I have a male, neutered cat, almost 3 years old. I’m not a veteran cat-keeper. When we lived in the country, we had a couple of “barn cats”, but they were more feral, really, and just came into our garage or barn to get out of the weather or get some easy food when it was snowy and hunting was hard.
My current cat, Ponch, is only my second “city cat”. Both cats we’ve had here have been more or less accidental, so you see, I really don’t know much about cats at all. So, lately, there’s been an orange and white tabby hanging out in our yard. Ponch will sit at a window, inside the house, and “scream” at the tabby. If he wasn’t neutered, I’d guess the tabby was a female and the yowling had something to do with courting or somesuch.
So, what gives? Why is my cat making the godawful noises, and is there anything I can do about it? (He woke me up from a sound sleep at 3 this morning, with his carrying on).
Cats are territorial creatures. They don’t like strange cats hanging around. When a stranger comes to town, it’s hisses, glares, and bushy tails all around.
And you think if you save poor Catherine, you could make them stop, don’t you? You think if Catherine lives, you won’t wake up in the dark ever again to that awful screaming of the cat.
But he’s not hissing, glaring and and waving his bushy tail all around. And one day when the tabby was outside, Ponch was outside, too, (let’s not do the whole debate on whether it’s good to let cats outside, okay? Please?) they were both sitting up on the picnic table, and neither of them was looking aggressive.
Does he do it only when the other cat is around? I have a 19-y.o. neutered male, and he never vocalized at all till a few years ago. Now he does it after he eats, after he uses the litter box, after he sits on my lap, and other random times. It’s getting more frequent and louder, and there’s no way to shut him up.
Two of my male (neutered) cats used to do this with each other alot. They both wanted to be Top Cat in the house. They would try to pass each other in the hallway and decide that the hallway was not part of the Demilitarized Zone. They would sit there and stare at each other, growling and screaming at each other. Eventually one of them would back off. Sometimes they would scuffle but that was rare. These two cats often slept ass to ass on my bed so go figure.
He’s doing the cat equivalent of ‘Get the *&^#$@% outta my yard’. When he was outside with the other cat, he knew he was in control but because he’s behind glass, he feels a little powerless.
Why is this cat in your yard all the time? Does it seem to be homeless?
Around here, people let their cats who are not spayed or neutered run around all the time, and that results in a lot of stray cats coming along. It also costs $40.00 to take a cat to the pound, so most folks don’t opt for that.
Having said that, I don’t know if the tabby is a stray, or has a home, but prowls like Ponch does. The tabby doesn’t wear a collar, but then, neither does Ponch. We can’t get him to keep the damned things on. Hard-headed pain in the ass, that cat. Of course, we tell him that all the time. We don’t know if he doesn’t care, or if he prides himself on it.
When my cat does it, there’s no cat around, and sometimes not even me (I could be in a totally different part of the house). He hasn’t lived with another cat for a couple years, and he’s no longer interested in looking out the window. I think he’s just getting senile.
My housemate’s cat (neutered male, seven years old or so) yowls LOUDLY in the middle of the freaking night while he’s playing with his beloved fuzzy-lambie stuffed toy. This problem was solved by taking the little monster’s lambie away from him when I go to bed and putting it on a shelf he can’t reach.
I have no idea why playing with lambie in the wee hours should bring on a feline screaming fit. Is he just announcing his pride in his “kill” or what?
As I said when my wife asked why our 13 year old cat all of a sudden decided that he’d start yowling at the door every day, “He’s a cat. Who the hell knows?” (Only partially in jest).
My cat rarely vocalized until last summer. I asked on the Dope, and a few posters suggested he might have gone deaf and lost his ability to modulate his volume. I took him to the vet and sure enough. He’s not quite stone deaf, but he can only hear a few extremely loud, high pitched sounds. He’s about 14. On the positive side, he’s no longer scared of thunder or the vacuum.
Its very hard to notice when cats lose their hearing, because they are very adaptable and sensitive to vibrations. Apparently most owners never notice until hearing loss is profound.
I’m going ot start an IMHO thread.)
