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Join our community of cat lovers on the Mumsnet Cat forum for kitten advice and help with cat behaviour.

Original poster

I can't cope with the noisy cat

58 replies

Despercato · 19/08/2023 20:04

Hi everyone,

Just that really (name changed as I feel awful) - we have an incredibly noisy cat. She meows so loud all the time. It's like having a newborn, she's awake in the middle of the night every night. She meows at our bedroom door just because she wants to see us. She meows loudly in the middle of the night outside as she wants us to open the back door (she's perfectly capable of using the cat flap). I can't cope. It's affecting my mental health, I can't cope with being woken up every single night.

I want to give her up. Is that awful?

OP posts:
FutureThroughLensOfThePast · 19/08/2023 20:08

I find it hard to relate as I love noisy cats. Could you leave your bedroom door open - that's what I do .

Coastalcreeksider · 19/08/2023 20:11

I have a noisy cat and he drives me mad. It's relentless some days. 🐈

Original poster
Despercato · 19/08/2023 20:25

FutureThroughLensOfThePast · 19/08/2023 20:08

I find it hard to relate as I love noisy cats. Could you leave your bedroom door open - that's what I do .

Unfortunately I can't sleep with the bedroom door open. I never have been able to. I also can't sleep with the hallway light on, or a crack in the curtains.

OP posts:
Original poster
Despercato · 19/08/2023 20:27

Coastalcreeksider · 19/08/2023 20:11

I have a noisy cat and he drives me mad. It's relentless some days. 🐈

Thank you. I feel awful but I just can't cope, it's non stop and is making me feel miserable. I've struggled with my mental health my whole life anyway, and other than this I'm mentally in the best place I have been my whole adult life. But once I start on that downward cycle.... I've been in and out of counselling (I have PTSD due to incidents when I was younger)

OP posts:
Toddlerteaplease · 19/08/2023 20:29

I also have to leave the door open. Miss cheddar is very vocal.

Missingmyusername · 19/08/2023 20:30

“Unfortunately I can't sleep with the bedroom door open. I never have been able to. I also can't sleep with the hallway light on, or a crack in the curtains.”

Can’t you use a sleeping mask? Ear defenders?

If you do rehome your cat, please don’t get another animal.

Rosiem2808 · 19/08/2023 20:31

How old is your cat OP? Reason I am asking is because I have a seventeen and a half year old cat who howls at night and keeps me awake. I think she probably has dementia because she doesn't seem to know what she wants plus her eyesight is going.
I won't be getting rid of her though. She's old and needy and she's all mine

ConnieTucker · 19/08/2023 20:36

Despercato · 19/08/2023 20:25

Unfortunately I can't sleep with the bedroom door open. I never have been able to. I also can't sleep with the hallway light on, or a crack in the curtains.

Show quote history

Cat flap in the bedroom door?

how old is she?

ConnieTucker · 19/08/2023 20:38

Rosiem2808 · 19/08/2023 20:31

How old is your cat OP? Reason I am asking is because I have a seventeen and a half year old cat who howls at night and keeps me awake. I think she probably has dementia because she doesn't seem to know what she wants plus her eyesight is going.
I won't be getting rid of her though. She's old and needy and she's all mine

In her last week my cat was noisy at night. The vet said it would happen. She was in pain and didn't know what to do with herself. She had kidney and then heart failure.

Iamacatslave · 19/08/2023 20:39

Poor cat.

Roselilly36 · 19/08/2023 20:39

PP is right, my cat got more noisy and demanding as he aged. I wouldn’t have considered re-homing him though, we sadly lost him (pts at 18)

Firefighter22 · 19/08/2023 20:42

Is she a talkative breed? Have you had her long and if so has she always been like this or is it a recent thing ? If it’s recent I’d get her checked out as she could be unwell and in pain as a pp has mentioned. If she’s old, it could be dementia. I don’t know what to suggest other than getting her seen in case she’s poorly. I can imagine it being very wearing.

Original poster
Despercato · 19/08/2023 20:43

She's 3. We've had her since she was 4 months. She's always just been a very loud cat. She's perfectly healthy, I've spoken to the vet who has said that's just the way she is. I've had cats my whole life, they've been my comfort when my mental health is in a bad place. But I've never had one that makes me feel miserable.

Please don't criticise me as an owner, unless you have been in my shoes.

OP posts:
Coffeetree · 19/08/2023 20:45

I've had cats do this when they're unwell. But if you're sure she's in good health, she's probably bored/lonely. Play with her before you go to bed, give her a catnip treat to mess around with.

Also consider a catflap in the bedroom door. My cat would never tolerate me closing the bedroom door at night!

ClarkWGriswaldd · 19/08/2023 20:47

You don't mention the set up of your house. Can she just be locked away downstairs?

Inkpotlover · 19/08/2023 20:48

I would never criticise – this is our cat too. She is freakishly SO loud. Even our neighbours have commented on how loud she is when they hear her. We have to shut her in the kitchen at night because she miaows at a million decibels at 5am and wakes us and our DC. I suggest you do the same, @Despercato.

ineedanap82 · 19/08/2023 20:50

I had a very noisy cat. We used to shut her in the kitchen at night. She had access to the cat flap and a bed and food/drink. Otherwise she would have roamed the house all night meowing and keeping everyone awake.

ConnieTucker · 19/08/2023 20:51

Had she enough toys, scratchers, stimulation, beds, quiet spaces?

Original poster
Despercato · 19/08/2023 20:51

ClarkWGriswaldd · 19/08/2023 20:47

You don't mention the set up of your house. Can she just be locked away downstairs?

We have tried that but our bedroom is above the kitchen. You can hear her (she's not just meowy, she's very loud with it!)

I've never shut any of my cats in a room overnight, because it's not fair, but we did try it with her to no avail.

Our neighbours have complained about her meowing in the garden, despite us having a cat flap that she can and does use.

OP posts:
Original poster
Despercato · 19/08/2023 20:52

Inkpotlover · 19/08/2023 20:48

I would never criticise – this is our cat too. She is freakishly SO loud. Even our neighbours have commented on how loud she is when they hear her. We have to shut her in the kitchen at night because she miaows at a million decibels at 5am and wakes us and our DC. I suggest you do the same, @Despercato.

Thank you, we have tried, but you can still hear her. She's like a blooming fog horn!

OP posts:
Coffeetree · 19/08/2023 20:53

My cat went through a period of anxious weeing when I had to work long hours. Beaphar cat treats with valerian worked so well in calming her. Maybe some additional play time plus drugged treats will get your cat to keep it down at night.

DogDream · 19/08/2023 20:54

Can you get her exciting catnip toys out just at night times so she’s more occupied? And a puzzle feeder with treats in. Or hide treats around the room for her to find. Basically anything to entertain her overnight.

I set timed feeder for mine. It goes off at about 3am with a little bit of her breakfast in. Otherwise she’s jumping on the bed or scratching at the door to come and wake me up.

ItLooksLikeChickenSoItMustBeChicken · 19/08/2023 20:54

Rosiem2808 · 19/08/2023 20:31

How old is your cat OP? Reason I am asking is because I have a seventeen and a half year old cat who howls at night and keeps me awake. I think she probably has dementia because she doesn't seem to know what she wants plus her eyesight is going.
I won't be getting rid of her though. She's old and needy and she's all mine

I had an elderly cat like that. She used to wake me 3 or 4 times every night for the last 2 years of her life (she was PTS at 18). I loved her and had had her from being a year old. We sometimes have to put up with some inconvenience when we love out pets

Inkpotlover · 19/08/2023 20:56

Despercato · 19/08/2023 20:52

Thank you, we have tried, but you can still hear her. She's like a blooming fog horn!

Show quote history

I get that – if I go to the toilet in the middle of the night ours hears me downstairs and starts miaowing or she rushes outside (has cat flap) and sits under the bathroom window and wails!

It's not illness, she's just a loud cat. Also, we're quite a loud family in that we often call to each other from different rooms and I think we've inadvertently taught her to raise her voice to get attention! She usually miaows because she wants to know where we are and comes for a cuddle. She also reacts to certain phrases, like she's talking back to us! It sounds mad, but sometimes she comes running in and I swear her miaow sounds just like 'hiya!' 😂

Coffeetree · 19/08/2023 20:58

Sure you can't open your bedroom door at night? Let her prowl in and see you, or lie on the bed(which you'll sleep through). If she starts the meow bullshit in your bedroom, you don't have to get up, just squirt some water on her and go back to sleep.