Expert: Karen Craft - 9/1/2007

Question
Hello,
About six or seven months ago, my family went to the shelter and came home with an older (couple years) spayed female cat. When she first came into our home, she would meow and yowl incessantly, causing many restless nights. Eventually (several weeks later) she stopped meowing-- thankfully! About 4-5 months later, she escaped out the door and disappeared. We all thought maybe she ran to her old home or someone picked her up. We were all certainly surprised when a few days ago, she shows up meowing and yowling and skin and bones! Where she was and what she did for two months is beyond us.. if cats could talk! Anyhow, we gave her some food and set her things up again and bunkered down. Throughout this whole time, unless she was eating or being petted, she was making noise. After another sleepless night, we decided to keep her outside and make sure she is well fed. Why does she constantly meow? It is loud and very annoying! Is there any way to get her to quiet down so she can join us in the house overnight? She seems to want to hang out inside with us because she will walk right in when the door is open. Other than her noisemaking, she is an EXTREMELY affectionate cat but also content to do her own thing. I was very glad to see her again and I'd like her to be able to come back in.

Thank you very much, and my apologies for the lengthy question. Feel free to shorten it!

Andrea T.

Answer
Hi Andrea,

Did you get her checked out by the vet when she came back? She may be meowing because some thing is bothering her and this is her only way of letting you know. If she checks out okay then I would say the reason she is doing this is because she is stressed out. She got out and had to fend for herself for a long period of time. When she got back she was vocal because she was still stressed from her adventure. Now she keeps up being vocal because you are locking her out. She wants to be in and with you. To get her to stop bring her in and reward her non vocal times with lots of love.

Don't give her any attention when she starts vocalizing, (good or bad attention). Just walk away from her when she starts meowing. When she stops, praise her and reward her. It won't take long for her to quiet down. You are just going to have to put up with it for a little bit. She should stop if you do the positive reinforcement in about two weeks. Good luck.

Ciao, Karen