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My 14 year old female cat Meg used to be very quiet but is now very vocal and spends a lot of time yowling pretty loudly - basically if she isn't eating or sleeping she's yowling and I have to admit it sometimes drives me up the wall, especially if she decides to wake up at 3.00am! Meg is blind (detached retinas caused by high blood pressure) and she also has an intestinal problem which requires a steroid injection every couple of months. I am wondering if the vocalisation is perhaps a side effect of the steroid as it seems to be at its worst when she has had a new injection. I have mentioned it to my vet but he doesn't seem to link the two together. Her appetite is very good, especially just after having the steroid (as you'd expect) although it tails off a bit when an injection is due. I just wondered if anyone on here was familiar with this kind of behaviour. I have added a link to a video clip which I hope is viewable as the WMV file is quite large.

http://goo.gl/uqb4kq

Excessive vocalisation can be a sign of Hyperthyroidism, which can be determined by blood tests. It's relatively common in older cats, so that would be my first guess to talk through with the vet.

She may also be going deaf, so given that she doesn't have visual reference of where you are/where she is, hearing is more important. If she's also going deaf, she will feel more disoriented and may be calling for reassurance.

Is she being treated for the high blood pressure? I wonder whether this might also be contributing?

I agree - deaf cats often shout louder too, as they cannot hear themselves. It is also a classic sign of thyroid problems, so either way I think a vet vist would help.

Good luck.

Thanks for the replies. She had a blood test about 6 months ago as the vet wanted to keep an eye on any side effects from the steroid (Depo Medrone) and no sign of hyperthyroid was mentioned by him at that point. I have had a hyperthyroid cat before and she suffered from weight loss but Meg has actually put on weight recently - up to 3.4kg - although I do realise that not all hyperthyroid cats suffer weight loss. I'll suggest another blood test next time I am there and get him to check for deafness. At the moment she is about 15ft away from my desk and if I shout and slap my hand on the desk she is reacting to it but whether her hearing is not 100% is hard to tell. She is on medication for the blood pressure - until recently it was Amlodipine but now changed to Amodip.

shalebing wrote:Thanks for the replies. She had a blood test about 6 months ago as the vet wanted to keep an eye on any side effects from the steroid (Depo Medrone) and no sign of hyperthyroid was mentioned by him at that point. I have had a hyperthyroid cat before and she suffered from weight loss but Meg has actually put on weight recently - up to 3.4kg - although I do realise that not all hyperthyroid cats suffer weight loss. I'll suggest another blood test next time I am there and get him to check for deafness. At the moment she is about 15ft away from my desk and if I shout and slap my hand on the desk she is reacting to it but whether her hearing is not 100% is hard to tell. She is on medication for the blood pressure - until recently it was Amlodipine but now changed to Amodip.

Thyroid testing isn't including in the general bloods, so may not have been covered, would be worth a quick phone call to check.

Try doing something quiet to test her hearing, eg rub your fingers together behind her ears.

Hyperthyroidism immediately springs to mind, and it is a separate blood test as has been mentioned. It actually might take a couple of blood tests to diagnose as thyroxine levels can vary over time. Do get it done asap, as hyperthyroidism is serious but treatable, and catching it early can prevent organ damage caused by the hi blood pressure associated with the higher metabolism.

It could also be that she is suffering from senility. I had an elderly cat with this at one point, and yowling at all hours was due to her confusion. She was in her twenties when it started, and physical causes were ruled out. Most older cats lose some degree of hearing, just like older humans, so that too is a possibility, but I would DEFINITELY check her thyroid levels sooner rather than later, because it can be well managed with medication and left untreated will lead to kidney failure.

In our case it's probably hyperthyroidism. Basically the cat doesn't know if it's really truly hungry, thirsty or what. To top it off we have another cat that will eat everything so we can't leave food out.
Our solution was to make a spare room into a cat room. It has food, water litter and climate control. We put her in there at bedtime with a full dish of food. Out she comes at breakfast time. She doesn't keep us up and seems to really like the Royal treatmeny

shalebing wrote:My 14 year old female cat Meg used to be very quiet but is now very vocal and spends a lot of time yowling pretty loudly - basically if she isn't eating or sleeping she's yowling and I have to admit it sometimes drives me up the wall, especially if she decides to wake up at 3.00am!

Could she be just affected by an early stage of dementia?
Some cats get vocal in senior age, mainly because they are affected by dementia. Sometimes they just feel disoriented or forget where they are, especially if she's also blind.