17yr old cat waking me up at 4am every day - help!

[Smudge2201]

My 17yr old female cat Smudge has been waking me up at 4am for two weeks now meowing and meowing absolutely non-stop for hours and I’m exhausted. Advice please.

I got an automated feeder to open at 3am in case she was hungry but she just ate it all and carried on meowing. On the landing and downstairs in the hallway. I call her up on the bed and she snuggles for a minute or two and then hops down and carries on meowing. Solidly for about 2-3hrs. She seems well in herself otherwise. Only thing to note is we moved house just over a month ago. She’s fine in the day.

I’m going to try some feliway plug ins and book a trip to the vets. But what’s going on? I know old cats can get confused at night, or possibly hypothyroidism. I’m so tired. Thank you in advance.

I think all the things you've mentioned are a real possibility and only a trip to the vet will confirm. 17 is a fantastic age for a cat, and confusion at night, especially after a move could easily be the issue and/or hyperthyroidism since she's scoffing all the food and still carrying on. Have you tried feeding her more to see if there's any difference? Is she toileting OK?

Her face is hilarious, totally outraged and demanding at the same time 😅

Ahh this is one cute cat!
I have a 16 year old cat who sure likes to let me know when it's 3am, not every night and he doesn't do it for long. I think sadly it's probably old age but definitely worth getting a plug in Feliway, you could also try a collar. My dog has an adaptil collar and I've noticed an improvement.

Thank you, she’s a sweetheart. Here sister Poppy is 17 too, good genes in their litter I think! I will try more food and see if that helps and book a trip to the vets.

She definitely needs to see the vets for a check up. Feliway is great for anxiety.

I have just had a thought, you say she meows for 2 to 3 hours after eating, how is her toilet habits? Does she eat the same food during the day to the one in the automatic feeder?

Could it be confusion from being in a new home? maybe a nightlight will help if she is having declining eyesight due to age?

could it be a behavioural problem? I have heard nocturnal meows like the one you described is quite common for the older cat. Mine used to stare into space and kind of yowl, I never worked out why.

I don’t know really, I hope you get answers soon, it sounds stressful! and she is beautiful btw x

I love her and her sister very much, and feel privileged to have had them so long. I just wish I knew what she wanted. Definitely going to try feliway.

Thank you, I’ll definitely try all of this. I think she is tolieting fine but I’ll keep an eye on it over the weekend when I am home. Her sister Poppy - also 17 - does the classic yowling at night, just once or twice which I’m pretty sure is cognitive decline, and she only has one eye now. Having old lady cats does bring it’s extra challenge. Love them to bits though.

No advice but wanted to say that I agree old lady cats are the best. Her little face in that picture 😍.

That face is epic. Like "Mum, are you seriously writing fucking shit about me on the internet?"

No advice, but sympathies. I share a bed with my dog and she wakes me up - to change position, to scratch herself, to have a big stretch, to steal my side of the bed, because she's not, because she's cold etc. - about seven times per night. Its exhausting.

Your feline overlord has decided that if she's awake, you're awake.

Could she need the toilet?

It sounds extremely likely that she’s
hyperthyroid, my cat was just like that and most old cats do get it. Is she also getting thinner / more energetic do you think?

The good news is that it is easily treatable. There are pills which can be hidden in food, or liquid to go in catmilk, or even an ear gel if the cat won’t take it orally. They can also do surgery/a radioactive injection but at her age I wouldn’t recommend that. Bad news is the cost of the treatment does add up.

I could have written this, mine does the same! He also gets up to get a drink and wants to go in the garden, it is exhausting but he's 16 now so to be expected 😞

Ours used to make what we called a ghost wail always in the night one of us used to just shout ok or shut up he was happy to hear our voices and we were still there and go back to sleep he had thyroid problems and probably dementia he was lovely though.

My cat is 14 and has started doing this, he's a very affectionate cat anyway but now he's glued to me 90% of the time and when he's awake he wants me to be awake

My 21 year old did this, I suspect she was a bit confused at night because she was deaf.
I put boxes round the house for her on their side with soft blankets inside where she could feel safe and she calmed right down.

Thank you for all the comments and advice - very relieved to say the automatic feeder is working so far, last two days I haven’t been woken until 6am and then nearly 8am today - yay! Feel awful though that she was basically waking me up because she was starving 😞🙈

God i've just written an almost fucking identical thread!

Update. So the automatic feeder had limited success so we took Smudge to the vets today. From her symptoms and by the fact the vet could feel her thyroid they think she has an overactive thyroid- just waiting on blood test results to confirm. She only weighs 3.4kg, down from about 4.2kg and I am wracked with guilt that I didn’t put two and two together earlier. Feel like a bad cat mum 😞

@Smudge2201 again, I've had an almost identical experience, down to the exact weights of the cat! I felt guilty too. Because it happens day by day, you don't notice the change in the weight. Also my cat hates being picked up so I wasn't able to tell that way.

Mine has been on her meds for hyperthyroidism just over a week so I'm hoping she will feel better soon.

Don't feel guilty, you sound like a great cat mum!

Here's my thread:

17yr old yowling and eating a lot | Mumsnet

That’s spookily similar! It’s so hard because you love them to bits and beat yourself up if you don’t spot something changing.

Like most animals though, cats hide it when they are ill so as not to appear vulnerable to predators. So makes sense that we humans wouldn't notice it straightaway.

I'm using this "scare" as a reminder to treat mine as the Princess that she is! We're pulling all the stops out now to just make her life perfect however long or short her remaining time. She gets whatever she wants, whenever she wants, especially FOOD! ALL of her favourites available 24/7, especially until at least she puts a bit of weight back on.