Old cat yowling noises.

[StillMedusa]

Is this a thing? Portia (nearly 18) is still with us, despite the vet's predictions. Skinny as hell and now refuses all cat food...she will only eat fresh chicken, tuna or grated cheese (!!) although she will investigate every mouthful that we are eating. I'm just going with it, and what she wants she gets.

But the yowling is a bit wearing. Sometimes she wants to go in a room and yowls til the door is opened. Sometimes she yowls because she isn't sure where we are...sometimes she looks a bit bewildered and I wonder if there is some senility too.

I din't think she's in pain or anything. Is this normal? She used to be a very quiet cat! (She is still purring and slapping us mind!)

Oh dear. Is her hearing or sight going a bit. She's an old lady, do cats get dementia type illness.

I do wonder if her sight is going.. I pretty much have to take her to her food and stay with her, and she only ever goes a few steps into the garden, drinks from the pond and comes in again (she does have a water bowl too).
In fact I took a snap of my DD1 this week, pretending to eat the cat food to encourage Portia to eat
(DD1 is also horribly thin due to having Ehler's Danlos Syndrome... I'm shoving cheese into her too!)

Ours did this. Thyroid meds helped for a while but ultimately it was dementia (and hearing loss). Bless her , she'd walk out of the room you were in, yowl because she'd lost you and then not be able to hear you calling to tell her where you were. We'd have to go and fetch her every time.

Lovely pic

Lovely pic

Our elderly cat used to do this, it's because she went deaf and couldn't hear herself. Miss that sound now

My cat does this too, she's nearly 21! It can be almost ear-splitting sometimes. She's only done it for about 3 years or so. She just wants us with her all the time and calls us if we're not around!

Medusa, your cat seems a lot like mine!

They do that when they start to lose their hearing and/or sight. It's very normal for an old cat to get more vocal.

Drigon... very similar :) (This was last year...sadly she is a a tiny scrap under her fur now..5 pounds in weight but still feisty!)

My previous two cats (very closely bonded littermates) did this. The first one started aged about 16 and carried on until he died a year later. After he died the remaining cat started doing it - I wondered if he was looking for his brother - he died last year aged 20 having been a wailer for three years. I'd never had a cat do this before but these two lived longer than any of my previous cats so I suspect it is an age thing.

Yowling can be associated with hyperthyroidism, which 2 of my cats have had. They become very active, thin and yowled a lot. It could also just be old age. One of mine used to pop out to drink from the puddles in the garden and wouldn't be happy until he'd had a good fill. He lived to 20 and took medication everyday for his hyperthyroidism. My other old cat lived to 19 with hyperthyroidism. Portia is a lovely old lady.