I suspect some sort of separation anxiety.
Tonka has never been especially considerate. He seems to love to hear himself talk – often while the humans are trying to sleep. He’s about eight years old. We got him from a shelter where he’d been for six months. Before that, he was in another shelter on the other side of the state for so long they transferred him out here. Maybe people were leery of his medical record, and the stated need to give him subcutaneous fluids every month or so. Or maybe they were turned off by his truncated tail. As it happens, we’ve never had to give him sub-Q fluids. Other medical issues have not manifested themselves. Aside from occasional bouts of asthma (or bronchitis) he’s a healthy guy. He just needed a good home. And the tail? We love it! Tonka has a cute tail.
When we brought Tonka home, he slept a lot. When he wasn’t sleeping, he kept to himself. After about a month he was settled in. He sleeps less and socialises more. And he became vocal. Use the litter box? ‘YOWL! I POO’D! I POO’D!’ Sometimes he’ll just prowl around howling, seemingly just to hear himself. Right now he’s asleep on the back of the couch, over my shoulder. When ‘mom’ is up, he likes to curl up at her feet on the ottoman. If we go outside, he becomes vocal. He can see us through the doors, so he knows he isn’t alone. But he yowls anyway. The night before last he was sleeping on the back of the couch when I, ‘mom’, and Creamsicle went to bed. He started yowling at three in the ayem. The SO thinks he woke up and was like, ‘HEY! Where is everybody? HELP! I’M ALONE!’
If I take him to bed, he leaves immediately. He’ll open the door and come back after a few minutes and curl up by my feet. If I don’t take him to bed, he might push the door open later, or else spend the night in the living room. In the morning, if Creamsicle gets up, Tonka thinks it’s time to play and howl. In the evenings, he’ll prowl around yowling as if to say, ‘HEY! I’m right HERE! Give me ATTENTION!’ But he’s not very cuddly. He doesn’t like being held. He won’t get on our laps. You pay attention to him, and he wants to be somewhere else – until he deigns to get onto the ottoman or the back of the couch.
I don’t know what Tonka’s life was like before he went to NOAH, where we adopted him. I wouldn’t be surprised if he’d been abandoned sometime in the past. But he’s safe now, and we’re not going anywhere. He has a playmate who is finally standing up to his bullying (most of the time). She’s actually the instigator half the time. He has two humans who love him. If only he would understand that he doesn’t have to yowl to get attention. All he has to do is let us love him.
And now he’s snoring. Since he likes to sleep on the ottoman at mom’s feet, and Creamsicle likes to sleep on the mack of mom’s chair, the SO often gets snoring in stereo.
