My eight year old Persian has started howling for no reason I can figure out. He gets along with the other cat and the four dogs and the vet says he has no physical problems. Yet he will, at any time of day or night, go to a corner or the front door or kitchen, anywhere really, and begin to cry a very primal howl. He seems completely unhappy about something and I can’t, for the life of me, figure out what it is.
Dear Readers,
Kudos to the cat person who wrote me; she was smart enough to check for medical problems, which can be why a cat asks for help. But if the cat checks out okay, what else could the problem be?
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Persians are almost always Gamma cats. These cats have many attractive qualities, especially for the newbie cat person. They tend to not get into things, their play is less rowdy, and as adults they are laid back, even shy.
But these attributes come with a price. Gamma cats are not designed to demand attention, even if they need it. Their person must be willing to seek out the Gamma, be attuned to their mild ways of requesting things, and react with calm delight to any overtures their Gamma might make.
Gammas try to lead a life with the volume turned low because they are so sensitive to muchness. Play, discipline, and affection practices that other cats either shrug off or eat up can be too much for the delicate Gamma. We must always be gentle with them, whether we are warning them away from the computer or greeting them on our arrival home. The biggest risk a Gamma runs is not knocking things over; it’s withdrawing and not being pursued by their person.
I figured that was what had happened to my reader’s cat. With other pets in the household more at ease with demanding what they wanted, her Gamma was inadvertently being ignored. It’s like the punchline of the old joke, “Everything’s been fine up to now!” True to his nature, the cat just suffered in silence, until he couldn’t be silent any more.
I suggested my reader start making a fuss over him twice a day, with sweet talk and petting him while his feet are on the ground, the ways Gammas like. She reports the difference has been dramatic. It is our 1st night in two months without a howling episode and I am loving having my boy back.
This makes me very happy, too.
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Our 20 year old does something similar. He will find a particular mouse toy he has had for a long time. We will hear him doing his howling thing and find him, with the mouse at his feet.
It seems that what he is doing is actually a lion roar. If you played it back in slow speed replay, it would probably sound like the “Huuunh Huuunh Huuuunnnnh” of the big cats.
I think people tend to forget that cats are lions.
My (nearly) deaf cat Byron has loved to SCA-REEEAM! since he was tiny. The first few times, both my other cat Killsy and I ran to see what was going on–it sounded like he’d broken a leg! But he seems to do it just because he was overexcited. His eyes don’t even focus on anything when he unleashes his Byron Siren.
On the other hand, he loves to go out into my condo’s common hallway and shriek at the neighbor’s door. I have no idea why, as he does it as soon as he gets outside. And he’s no Gamma, he’s as rowdy as they come. Since he isn’t completely deaf, could it be that he just likes the echoic acoustics, meaning that he can hear his own voice?
I think you are right. The only way he gets feedback is to scream, so he’s unaware of how loud it is. Just as people going deaf often talk louder and louder… no feedback.
It’s difficult to ascertain deafness in cats because they are so good at picking up vibrations around them; through their feet, for instance. Something you don’t hear, can be something he can feel.
The hallway might be part of this; he could pick up an echo there which is soaked up inside your home.
My gamma cat “kills” her toys, and then sings Songs of Hunting Prowess and Triumph, that sound to me like she’s getting eviscerated with a rusty hook. I have learned to take this into account when I hear yowlings, and to praise her mightily.
The hallway might be part of this; he could pick up an echo there which is soaked up inside your home.
YES! That’s it! He never does it in the front hallway, and like the condo, it’s all carpeted. The back hallway isn’t carpeted, and is much shorter and narrower than the front on. Thus, the echoing effect. Brilliant deduction, Pammy.
Like I said, he seems to like screaming when he’s having fun, so maybe that’s what he’s doing: just having fun.
Hello
I have a female ferro cat and she has been spayed and I got her a check up and she is fine. She howls rediculously at the front door. This morning we found her in the kitchen window blinds. We let her outside and it seemed like she wanted to show us something. Like her maturnal insticts were showing. She led me to the shed outside and I did not find anything. Do you have any suggestions? It started when I was coaxing a stray male to trust me and now he comes in the house by himself which took a month or so for him to do this. Now he comes in when he meows at the door and now he will stay in for an hour and start howling at the door and we let him out. Now my female is doing the same thing but she is highly more vocal. Do you have any suggestions?
Always, cats are vocal for a reason, even if it’s having a conversation with us.
Wondering: I’ve sent a private message with more detail.