We adopted a cat from a shelter a couple months ago and she is the sweetest little domestic short-haired calico. She is about a year old, weighs only 5lbs, does not scratch, bite, or claw and loves everyone she meets. She would be the purrfect (sorry) cat except for the fact that she will NOT stop meowing. We brought her to vet and they ruled out any health issues so it's likely a behavioral problem. In terms of the sound and pitch of her meow it rarely changes and was classified as normal. It was recommended that we get a auto feeder to keep a routine and cut down on her meowing for food which has helped in that department. I make sure I play with her before I go to work, when I come home, and before we go to bed. I attempt to reward her when she is quiet with treats but as soon as I walk up to her or give her any sort of attention she starts meowing again and I have to back off.
It's been over two months and I swear it's getting worse. If we go into another room, are busy, take a shower, or start cooking (basically anything but giving her our full attention) she will not shut up. We have seen no improvement with the ignore method. My boyfriend is at his wits end and has tried to switch up his method by either yelling at her or spraying her in the face. Unfortunately she's a little dumb and we don't think she is making the connection between the punishment and her behavior. All it seems to do is make her mad at us so she disappears under the couch. We've since read articles claiming that any response (even negative) is viewed by the cat as successful in garnering attention so we are now solely using the ignore method.
Odd thing is, when my boyfriend went away for work and she stayed at my house for a week she never meowed except to greet me. It all but stopped. As soon as he walked in the door the meowing started again and once we got back to his apartment, it was even worse than before. I think she may like my place better since it is bigger and there is more to do (big picture windows on both sides with birds to watch and places to hide). Adversely, my boyfriend lives in a high rise studio apartment with no views and free standing furniture. We are hesitant about moving her back and forth between our apartment since cats like routine and it may be cruel to have her get used to my place if she prefers it. We only brought her to my place because he was traveling for an extended period. FYI she is meant to be my boyfriend's cat even though we adopted her together. I was never a cat person beforehand but have fallen in love with her. My boyfriend has offered me the cat which may be only option if her behavior doesn't improve at his place.
And yes, we have bought every toy in existence to try and keep her busy. I know my boyfriend doesn't give in to her and has been staying consistent with the ignore method so that is not the problem. The only time she is quiet is if we are relaxing on the couch within eyesight but obviously we can't just be sitting around all day in order to placate her. We can't have anyone watch her if we go away because we can't subject our friends and family to her behavior for extended periods. If we travel between our apartments or try to bring her on a road trip, she meows the entire car ride but is fine once she gets to the destination. We would love to bring her to our family vacation home on weekends but can't sit through 4 hours of meowing plus we don't want to subject her what I assume is a stressful situation.
Everyone keeps telling us to stay consistent with ignoring her when she meows, but she does it so often we barely have an opportunity to enjoy her company. I'm sure it's upsetting for her too. If she continues the behavior we may not be able to keep her because we are in an open layout apartment and need to sleep! She will meow at night for the first half hour and will start up again in the morning at varying times. Again, she did not do this at my house when she was alone with me. It's hard enough working around two people in the space without having a cat that feels like it takes over our home. Any advice is appreciated.
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from Pets https://www.reddit.com/r/Pets/comments/apzmjk/adopted_cat_will_not_stop_meowing_several_months/
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