kitten wont stop meowing !

[earthspirit]

hi folks - my first post! my partner grew up with cats and as a family we have had cats for over 20 years. when our beloved foxy passed over earlier this year, we decided that this home was missing furry friends. so - we now have a lovely 22 week old kitten who came into our home no problem. partner decided this cat would be lonely as its an indoor cat and we got another new kitten who is 11 and 1/2 weeks old.
everything is going well with socialising sleeping eating and playing but omg - the noise from this little new one is driving us up the wall - worse for partner as he works from home and requires a quiet chilled out background.
so, we have tried feliway and we give her plenty cuddle time and affection - she is eating far more than the older much larger kitten.
we got her at 10 weeks and she came from a boisterous litter of 9 and also lived with her mum dad and aunt.
seems like they been running around like a bunch of vagonds fighting playing having fun but when we collected her, the father was making huge meow sounds!
our baby is so noisy but not during the night in particular and thankfully she goes down to sleep no problem after 15 mins loud noise.
no the problem is during the day when she is meowing for nothing much at all. when we put her in her safe room that is filled with toys food comfort litter - she is still making so much noise for attention we think - the only thing that shuts her up is putting her in a cage and covering it with a blanket - which we dont like doing as she should be able to settle in her little bed and go to sleep
I suppose i just need reassurance that this noise will stop at some point? she was young going away from mum and her dad was loud but we fear she has a gene that makes her a noisy cat and this wont go away.
what are the expert opinions and can i do anything to keep her quiet other than the cage? we do not respond to the racket

[Lilith]

Hi and welcome

I'm afraid that sometimes cats just are chatty and noisy (all mine are!) but have you had your new girl checked out for fleas and worms (sorry if you already have!) I once took on a rescue kitten who cried, heartbreakingly, all the time - and he was full of roundworms, poor chap.

An increased appetite can be an indicator, also a bloated belly, loose motions and a fuzzy erect coat. I'm also mentioning this in case other readers are having similar problems - worms can be commoner than you think and even if the kitten hasn't been out or eaten prey, worms can have been transmitted from the mother cat.

Again sorry if you've sorted this, and don't despair, it may just be kitten talking about all the newness of her new home, missing her siblings (which is unavoidable.) You're doing all the right things (though at this age I'd chat back to her and give her some cuddles, that may be just what she needs) and once she settles in and finds she has a new playmate she may simply grow out of it.

Please let us know how you go on, good luck

[Ruth B]

It could be she will always be chatty, some of mine have been, others have been very good at the silent stare to get what they want, only time will tell in this instance.

A couple of things do come to mind however for your new kitten. She obviously came from a large litter and it could be that she learnt that a loud meow got her attention among all the competition. Try giving her a lot of fuss and attention when she is quiet but awake and do your best to ignore the loudest cries. Hopefully in time she will learn that being quiet gets her what she wants.

You mention that her safe room is full of toys, but do you interactively play with her. One of the long wand and string toys can be great for getting a kitten to run madly around a room and when they are tired out they will normally go to sleep, it might be worth trying something like that if you don't already.

Finally, I'm not sure how far the integration of the two cats has gone, but if they aren't allowed or aren't willing to sleep together then it could be she is missing the warmth of her siblings as kittens normally sleep in one big pile. You might want to try and find a pet heat pad that you could put in her bed to mimic the warmth she remembers. An item of old clothing from you or your partner might also help her feel safe and help calm her down so she will sleep after an active play session.

[earthspirit]

thanks for helpful replies! yea she is the largest of 5 girls and had 4 bros - her daddy had the loudest ever shout which we could hear in the back garden, from outside the front door of the house haha
attention i imagine is what she was wanting. she yells and shouts even when in the same room as us, having had all her needs met. i do think she is missing her other family and a lot of the time (when its not like stuck car engine) its just a hi hello help me sort of whine. we interact a lot with her - paper balls are her favourite and she has worked out all the toys far more quickly than our other older kitten. she is bold as brass with no fear of the one that is twice her size. her sideways leaping and jumping have us in stitches - we counted 14 leaps at one time. the other cat is learning off her - she managed two sideways very stoopid looking leaps. we are having great fun having two babies in our home and hopefully this loud chatter will calm itself down. she goes to sleep no problem and uses the cage left open as her safe spot. she also remains in it with a cuddly blanket when we are in the room. thanks again - off to tend my babies