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Old February 6th, 2017, 10:53 AM
Silverwind Silverwind is offline
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Cat meows all night long

We recently fostered, and now adopted, a sweet little kitty named Lily. She is about 5-6 years old, spayed, an indoor cat. During the day, problems are minimal. She is very sweet and affectionate, mostly scratches on her scratching post, not the furniture, is very patient with the children, etc. At night, it's another story. She meows all night long. I believe it is attention seeking, and so we ignore her and try to sleep through it. But it has been a month, and if anything, seems to be getting worse. My husband is getting very annoyed, especially when he has to work in the morning. And frankly, I am too! Is there anything we can do to stop this incessant meowing??
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Old February 6th, 2017, 07:38 PM
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Hi Silverwind
A couple of things come to my mind. Did she come from a home or location where she was housed with other cats. I am wondering if she is missing the companionship. I also had 2 of my own cats and they would meow for each other as if they were looking for one another and then settle down.

You could also try to tucker her out with some play time before bed. Chasing something or playing so she is tired out and then off to bed..

Do you keep her locked out of your room. If so maybe try putting a bed down for her and see if she will settle...maybe she just misses everyone

Best of Luck and hoping she mellows out for you both....ear plugs come to mind

Cindy
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Old February 6th, 2017, 08:37 PM
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Loki Love Loki Love is offline
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We have a night meower too - and while we haven't completely cured it, we do find feeding him right before we go to bed (and his favourite food - canned kitty fish food is his crack!) seems to have helped somewhat. That gets us to about 3am at least.

I feel for you - it's hard to have your sleep interrupted like that.
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Old February 7th, 2017, 09:53 AM
Longblades Longblades is offline
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I would suggest lots and lots of play too. Lots. Maybe she was an inside/outside kitty and used to more activity outside? Our inny/outy, Joey, had a sore leg and we kept him in for a few weeks. He didn't meow at night but he was very awake a lot of the night, running back and forth to windows. Now he is back outside for part of the day and sleeps through the night again.

A drop of Rescue Remedy on top of her head helped our aged cat who was deaf and had "deaf cat howl." It might be worth a try to see if it calms your little girl down till she learns how your household works.

REscue Remedy caution: The candies have xylitol in them, not for dogs or cats, Not likely you'd get a cat to eat one but just in case.
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Old February 7th, 2017, 06:35 PM
Silverwind Silverwind is offline
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We adopted her from our local Humane Society. She was at the shelter for more than 2 years, Living with many other cats. Today I looked up videos of cats meowing to see if i could figure out what her meows mean and when she heard kittens, she started looking for them, meowing that same loud meow. I think she might be looking for other cats. We can't adopt another cat for her so whAt can we do?
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Old February 7th, 2017, 11:27 PM
Barkingdog Barkingdog is offline
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can you be a foster parents to other kitten so your kitty won't be so lonesome ? What about having her she in your bedroom that might help.
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Old February 8th, 2017, 04:16 PM
Silverwind Silverwind is offline
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We don't shut her out of our bedrooms. I don't think my husband would agree to bringing another cat home, since I am allergic and am just starting to adjust to having Lily here, plus we are adopting a puppy next week. I think she could be in heat???
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Old February 8th, 2017, 09:00 PM
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If she's spayed, though, the only way she could be in heat is if they missed something during the surgery...
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Old February 9th, 2017, 01:53 AM
Silverwind Silverwind is offline
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The reason I think she is spayed is because she has a tattoo in her ear. According to the shelter, that means she is spayed, and honestly, how else would she have gotten a tattoo? I talked to 2 vet offices and when I described her behavior they both said it sounds like heat. So I made her an appointment on Friday to be examined so I can be sure she is not sick. I guess we will try to find out what our options are if she isn't sick.
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Old February 9th, 2017, 05:05 PM
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Silverwind
Here in Ontario a tatoo in the ear usually means that the animals is a purebred or it used to mean that. If you got her from a humane society they should have spayed or neutered her before adopting out. I see your in BC but I dont think the rules would be that different. Does your paperwork say she is spayed.

I have heard of some places and I hope its not the local humane societys but the kitten was too young to be spayed so they would provide them with a discounted spay or neuter if they brought them back apparently a substantial discount to ensure people do it. I dont really know if this is true either I heard it through other people so it could be just gossip.

Regardless a vet check will help hopefully resolve any underlying medical issue for you at the same time.

Best of Luck

Ditto what Hazel said on the spay thats the only way....
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Old February 9th, 2017, 11:08 PM
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hi Silverwind:

You have a kitty that was in a shelter for some 2 years, among other cats, so she had "company" so to speak. She is now in a new home with no other animals until you got the puppy. This could have caused severe stress for her. Maybe that good looking puppy will help to occupy her mind and be a playmate for her and relieve some of the stress.
Depending on her personality, this could last some length of time. We've noticed this stress when moving our animals from familiar surroundings to a new place.

As far as the tattoo is concerned, this was done for all our cats when they were spayed or neutered. This is when the vets normally tattoo because the animal is already under anaesthetics for the surgery. It's impossible to run the tattoo machine with any accuracy if they are not under.

Something you might want to ask your vet when you see him/her is about a product called Feliway, which is a synthetic Pheromone. I've used it when moving and found it to ease the anxiety in the animals. It was vet recommended to me.

Case in point. We had a friend who passed away suddenly in October last year and the stress on the cat was profound. Our friend's wife is still having some issues with the cat and its loss of its human buddy. Some cats are severely bothered by change of surroundings and the loss of companionship more so than others.

Others have already suggested lots and lots of play - this is essential. Also using Rescue Remedy in the drinking water will help, along with late snacks at night.

Would it be possible for a photo of your Lily so we can see what she looks like? Best of luck at the vets tomorrow.
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  #12  
Old February 12th, 2017, 01:38 PM
Silverwind Silverwind is offline
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This is Lily I just wanted to update you all. I took her to the vet on Friday afternoon, and he gave her a checkup. Her crumpled ear was very dirty and irritated so he gave us some cleaning stuff and some medicated drops and we clean and medicate her ear twice a day. As to the Meowling, as we have unaffectionately come to call it, it is starting to slow down. At the vet, we shaved her belly and looked for any signs of a spay scar- there was nothing. We also looked at her tattoo, and it does not resemble the tattoos of the vet who does the spays and neuters for our local shelter. So I am bring her back on Monday so that the shelter can look at her tattoo. But it's pretty much 90% certain that she is unspayed and in heat and got overlooked because she has a tattoo.
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Old February 13th, 2017, 07:35 PM
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hi Silverwind:

Appreciate the pics of your Lily. Looks like she'll make a nice member of your family.

It appears as though she is a little stressed. It's a new home, new people, ear infection and other things. Not to mention possibly being in heat.

Perhaps it's a good thing that the puppy isn't in the picture yet - give her more time to adjust.

Hopefully the tattoo will give you some more information. What we've found was that different vets - different tattoos. All the ones we've had done are in blue ink. And some are hard to decipher after a period of time. I think she will require lots of TLC, and when it comes time to introduce the pup, set up a proper introduction to alleviate any unforeseen problems.
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Old February 14th, 2017, 06:03 PM
raemei raemei is offline
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Wow, how crazy she was at the shelter for 2 years and might not be spayed! It kind of sounds like that is the case...I hope that it is, so that it is an "easy fix" in a way
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Old February 14th, 2017, 06:15 PM
Silverwind Silverwind is offline
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So it turns out Lily is NOT spayed, the tattoo is a random one, who knows where it came from! And she is back to her regular, cuddly, quiet self today. Thank god! My husband was getting ready to bring her back lol! So I will be calling the vet for a spay appointment tomorrow. We could wait for the shelter to do it, but the next appointment isn't until April and I don't want to wait and go through another heat! That was awful. I don't know how people who have cats could put up with that and not get them fixed right away! The puppy comes home tomorrow. I hope Lily will like her!
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Old February 14th, 2017, 11:35 PM
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We've had a couple of our cats do the heat thing over the years. The last one was Mrg, and from the time she was over her heat session to the time of the surgery was less than 36 hours, which caused some issues for quite a long time. We found out from another vet that ideally surgery should be at least 10 to 14 days after a heat session. If that helps you with making your appointment for the spaying. Something for you to think about.
Let us know how Lily and the new puppy do.

I can sympathize with your hubby over the shenanigans the cat goes through when in heat.
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Old February 15th, 2017, 07:47 PM
Silverwind Silverwind is offline
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Thanks Reg, I'll keep that in mind. It might be good to let Lily adjust to the new puppy before she has major surgery. We brought the puppy home- Lily is not impressed. Especially with me...how long does a cat hold a grudge??
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Old February 15th, 2017, 10:52 PM
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The experts claim that cats don't hold a grudge, but they have tremendous memories and remember stuff for a long time. (Definition - x is an unknown quantity, spert is a drip under pressure.)

You may have thrown a monkey wrench into her routine with the introduction of the puppy. Cats are very territorial. This means that she is having to re assess her territory to include the puppy.

It's been so long since I've had anything to do with introducing a dog and cat, that I really can't advise. Perhaps another member would have some ideas to pass along to you that will make the introduction easier on everybody.
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  #19  
Old February 19th, 2017, 05:16 PM
Silverwind Silverwind is offline
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She loves me again <3 And is learning to tolerate Betsy...sort of. Aaand I think she may be coming into heat again already. CAlling vets first thing tomorrow!
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