# Extremely Noisy Cat - Please Help



## JakeandToken (Nov 27, 2008)

Hi

Background

I have 2 Burmese cats. 1 a 6 year old Blue Male (Jake) and 1 a Chocolate 3 year old Female (Token aka Tokey)

I have had both cats from kittens, originally i purchased Jake and his sister Jasmine but unfortunately she passed away due to a hereditary illness. I wasn’t going to buy another cat but Jake was extremely unsettled so I brought Tokey to keep him company and it worked a treat and they are now as thick as thieves (as the picture below shows).










The Problem

Jake has always been a vocal cat, i know this goes with the breed, but it is getting to ridiculous levels now, not only is he very very very loud but the noise seems to be non stop.

We live in a new house and because of the layout a cat flap isn’t possible so will let the cats in and out via the front door or back window. The problem is Jake will only go out for 10 mins at a time and will circle the house continually "meowing" extremely loudly until he gets in. We have tried to see how long he would go, hoping that he will go and sit on the door step little a normal kitty would (and Tokey does) but after an hour we gave up as we were worried about upsetting the neighbours (he is that loud!).

Jake is also extremely noisy in the house, he will wonder round "meowing" continually for now reason we can work out, i.e. he is not hungry and he doesn’t want a fuss and has only just come in.

He has now started to wake us up in the morning (about 4am) so we are now absolutely shattered because of our sleep getting broken. At 1st i assume he needed the toilet so wasn’t angry but I watched him and he sits on the door step for a bit, then may go sit under a car but then will come back and start to meow to get back in!

I need some advice on what I can do to control this problem

Thanks in advance


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## Pinkerbelle (Jan 21, 2008)

Can we have some more info about Jake?

Is he fixed?

You say he's always been loud but that it's gotten worse recently. How long has this been going on?

Have you talked to the vet about it?

Are there any changes in your lives that might be unsettling to him?


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## JakeandToken (Nov 27, 2008)

Hi,

Yes both Jake and Token have been done (at 6 months old)

He has always been vocal but in the last year he had gotten bad but it seems to have got even worse in the last 6 months (either that or our patience has finally worn)

I havent talked to the vet about this particular problem but they are taken to the vet whenever needed. They were both at the vets last week having their booster jabs and had a complete health check and both where in perfect health.

As to things that might have unsettled him we cant think of anything, except the cold weather of course. He doesnt go out for long in the Summer but it is even shorter in the winter

The thing we have noticed recently is that he is becoming more and more demanding in wanting attention. Apart from carrying him round in a baby carrier we cant really give him any more attention


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## seashell (Dec 5, 2003)

I wonder if its anything to do with establishing territory? Jake's behaviour reminds me of something our old cat Jimmy did at one time. We have been on holiday and had to put him in a cattery for a week. He wasn't very happy in there  
When we got him home he demanded to be let out, and then he walked round the garden meowing really loudly. He was only out for 10 mins or so before he wanted to come back in. Then he kept wanting to go in and out all the rest of the day, and whenever he was out he was meowing loudly and also spraying on plants and fences.
We thought he might have been trying to let the neighbourhood cats know 'watch out, I'm back'.
He was a very territorial cat and hated other cats in his garden. 

But unfortunately I don't know what the solution would be. Jimmy only did this the one time after the cattery visit. Then he reverted to just marking the garden by spraying his favourite bushes daily, but he never did the strange meowing again.

seashell


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## petspy (Sep 11, 2008)

wear ear plugs while you sleep,
and while you are home awake
put a muzzle on the cats mouth.

obviously, getting at the root
cause of this cats behavior is
preferred, but barring getting rid
of him, you've gotta maintain your
own sanity.

when you notice the cat is quiet
take the muzzle off. when he starts
to wine again, put it back on. keep
doing this until he gets the message
that his noise is unacceptable behavior.

a muzzle won't stop all noise, but it's
a way you can associate the noise of
his mouth with your displeasure. don't
take the muzzle off if he wines more.
he needs to make the association that
the more he wines, the more the muzzle
will stay on him.

there are two types of cat muzzle,
one that covers the eyes, another
that does not. maybe someone else
can comment on which is better for
this application. my guess is covering
the eyes would be unnecessary here.
_cat muzzles that do not cover the 
eyes are often made for small dogs.
something called a broken jaw harness
for cats might be a better solutions;_

http://picasaweb.google.com/kathleen.fa ... awHarness#


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## JakeandToken (Nov 27, 2008)

I am not going to try the harness as that doesnt sit very well with me

I have been reading around and many sites suggest sprying with a water bottle or simply ignoring him so that eventually he will learn it doesnt get a reaction desipte how long he goes on for

Thanks for all the suggestions so far, please keep them coming if anyone has any experience or helpful advice to give


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## Nancy_in_GA (Oct 29, 2008)

I have a cat that meowed every time I moved. She wanted two things---food and attention. She lived with my mother for 2 years and my mother would give the cat a few kibbles every time she yelled because it shut her up, temporarily. I figured I'd probably never break a habit that had built up for 2 years.

First I put her on a strict feeding schedule---two times a day---not missing by more than 10 minutes. Absolutely no treats in between. 

Whenever she yelled I would say "No" (normal voice, not loud) and back away from her. As soon as she stopped meowing I'd walk toward her. If she meowed again, I'd back off, etc. If she let me get all the way to her without yelling I'd pat her and say "Good Girl." If she didn't stop yelling at all, I'd leave the room completely and keep on going. After about a week of this she learned that meowing made me go away. Now she only does the trill occasionally. I don't back off from this because I can live with the trill. 

Once in awhile she will regress and we start over. (Actually I'm not sure she regresses so much as I might be doing something inadvertently to encourage meowing.) But it only takes a few minutes to get her back on track.

Maybe the motivation for your cat is something else besides attention or food. If that's the case it probably won't work.

Good luck. Believe me, I know how irritating it is.


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## RachandNito (Nov 21, 2008)

This is probably going to go backwards from all the other advice. Ignoring your noisy cat seems like a reasonable way to stop the behavior. I simply cannot bring myself to ignore my kitty when he cries for me. But I've found just mimicking him in a sort of chirpy voice gets him to quiet down. Nito is sort of chatty though, and most of the time just wants to be acknowledged. After that, he's done chatting. (Either that, or is annoyed by my voice, or thinks I am making fun of him... maybe hehe)

All kitties are different! I have experienced the wandering and yowling, for seemingly no reason. Nito used to do it all the time. Ignore them when they try to wake you up, that is one thing you should teach them to intolerable.

Good luck with your ventures.


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## blackcat_2008 (Nov 26, 2008)

(((Hugs))) is the best solution for a cat and dog, too, believe.



yoshi


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