My cat won't stop meowing

Lynibeth

My cat, Vincent is almost 3 years old. I took him in when he was 2 weeks old and took him everywhere, feeding him through a babys bottle every hour. Now that he's grown up, he has become very demanding. He follows me everywhere (I don't mind lol) and meows at me constantly. He's in perfect health and nothing drastic has changed. It's been a gradual thing. I have 4 other cats so he can't be lonely!! I don't know what it could be. Any suggestions?

Lynibeth

*twiches* :rolleyes:

golfgirl

Hi Lynibeth, like the name Vincent, cute ... don't have much advice really, only a comment. Sounds like Vincent has a demanding personality .... our cat Henry, now fourteen, has only recently developed a habit of meowing, every time you enter a room, he looks up and meows, as if to say hello. If you meow back, he'll meow again, and this can become like a conversation! Do you encourage his meows .. maybe if you stay silent, don't give him as much attention he'll quit it ... or it could just be a phase, and he'll grow out of it ... here's hoping. :rolleyes:

hadook

My Fuzz does the same. I handraised him from about 3 weeks (he's now 5) and he likes to follow me around and "talk" to me.

If I'm not busy I'll talk back to him. Now, if I'm sitting down he'll come over and sit beside me & meow up. If I answer he'll jump on my lap, if I ignore him he'll go away.

I'd say "talk back" & find out what he wants. By that I mean is he looking for food? Attention?

Or you could tell him to come back when he's learned to speak English I tried that with Fuzz - he wasn't having any of it.

Lynibeth

AWWW lol Cute! I do talk back to him. Have done for quite a while!!! I think that's what he's looking for most of the time! I don't know if i should encourage it though. I love that he follows me and that he wants my attention but is it healthy?? I've also tried not talking to him when he's meowing at me but i feel sooo bad!!! And it also doesn't stop him! Sometimes makes him worse.

tovalee

what breed is he? i know cats with Siamese blood have a tendency to be kind of whiney and demanding. probably just wants attention though,he probably thinks of you more as his family than the other 3 cats.

Lynibeth

He's non pedigree. Just your average ginger tabby on the outside! Could it be that I handled him from such a young age and that he had no mother, just me, feeding him?

hadook

A respected cat behaviourist friend of mine says that talking to your cat is perfectly normal.

Have you other cats?

Fuzz will often go and torment one of the others if I'm too busy to pay him attention. Failing that he'll stalk and kill some of his toys. If he's been at the catnip he'll go stalk a dog. His new favourite pastime is to scare the bejusus out of my dane puppy.

Could your cat be bored & that's why he's gotten more demanding?

Kevin_rc_ie

Lynibeth wrote:

He's non pedigree. Just your average ginger tabby on the outside! Could it be that I handled him from such a young age and that he had no mother, just me, feeding him?

you need to get tough with this cat.

hadook

Duh - I could try reading the original post couldn't I!

You've got one like mine then.

I think your best bet is to continue giving in & hope that one day he doesn't answer back in english & make you doubt your sanity...

Lynibeth

Get tough how? As long as it doesn't involve a catapult ... (excuse the pun)

Yeh knowing me I will keep giving in lol. Hard not to!! :rolleyes:

Kevin_rc_ie

well hadook says just give it loads of attention but i say ignore it while it's meowing.

Lynibeth

When I ignore him it can make it worse. He'll start pawing at my legs or jump up onto me or he'll just get plain depressed.

Kevin_rc_ie

lock him in ur bathroom then.

Lynibeth

and then when I need to use it..? Don't suggest his litter tray! ...

Kevin_rc_ie

well then it's time to let him out. i didn't say confine him to solitary confinement for ever.

Lynibeth

I was jokin lol. Ah he has the free roam of the garden whenever he likes.

hadook

After 5 years of "giving in" he's less demanding of my time. We've worked out a system where he gets the attention he wants & I only appear slightly deranged to my mother in law.

I'd say try one approach for a while, see how it works & if it doesn't seem to help then try a different approach. At the end of the day you know your cat better than anyone else

Fuzz

Lynibeth

Awww he's gorgeous!!

Here's Vincent at 3 weeks old..

Kevin_rc_ie

click my sig to my kitty.(the picture)

Lynibeth

heh.. cute *still grinning* please tell me it's not dead

Kevin_rc_ie

NO! he's not dead.

Lynibeth

Goood!!! pretty cute

Kevin_rc_ie

not to go terribly OT but more of my pet kat here:

http://www.netsoc.tcd.ie/~kevinly/Zoo/DSCF0246.JPG
http://www.netsoc.tcd.ie/~kevinly/Zoo/DSCF0245.JPG

hadook

He knows it too.

I don't think you'll achieve anything by locking Vincent away or ignoring him excessively. You might need to teach him some boundaries about when/ where he can demand attention if he gets too pushy but that's not really that hard. He's exibiting normal behaviour for a hand raised pampered cat.

I have 5 cats - ranging in age from 7 to 11 months. My vet loves to see them coming because they are the most laid back loving cats he has met. I must be doing something right

Lynibeth

aww sweet!! I've 5 cats too! All have totally different personalities. My eldest is 15 yrs old, youngest two are both 3. the other two are 4 and 7. Love them all to bits!

hadook

Kevin_rc_ie - your cat looks very different from my cats

Very cute.

Kevin_rc_ie

yeah mine's a Kat. I'd probably take Hadook's advice on this i actually don't have any cats ( :eek: :eek: :eek: :eek: ) , don't hate me.

Lynibeth

Lol

donutheadhomer

our little kitty arnie sometimes sweeks when we call her, especially when she got lost in bushes.
but last year it became very bothersome, she was getting too "frisky" and sweeking 27/7 we got her neutered and that sorted it out. Now i miss the constant attention we were getting from her, she only sweeks the odd time now: these are very special moments for us.