Cat crying all night

[Wankpuffin]

He’s 14 bless him, and until we had his litter mate PTS with cancer in January he’s never been alone. He’s fine in the day, especially as we are all in the house now (and I’m always at home anyway), but at night he’s becoming increasingly distressed.

Every hour or so he will walk around upstairs howling. It’s a painful sound the poor thing. Dd and Ds have tried having him sleep in their rooms/on their beds but he just wants us all awake with him I think! I feel so sorry for him, he spent most of his life cuddled up to his brother sleeping.

Getting another cat isn’t an option as it wouldn’t be fair on him - he HATES other cats.

I just don’t know what to do to make him less distressed when we all go to bed.

He’s had a health check at the vet - he’s perfectly healthy. Daytime he’s fine. He’s either asleep in the garden or glued to Dd. It’s just nighttime.

I don't know the answer, but I wish I did because our cat is the same -getting on in years, crying and yowling all night.

Have you tried using feliway plug ins? They might help settle him

@givemecrispsyea the vet recommended them - they’ve not made a difference.

@givemecrisps agh sorry wrong person tagged!

@cringeworthit it’s horrible isn’t it!

Our old cat started to do this. One theory is that they find it harder to navigate the house at night if their eyesight is poorer. We put a few nightlights about. The other possibility is loneliness. Does he have a cat bed, the type with a hood, ifykwim? Feeling the “snugness" can comfort them, bit like swaddling babies.

You can buy toys with heartbeats in them for kittens, might work for him too?.

I came on here to ask the same question. Our cat is probably about 15...she was a rescue so not sure. She tends to sleep most of the day, but has suddenly started a very distressed crying at night. Last night I heard her go out of the cat flap and she was crying all down the road as well (Sorry, Neighbours!). We have a Feliway plug and that helped with other problems, but doesn't make a difference with this.

Maybe it’s just an age related thing? I thought it was because he was just lonely without his brother but I was googling last night and it seems a problem for a lot of older cats.

@MasterGland he doesn’t sleep in a bed, we’ve had all different sorts over the years but he won’t entertain anything other than a dining chair! Past few weeks he’s taken to sleeping on the top stair in between the howling.

I had two cats, mother and daughter, aged 15 and 13, mother was the most loving cat ever, daughter the grumpiest cat ever. Three years ago a stray turned up on my doorstep, a boy aged 5 months, and refused to go away (I did try to find his owners, but no one came forward), I was very dubious about homing him due to grumpy cat, but it's a big house and they mostly just avoided each other. A year later mother cat died, and since then daughter and young boy have been best friends, much to my amazement. So maybe your boy would like company, it might be worth a try.

My elderly cat cries incessantly at night unless she's with someone. Have found that petting her and allowing her to sleep with us - normally on my head- does reduce the crying. She seems fine during the day so it may well be related to poor night vision and/or a reduced ability to smell familiar things.

Feliway has also helped and making sure she's eaten before we go to bed helps to as she'll sleep for several hours then. If it sounds like she rules the house you'd be right, but as she's 19 this year I'm happy as long as she's happy.

Try a plushie type cat children’s toy for him to snuggle up to? And a radio on quietly on radio 4 or world service with some of those plot in night lights.
One of our cats is able to get lost in a paper bag - and will cry for help as she then looks for her brother, a radio and some soft night light works for her.