Howling cat

No Dollar Tree in this part of the world. I guess the closest thing we have would be the mall Chino, stores where they sell a lot of cheap stuff imported from Asia. My husband passes by one when he goes to the office. He could probably stop in and see what they have.

Well, we tried the laser, she has no interest in that either. Playing isn't her thing. Honestly, I am starting to think we have to accept that it's her world and we're just living in it, as an old friend used to say. She's happy howling, scratching on the door, running up and down the stairs and puking up random pieces of carpet or other things she shouldn't be. I guess she will live out her last months or years like this.

In the morning, she's become almost like an alarm clock. 7 AM sharp and she starts scratching the door.

Sorry the laser didn't work.

Does this cat go outside? I've never had a cat that was content to stay indoors all the time.

AceRimmer, I have six cats, five of whom want nothing to do with the outside world. The other is very attached to me. She will beg to be outside with me if I am working in the yard. She hangs out with me and happily goes inside when I do.

I'm more of a proponent of keeping cats indoors for their own safety and that of local wildlife.


Also, while I've had cats, I've also never lived in a place where it seemed like my cats would be safe going out. Where we used to live, we were right off a major avenue where drivers were always speeding. Cats did get run over and even a large dog was hit and killed there. We also had a neighbor with an aggressive Akita. She'd let him loose on the street. I called municipal security several times about it but they never arrived in time to find the dog loose to cite her. In my current neighborhood, many neighbors do let their cats out and I hear cat fights a few times a week. Also, behind the house, is fields and farms. People hunt rabbits around here, so there are likely predators around like foxes. Our next door neighbor had a lovely tabby cat who went over the back fence and he never knew what happened to him. He never came back.


Most of my cats, including the two I have now, have seemed fine with being indoors. The one that didn't was somewhat of an escape artist and managed to get out a few times. The last time he got out, he became the Akita's latest victim.

Don't you worry about them when the zombie apocalypse comes? cats that can go outside and hunt can survive by themselves. If something happened to me I would at least be happy knowing kitty will survive. She was a really good hunter until a couple of yeas ago.

I don't worry about the zombie apocalypse. So I don't worry about what would happen to the cats if it happens. I worry more about what would happen in the here and now if they go outside. We have coyotes, packs of dogs, bears, hawks, snakes who would all be happy to dine on nice tasty kitties. My neighbors regularly lose cats, rabbits, guinea pigs, chickens, ducks, geese etc to the wildlife.

Snakes? What kind of snakes? My cat brought a snake home once. It got loose in the house and I never found it. There are coyotes a couple of miles south of me but they don't seem to come close to the more densely populated area where I am. If they did I would keep kitty in at night, or build a dome over the house. Actually the dome would be great for winter. kitty hates the snow and she would love a domed snow-less area.

Found out my howling cat actually has hyperthyroidism. Other signs she had were eating more than usual but losing weight so if you've noticed anything like that, there's another possibility. She's on meds for it now and hasn't woken me up in a couple nights and her eating calmed down so it's treatable.

Thanks for the suggestion MuddyBoots. She was at the vet recently and her weight was similar to the previous year. In all, the vet found her to be in good shape for her age, so I don't think it's hyperthyroidism.

We have lots of lizards here. They hang out in the yard. Once I was bringing in some clothes from the line and there was a lizard in the clothes. I was able to get my husband to distract the dogs so I could take the lizard back outside. I'm very glad it didn't escape in the house, the dogs would have gone wild!

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Originally Posted by AceRimmer Snakes? What kind of snakes? My cat brought a snake home once. It got loose in the house and I never found it. There are coyotes a couple of miles south of me but they don't seem to come close to the more densely populated area where I am. If they did I would keep kitty in at night, or build a dome over the house. Actually the dome would be great for winter. kitty hates the snow and she would love a domed snow-less area.

Ace, I live in Florida, the state with a million ways to kill you. We have 11 zillion kinds of snakes. I recently spent thousands of dollars to save my pupper after she got bitten by a venomous snake.

Coyotes here are bold. I've seen one in the yard twice. I can hear them at night.

Today shows exactly why I keep my cats inside. A neighbor's cat entered our fenced yard. I let the dogs out without realizing there was a cat. They ran after the cat. I had a situation like that once before, but the cat was able to crawl under the gate to safety. This cat was too big and wasn't able to do that. Instead it tried to climb the bars of the gate.

They were more curiously toying with the cat than trying to hurt it. They turned it on its back and were pawing at it and sniffing. I yelled for my husband to come help because I couldn't manage to separate two dogs from the cat alone. Our next door neighbor also heard me and came to see if he could help. In the end, we were able to separate the dogs from the cat and get them inside. The cat climbed to the top of the gate and our neighbor helped it down. Our neighbor checked the cat and said it seemed to be okay. I'm not sure who it belongs to. That neighbor and his wife have cats, but they keep them indoors.

Our dogs were fine too, fortunately. I think my husband and I got the worst of it. I have a few bruises and a broken fingernail. He has a sore finger from grabbing Bruni's collar.

But, if the cat had entered the yard of a more aggressive dog or dogs, the outcome would have been much worse.

We're thinking of ways to make it harder to keep the cats from getting into the yard. In the meantime, we have to check the yard before letting the dogs out.

I've seen that cat around a few times, about 10 houses up the street. I haven't seen them near my house at all, which is good. Another cat was thinking of crawling under the gate the other day. They saw the dogs and took off. I've put some cat repellent granules around the gate. I'm not sure if it really works.

As far as our cat, she has reduced the nighttime howling quite a bit lately. Maybe it was a phase. The pet shop just dropped off a bag of the senior food I'm giving both cats. The bag says it now includes some sort of brain-health supplement. I'm guessing it's a bit late for that.

We're heading into winter and she was starting to get worse again. Maybe it's the cold? Anyways, I remember that a cat I used to have loved those sort of igloo beds in winter. He'd hide in there for hours and sleep. I just ordered two of these and they arrived on Tuesday: Casa con Cojin Estilo Cono #2105B-M – Chimuelo.cl They've been a huge hit. Each cat has chosen her bed and they curl up in there and are quiet!

Rechu, the beds are cute.

Thanks. I thought they were pretty cute too. I'm so glad the cats love them. It would have been annoying to have spent the money and realizing they don't use them. One was already sitting sometimes in their carrier and they like boxes as most cats do, so there was a good chance they would like them. They have a nice fluffy pillow, which must be very cozy for them.

I’m glad you found something that worked out. We have a couple of heated beds. One on top of a cabinet in front of a window and another under a chair that has a blanket draped over it. We just unplug the heated beds in hot months. We found out by accident that the cats love it when we drape a blanket or sheet over a chair, making a little fort.

Yeah, I can see a cat liking a fort setup. I'd worry about using a heater with mine because the girl that howls also likes to chew on inappropriate things. She might try to chew the cord.

They've been so quiet today that I just went to see what was going on. The younger, less vocal one was sitting next to her bed. The howler was curled up in her bed, completely knocked out. I had to check and make sure she was breathing!