I've googled a bunch re: this topic but most of the advice like locking the cat in another room at night etc won't work with my current situation.
We have 3 cats at home (12, 9, 4) - all female, all fixed. The 9 year old is very vocal at night to the point where it's disruptive to my parents (and me) when we try to sleep.
Things we have tried already include:
- Playing before bed
- Playing during the day
- Feeding before bed
- Not feeding before bed
- Cuddling before bed
- Winding down to (hopefully) get her to sleep before we turn off the lights
- Keep lights on
- Keep lights off
- Have sound on (tv, radio, fans), in case the silence bothers her
- Calling for her when she meows
- Ignoring her when she meows
None of these have worked. She's been like this for as long as I can remember, but when we got the 4 year old, the meowing stopped altogether at night for about a year until she picked it up again. She goes through phases, sometimes it's nothing, most of the time she meows for about 10 minutes before giving up, but right now she's at her worst where she'll be meowing for hours on end every night.
Now, we can't lock her in another room or lock her out of our bedrooms either: our two other cats will scratch the door or jump on the handle until they get the door open... Trying to keep her at bay will only increase the activity of the two other cats. This is very frustrating.
Another thing, because some advice suggest that she may be hungry - she doesn't eat dry food. First day we got her, we only had dry food at home (got her earlier than anticipated) and she refused to eat. She's never eaten a piece of dry food in her life, it's only wet food. In addition (sigh), she has issues eating in general; she will start eating, look away for a brief second and then forget that she was eating. At this point we have to show her the food again so that she will actually finish it. So if we wanted to keep her fed through the night, we can't just leave out a bowl - we have to actively show her it or she won't get the hint.
We're really struggling right now because she's in the worst phase and we're not sure what to do. We've looked up cat dementia and bad vision, which I suppose could be the root of her troubles - but she's quiet during the day and she doesn't display any of the other frequently listed symtoms such as seeking out less social interaction and having troubles going on the box. The food thing (forgetting about it mid-bite) is persistant though, so maybe her memory is faltering and she needs reassurance? I'm not sure. If we were to see a vet, how could they help us? Would there be medication or anything like that?
Any input would be appreciated!
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from Pets https://www.reddit.com/r/Pets/comments/bsn5mt/cat_meows_at_night_any_advice/
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