There are few things worse than having our sleep interrupted – especially by a cat yowling and meowing throughout the night.
Agree?
If it’s ever happened to you I’m sure you’ll agree.
I’ve been there, and it’s horrible. I had a cat that would yowl from any time after 12 am for several hours. It was driving me mad.
Luckily I found out why she was meowing all night and managed to put a stop to it within a couple of months.
But those months felt like the longest months of my life. I was in a daze at work, couldn’t concentrate, wasn’t eating right, all because I wasn’t getting quality sleep.
What I’m trying to get across here is that I sympathise with you if you have a vocal cat while you’re trying to catch your beauty sleep.
I totally understand. And, the good news I have for you is that with some investigating you can find out what’s causing your cat to yowl, and put a stop to it.
Here are some of the most common reasons why cats meow and yowl at night:
Related – Read this post if you’re interested in superstitions behind cats crying at night outside.
Help! Why Does My Cat Yowl All Night?
Your Cat Might Have a Health Issue
Cat’s aren’t the best at letting us know when there is something wrong with them. Yowling throughout the night however, is often a clear cry for help.
It’s often the best idea to take your cat to the vet for a checkup to eliminate any underlying health issues before going down other routes looking for the reason.
It’s not only physical or painful health issues that can cause a cat to be vocal. Some diseases cause cats to feel hunger or crave water even when they are full, which can cause them to be more vocal.
So it’s worth having a vet take a look to either rule out health issues or address the problem before anything else.
Your Cat Is Hungry
If your cat is hungry and their cat bowl is empty, what do you think they’re going to do? Open up a new can of food and fork it into their bowl? (I wish.)
Nope. They are going to make noise until they get your attention. Even if it’s in the middle of the night.
Now, the problem is if your cat is eating enough during the day and shouldn’t have the tummy rumbles in the night.
If they are excessively hungry or think they’re hungry, there might be an underlying issue as I mentioned in the above point about health problems.
A couple of things you can try first is feeding your cat later in the evening so they are less likely to be hungry overnight and leave some dry nibbles out.
A fancy solution is to use an automatic feeder and set it to release a little food throughout the night.
Be very careful not to give in to a demanding kitty and overfeed them though. The only thing worse than a cat yowling for food all night is an obese cat yowling for food all night.
If none of these tips makes any difference get your cat checked out by a vet to look for health reasons why they are excessively hungry.
Your Cat Wants Some Attention
The last thing you want while trying to get some sleep in the middle of the night is to play with your cat. But, unfortunately, cats don’t care what time it is when they want some fussing.
Is your cat vocal in the day too when they are trying to get your attention?
You can manage this by not responding to them when they yowl for attention. Play and fuss them when they want it, but not when they are demanding it. Especially during the night.
This way they will not expect to get your attention by yowling. They should also stop doing it after a few days and realizing it doesn’t do anything.
If you have a particularly needy cat try and spare a little more time when you’re awake to play with them.
Your Cat Is Old
Just being old isn’t a reason why cats yowl at night. But aging cats are more likely to suffer from mental issues, such as confusion, cognitive dysfunction, and so on.
This can cause them to make noise for seemingly no reason. They are not in pain or asking for anything in particular, so sometimes it’s hard to understand or pinpoint this reason.
If it’s causing your cat some distress (or annoying you) try leaving a light on for them. There are also some medications that may help, a vet will be able to advise you on this.
It Might Be Mating Season
Cats can be very noisy when it’s mating season. If a female is in heat then she will start yowling, and males will also yowl when they can smell a female in heat.
This is a common problem if you live in a neighborhood with a lot of cats and haven’t had your cat spayed or neutered.
The simple solution is to have your cat fixed. Otherwise, not only is the yowling going to continue to keep you awake, if you let your cat out there’s going to be some new kittens on the block!
How to Stop Your Cat Meowing at Night
Hopefully, you can figure out the reason why your cat is making a racket at night from the reasons above.
This should set you on the path to finding a solution. If you’re none the wiser however, I recommend trying one or more of the following:
Get your cat checked by a vet – It’s an obvious one, vets are there to help us with pet-related problems.
Start by getting them checked out by your vet for any health issues. They will also give you some tips and advice based on the breed and age of your cat.
Stimulate them more during the day – Cats love to play, and they love to sleep. Being up all night yowling isn’t high on their list of priorities, so tiring them out more can help them sleep better during the night.
Get some toys cool interactive toys for the both of you to play with. A laser pointer is an awesome way to encourage even the laziest of cats to have a runaround.
Make sure they’re well fed – Start feeding your cat a little later in the evening. Digesting food takes a lot of energy, which is why we sleep better after a big meal.
The same goes for cats. After eating, a little grooming and settling down is their top priority. You might get a more peaceful night if your kitty has a full tummy.
Your Turn
Have you had to deal with a noisy cat keeping you awake at night? Is this a problem you’re trying to resolve right now?
I’d love to hear about your experience or any feedback you have about this article – why does my cat yowl all night?
Just drop me a comment below, any tips or experiences help other members of the community and are much appreciated.
