My cat meows every minute that she is awake. It’s driving me insane

[C0NFUSEDIAM]

My cat is 10 years old. We have two cats, one is normal and the other one is extremely chatty. I don’t know how to get her to shut up. She isn’t ill, she isn’t hungry, she just does it all day unless she is curled up on someone’s lap or asleep. I think if I stroked her all day this might help but I am trying to work.
it’s really loud too.
How can I make it stop?!?!?

Ours found her voice when she was ten. Feral kitten who wandered into the garden pregnant. Silent until the last year. Comes in yowls for food. There's plenty in her bowl but you have to walk her to it. Driving us nuts. Thank goodness she's not an indoor cat

the cat we took on when my MIL died is as vocal as you can get. she wails all the time but if its something new ask a vet. Well I guess otherwise have you tried a Feliway plug in?

Why would you say something so horrible !

My 19 Yr old meows very loudly much more than he used to but he's gone deaf . Could yours be deaf ?

My moggie doesn't meow much but he sometimes pathetically opens his mouth and no sound comes out. He looks ridiculous when he does it.

She may be developing dementia. One of my cats is 13 and started doing this when she was 12. I now give her a capsule of Aktivait in half a tube of lick e licks every day and it's really helped her.

Ours had become deaf when she started this. We had no idea until the vet said. The only positive side was that she was then oblivious to fireworks and went from terrified and housing behind the sofa to happily watching them.

Our ragdoll cat recently passed away aged 17 - but the whole of the previous year he meowed extremely loudly all the time - started just about the same time as our other cat died - we also think he became deaf but the noise was absolutely awful and drove me round the twist - l have no answer to the cattawalling - l miss the little creature very much - even the shouty meows😿

I have had Siamese for 40 years so I know exactly what you mean. They are such characters. Have you tried a heat pad? Put one where he likes to sleep when he doesn't have a lap! I find it helps to keep them off the bed in the winter too. Mine like it to be quite warm. Good luck!

My last cat was like this. I understand! Mine drove me mad, too. I can’t suggest anything, as nothing helped.
i asked the vet about it when she was young - she lived to 19 - and he said he thought that she may have some exotic in her.
I missed her so much after she’d gone, but I’ll never have another cat in case I get Mk II…

The cat is trying to tell you something take it to vets for a check up

Mine does that ‘silent squeak’ thing too. Occasionally.

But she’s a Siamese so it’s usually full on squawking at a remarkable volume for such a small cat.

At least I’m not this poor woman.

m.youtube.com/watch?v=WwSYm1NPHP4

we had a Ragdoll who was stuck on transmit too. His nickname was Mr Blatt.

My cat roams the house meowing loudly and tragically, but only at night, starting around 11.30-12 and going until ca 3-3.30. If, on occasion, I give in and go to check that she's all right, she'll stop for the duration of our interaction but start up again once I leave the room. It's fairly clear what the issue is: she goes outside whenever she likes during the day, but I do keep her in at night - so she'll sleep in her favourite chair until ca 10 pm, and then not have got enough outdoor time/exercise before I lock her in for the night (11.30-12, coincidentally). (Would leave her out but there's a fox and a few big male 'did you spill my pint' neighbour cats, and no cat flap as she kept bringing in mice.)

Jackson Galaxy, the American cat expert who is actually rather lovely, believes the only way to deal with constant meowing is to completely ignore it and act like it isn't happening - don't interact at all in response to the noise so it doesn't bring the cat any benefit. (Apparently adult cats don't meow to each other, only to humans, and it's a help-requesting behaviour, like kittens mewing to their mum.) So far this strategy has affected my cat's behaviour not at all, but hey, it's only been several years. I've also tried environmental 'enrichment' so have set up what I call the kitty gym, an elaborate construction made of Amazon boxes woven between the furniture to make an obstacle course of sorts and garnished with strategically-placed toys, and actually that's helped somewhat - I bring it out at bedtime, have a short play with her in it, and then leave it set up in the room furthest from the bedrooms. She does hang out in it, which means the meowing is at least sometimes far enough away for the humans to get some sleep. According to Jackson Galaxy's copious video output the answer to almost every cat problem is more enrichment in their environment - and your cat may be a good candidate for this, as you say she shuts up when you give her attention but is otherwise meowing? Jackson (we're on a first-name basis given that I've watched approximately 7,000 of his videos) recommends additional 'cat tv' window perches, more things to climb and scratch, and in general what he calls 'catification' of your house. YMMV, but he seems to have had great success...

I assume if she’s a ragdoll she doesn’t go outside? If not, is she getting plenty of mental and physical stimulation and interaction from you?

We had a cat who was quite senile and meowed a lot because she got lost and frightened in the house, she was probably deaf as well. She was part of a trial at the vet hospital for a drug to help with dementia in cats (there is probably an ancient thread about here on MN), which did help. But far, far worse was the foster cat who was on heat, that was really unbearable. I’ve never heard such noises come out of a little cat.

I am appalled that a cat expert thinks it is ok to ignore a cat's meows. They communicate because they want something or they have gone deaf. please get him checked by a vet.

Is she a Bengal or Siamese by any chance?

Ah, sorry, I left that bit out: Jackson Galaxy always notes at the start that you should get your cat checked by a vet if you notice any new or unusual behaviour; I'm sure he'd say don't ignore your cat until given the all-clear. Also, I think the OP was saying her cat meows continuously, when s/he doesn't want anything...?

Dcat2 started yowling after her daughter died. We thought she was grieving and calling out for her. Later we got her a kitten to keep her busy and now they both yowl. Neither have hearing issues as they can hear a tin of tuna being opened in the kitchen from the other room! Work calls are a nightmare and I have to keep 2 shut doors between us otherwise my colleagues might think Dcats are being strangled!

Might be worth getting to check Dcats eyesight and hearing?