

This is why it sounds like hyperbole when I say it’s ruining my life but it actually really is.

My cat did this for the last couple of years of his life, he lived to 22 years old, he had kidney disease and would howl for water every hour during the night, and sometimes would just howl loud out in the garden for no reason, id liken the sound to a male lion bellowing at night. It sounds like the poor cat doesn't have long left.

I would definitely try some gabapentin first before rehoming or PTS. 😥

Our boy is 16 and quite yowly these days thought nothing as bad as the OP's cat.

No way hosay. Pets are family! You wouldn't PTS family or re-home family. You made a commitment when you took your parents cat in and that commitment should be for life. He's 17 so probably doesn't have long left anyway.

I would have been seeking a different vet with some considerable urgency several YEARS ago.

But it's been going on for 5 years !

You can get meds to calm cats down but honestly if he is in pain and distress then you don't need to keep him going ad infinitum

He’s not well if he is howling that much. He’s 17 and doesn’t sound happy, I think for his own sake he needs to go to the vet and have a conversation about he falling asleep. He will likely be missing his Mom and Dad too.

to add my cat asks for more food constantly too, I mix what’s left of his up with a spoon and it seems to do the trick z

That cat needs to be PTS. At 17, he’s had a good long life and likely doesn’t have long left anyway, so what’s the point in losing your relationship and continuing to drive your neighbours mad now?

I agree with PP that he sounds distressed or in pain anyway so keeping him alive just to assuage your guilt isn’t the kinder or more moral option

There's definitely some "calming" type meds the vet can probably try, Gabapentin as someone upthread suggested or anti depressants.

A diffuser doesn't go that far around the house, so you need one in every area the cat regularly goes in e.g. living room, bedrooms, maybe hallways. You may also want to try Zylkene which comes in powder form in capsules - you open the capsule and sprinkle the powder onto their wet food, and it isn't vet prescribed (you can get it Amazon, Pets at Home etc).

If you can persuade the cat to eat dry food, there's a few makes that do a "satiety" formula so they feel fuller, and as various pp have said you should try different brands of high quality wet food. With both wet and dry cats have ones they like & ones they won't touch for no apparent reason so you need to try various different dry foods to try to persuade yours to eat them.

Try posting on The Litter Tray here as well; I've noticed one or two of the regular denizens from there have already posted but they may well have some other thoughts or suggestions. Plus we have a couple of vets who drop in there too.

And what about the neighbours who are begging the OP to get rid of the cat? and who say they're constantly anxious waiting for the noise and one neighbour said the cat disrupts her sleep more than her baby does.
It is deeply deeply unfair to do that to other people and make them put up with it, being in a state of anxiety like that in the long term can even cause permanent health issues, particularly when there's sleep deprivation going along with it.

Absolutely. I think it's a travesty that we force people with dementia to stay alive. Both my parents have said they will immediately seek euthanasia if either of them are ever diagnosed with dementia and I would support them. A cat can't make it's own choices but it must be even more stressful for a cat than for a human. It's cruel to force an animal to continue to suffer.

Sounds like dementia. For his sake as well as your own and your neighbours, its time to let him go peacefully over the rainbow bridge.
Its hard, but they just go to sleep xxx

If I had a very elderly family member who was in constant pain, or had a terminal illness, or advanced dementia and therefore had a terrible quality of life with little hope of improving it, I would! (If it was legal and could be done in a gentle, humane way, as we do for animals. And obviously if they still had mental capacity then they would need to agree to it). I know many people who feel the same.

We are talking about a 17 year old cat here (equivalent to about a 90 year old human?)… he’s lived his life

When I moved house my cat used to howl like this. He was so vocal. I think it took about a year for him to settle! I knew cats didn't like moving but I was surprised it took so long to adjust. He was only a few years old as well so not an age thing like yours. Not loads of advice because sometimes the distress and new bearings take time but you say it's been 5 years which makes it sound more medical.

I agree. Dementia is a horrific condition and so many people are living much longer and more with this horrible disease. My mum had a DNR and so she was allowed to slip away peacefully rather than being hospitalised, laid on a trolley in a hospital corridor for days, pumped full of antibiotics and kept alive for no good reason 😭

put everyone, including the cat out of their misery and have it PTS.

You don’t have to tell your sister you did.

You could get an automatic cat feeder and set it to open up in the middle of the night to feed the wet food to the cat. Is this cat overweight? If it isn't it obviously needs the additional food. Just a thought but if you feed a higher quality cat food they tend to need less as more filling. If the cat is already 17 it might only have a few years left. Try the automatic cat feeder for miffle of the night feed.

I agree. It doesn't sound like the cat is enjoying life. Tell your sister it died naturally and to get over herself

I've started feeding my cats Republic of Cat food instead of Felix and their coats have become more glossy and sleek and they seem more contented. Give it a try they have a £5 trial box offer ATM.

Well they don’t have a choice if they’re subpoenaed!

How long ago was it ?

Had he definitely not got worms, he’s been de-wormed regularly?

Increased appetite, weightloss (if he’s eating as much as you say you would expect him to be overweight but you say he’s healthy) and distress are all symptoms.

Before drastic action (PTS) I think you owe it to the poor little thing to get a second opinion and id also agree with the prozac or gabapentin suggestion.

One of my mums elderly cats was nuts. Vet put her on Prozac and she was like a different cat after about 3 weeks. She lived to 22.

Id always try absolutely everything possible before PTS so I think you should too.

Has the vet checked his blood pressure? Our old cat was very randomly vocal when hers went through the roof.

Cats may be family but so are partners. And if you've ever watched a relative suffer with dementia you'd know that it reaches a stage where they want to go and it would be kinder if we allowed them to do so. Thankfully some vets realise that animals dont have to suffer as humans do.

If could well be anxiety/grief at losing its owners and a change of home. Cats thrive on the familiar and routine and it’s a lot for it to go through.