I have one that does that. We yell “DEWEY! WE’RE IN HERE!” and he stops. Doesn’t come to see us, just stops that sad sound. I think he just wants to be reassured.
You should capture it on your cell phone and put it on YouTube.
As another poster said, my first thought was there’s another cat peaking in through the window and it’s upsetting your cat.
Or maybe he caught a mouse in the basement, or couldn’t catch it
My (newly adopted, adult) cat does this when I go to bed. I’ll turn out the lights, settle in, and she starts MEOWLING. She knows where I am, because she came upstairs with me. But she wanders downstairs & starts this sad, plaintive meow in the middle of the living room. My husband HATES it. He’s threatened (jokingly, hopefully) to harm her.
I’ve started putting her in the bathroom at night now. That is, downstairs at the other end of the house where we can’t hear her if she moans. She has her litterbox, a cozy bed with a towel in it, and toilet water if she gets thirsty. But she normally doesn’t drink water, so I’m afraid I’m stuck with gooshyfood for the remainder of her stint with me, which I hope will be years and years of joy.
If she can go the night without YEOWLING, she doesn’t get locked up. But as soon as the first after-lights-out yeowl starts, it’s banishment to the bathroom. For her own safety.
Her latest trick is to YOWL until I come downstairs in the dark, and then she goes quiet. And hides. Ah, so this is all a game! Last night I used the laser pointer to draw her out, and then swooped her up into the bathroom.
The hubby thinks she’s bored. So she has new toys, and even a super cool tree with a hidey-hole and several perches. Late night meowling persists. She went to live with my mom when we were on vacation & didn’t get along with Mom’s cat. Not that a 2nd cat would be an option. Not with ***my ***hubby.
Cats are generally intelligent, right? Do you think she’ll eventually learn that yeowl=confinement and quiet=freedom?
To top it off, when she is paroled in the morning she meows, squeaks, and yowls like she’s making up for lost time. Continually until I leave for work. She’s so cute I can’t stand it!
Oh, and for anyone who read the thread when I adopted her, **“Niagara” **has now become “Squirt”. The name that she came with was too big for her anyway. Squirt just fits her, she’s so tiny.
Is his tail twitching while this is going on? If so, this might help.
One of our cats goes into the hallway and makes just sad, loud, long mreows…and he will occasionally do it in the bathroom, too. We’ve a small place, so the hallway is in full view of the living room, where we usually are, and he seems kind of unfocused when he does it. he stops if you collect him, but I’ve come to the conclusion that yes, he’s just singing to himself, enjoying the echo.
Aha, cute toon! Reading more now.
He’s 18, that’s getting really old for a cat. Maybe he’s losing his senses and is getting disoriented. Though my cat is 6, and has no excuse other than he has some Siamese blood in him and likes the sound of his own voice.