Adding a new cat to your home is exciting for cat parents. But the experience can be overwhelming for the cat. When your new cat meows, it could be due to various reasons.
New cats constantly meow due to being detached from their family with whom they are familiar. Another reason could be that your kitty is in unfamiliar surroundings with new people, environments, and smells that can all be too overwhelming, especially for younger kittens.
Let us explore in-depth the reasons a new cat may meow constantly.
Reasons Why Your New Cat Is Meowing Constantly
It Is Still Trying to Settle In
It is perfectly normal for a kitten trying to settle into a new home to vocalize and meow excessively. The cat is probably scared and lonely.
Trying to fit in a new home with unfamiliar surroundings is a big change and meowing us normal, particularly at night. Cats naturally dislike it when their routine is interfered with and are extremely sensitive creatures. New surroundings may make them uneasy.
Cats, especially younger ones, taken from a family or litter meow in a bid to communicate with their missing mother or siblings.
Solution
Allow your cat a lot of time to adapt and get accustomed to new surroundings with unfamiliar scents, noises, people, and other cats or pets. Spend some time with your new cat to better get to know each other and cement yourself as its new family member.
Your Cat Is Trying to Get Your Attention
Cats meow to communicate with others or demand attention. Newly adopted cats are still in a state of disorientation and are in the process of adjusting to how things go. Meowing is the only way they know to get your attention.
Try not to leave a newly adopted cat alone for long periods and also do not forget to play with it.
Cats adore social contact with humans, and some can be highly vocal in demanding care. Cats enjoy being rubbed, played with, or just talked to. Cats that are void of company for lengthy periods each day are likely to meow for attention.
Solution
Leave toys around the house to entertain the cat in your absence. Interactive toys, a kitty condo, or a bird feeder outside the cat’s favorite window will keep the cat entertained for hours on end.
You can also acquire a video created just for cats on Youtube.
Avoid ignoring your cat. Your cat wants to share quality time with you to play, groom and chat. Whether your cat is meowing at you or not, ensure to create time for it.
Cats adore attention and enjoy human company. They may become vocal when they want you to pet them or play. To prevent the cat from meowing consistently, give it attention only when it goes quiet. If it resumes meowing, look away and continue what you are doing.
Your Cat Is Hungry
Cats love eating and may be demanding during meals. Any time someone makes an entry into the kitchen, it might be enough to provoke a meow, just in case they might feed your cat. Others meow to order you to get up and serve them food.
Solution
Avoid giving in to your cat’s demand to be fed amid consistent meows. Wait until the cat calms down and is quiet before putting down its feeding bowl. Also, avoid giving the cat treats when it meows to you.
However, never withhold meals from your cat for meowing. If your cat continues to meow consistently, you might have to give in and get used to their vocalizations.
With time the cat will learn that quietness rewards it with food. An automatic feeder can also come in handy by releasing food portions at set times daily.
It is critical to keep a regular feeding schedule and ensure you serve your kitty enough to keep it full until the next meal. Also, ensure it has enough water.
Your Feline Is Asking for Admission or Exit
The primary communication method for a cat is meowing. Your cat will learn to meow at the door to either be let in or out.
It is perfectly normal for a newly adopted cat to meow frequently while it gets accustomed to its new home, especially when it wants to come and go.
Cats only communicate to humans through meowing. The intensity of meowing varies depending on the breed or individual cat.
Solution
Don’t allow your cat to go outdoors, as this isn’t safe for them. Instead, wait out the meowing until they learn it won’t get them their way.
Spaying or neutering your cat can help keep them calm indoors, as can playing with them daily.
Your Cat Is Stressed
If your cat is anxious, it may be afraid or stressed. If you have adopted a new pet, moved houses, or even brought your newborn home, your cat could be stressed by the change to its environment. It constantly meows to express its fear and need for reassurance.
In some cases, your cat may be stressed due to being bored when you leave it alone for too long.
It has too much pent-up energy and not enough mental stimulation, and this energy leaves it feeling uneasy and loud.
The fact that cats are independent animals does not mean they don’t need mental and physical stimulation in their surroundings. Idleness leads to restlessness, and the cat might resort to meowing as a way of looking for something to fill its time, especially if it is the only feline in the home.
It Could Be Ready to Mate
If your cat is unspayed or unneutered, you can expect some strange behavior from it during mating season. That particularly happens as it attains sexual maturity while transitioning from a kitten to a cat.
Unspayed female cats attract males by yowling when in heat but spaying them manages this behavior. Spaying or neutering your cat comes with many health benefits, not to mention birth control.
One of the benefits is the lessened night meowing and yowling that would typically accompany a mating call.
Solution
Spaying or neutering your cat will help prevent this meowing. Neutering is the castration of a male cat, while spaying is the removal of the ovaries and uterus in female cats. These procedures are done in a vet’s clinic by a licensed veterinarian.
Your Cat Is Communicating Its Feelings
If your cat is meowing and staring you down as you munch at a tuna fish sandwich or rubs against your leg every time you pass by its empty food bowl, it’s a sign the cat is hungry.
If your cat is staring out while meowing for long moments, it could be interested in something that caught its eye, like a bug or bird. This indicates that the cat needs some mental stimulation and is longing for playtime.
Constant meowing could be your cat’s way of communicating its feelings of excitement, fear, happiness, or even sadness.
Solution
Take the time to figure out what it is saying to you. You can try to eliminate the things you think kitty is trying to say.
For example, if it doesn’t respond to food in its bowl, try and play with it. If that doesn’t work, try petting it. Use the elimination process until you find what is wrong with your kitty.
Your Cat Could Be Unwell
Your cat could be meowing because of a serious health concern. As cats age, they develop health issues. Pain and confusion are factors that contribute to constant cat meowing.
Hyperthyroidism is a serious health issue that can make a cat meow overnight. This is
a disease experienced in cats aged eight years and above.
Kidney disease is another illness that may cause excessive meowing due to increased thirst and too much bowel movement.
If you can’t pinpoint why your cat is meowing, it seems sick, or is excessively meowing, it’s time to visit a vet to rule out any serious underlying issues.
Solution
A vet can handle physical or emotional pain. Schedule an appointment with your vet for a complete checkup. The vet will advise on how to calm an anxious cat or prescribe treatment to relieve your cat’s pain.
If it is an issue of old age that causes your cat to get disoriented at night, a night light can help make it feel comfortable.
However, for a long-lasting solution, seek a vet’s assistance. They can determine the root cause of the consistent meowing and prescribe the right medication to treat or alleviate its symptoms.
Remedies for Constant Meowing
Certain cats are more vocal than other breeds. Siamese cats are known for their vocal personalities. Experts have tried to classify the different acoustic variations out of the many different feline vocalizations.
Experienced cat owners know when to give their cat attention or when to feed it when their cat is happy, angry, or distraught.
The different tones, pitches, and noises can distinguish the cat’s emotions. Cats vocalize to seek attention or express emotions like pain, agitation, discomfort, or territoriality.
1. Do Not Reward the Behavior
You can manage this behavior by not rewarding it if you own a vocal cat.
Do not talk back to it, don’t provide it with food, and don’t play for as long as it remains vocal, even if it is in the middle of the night.
Make this the basis of your behavior modification plan. Pay close attention to your cat when it becomes quiet as a reward to reinforce the silence.
If your cat does not quiet down, you still must care for it accordingly. This method will not work for all cats!
2. Ensure Its Needs Are Taken Care Of
Proactively ensure your cat’s daily needs are well taken care of before your cat demands them.
For certain cases, it is beneficial to provide alternative feeding options for your cat by using an automatic feeder or food-dispensing and interactive toys in a separate room of the house.
Cats are attention seekers and love to interact with their owners. Create time in your daily schedule for play sessions.
Ensure your cat has a clean litter box, fresh drinking water, and an adequate diet. Signs of excessive hunger should raise a red flag culminating in a visit to the veterinarian.
3. Avoid Changing Your Cat’s Routine Erratically
Changes in your cat’s routine are likely to provoke excessive meowing.
Keep everything running the same as much as you can. In fact, a change should be an exception to the norm. And if you have to, consider offering plenty of mental and physical stimulation to help calm down the cat.
Introducing your cat gradually to a new change helps reduce the excessive meowing, although this behavior takes a few weeks to resolve.
Pay attention to changes in the surroundings to detect if something such as a new stray cat or bird could be bothering your cat.
4. Provide Your Cat With Adequate Stimulation
Naturally, cats are most active during morning and evening hours which coincide with their natural hunting hours.
Cats that spend most of their time indoors need to be encouraged to exercise and play. Interactive playtime, toys, food cubes that make cats work to get the food, and catnip help to drive away boredom.
Vocalization in Cats Is Not Always a Problem
While it is critical to respond to your cat meowing all the time and find out why, the answer may not be in any of the reasons above. Your cat could just be a vocal breed.
In the cat kingdom, some cats are naturally more vocal than others. They like to talk to their cat parents and this is part of their charm. Here are some breeds that tend to be very vocal:
a) Siamese Cats
Siamese cats are considered very vocal because they like to meow a lot. If you own one, it will appear as if it is talking back to you.
This breed is highly social and intelligent. They like to talk to their human parents using their high pitched meows when happy, sad, excited, hungry, or in pain.
b) Sphynx Cats
This is a cat breed that is well known for its love of talking to its owners. These cats are hairless with a lively personality and intelligent nature. They love attention and are very vocal about everything ranging from needing their food on time to needing to play.
Since sphinxes are lap cats, they can spend a lot of time talking to you as you pet them.
c) Burmese Cats
Burmese cats are close cousins of the Siamese, which explains the love for vocalization. This breed is highly intelligent, energetic, and playful. And because they love being around people, they tend to talk back while expecting you to talk to them as well.
The meow of a Burmese cat is softer compared to its Siamese cousin.
d) Bengal Cats
Bengal cats tend to be very loud and vocal with their owners and members of their household. They communicate with loud meows, trills, and yowls and love it when you talk back at them.
Their gentle nature makes them excellent house cats, but they hate boredom, which can make them even more vocal than usual.
Remember, meowing is common to a cat as talking is to you. Sometimes, you may just have to live with the vocalization as long as your cat is healthy and well. Most cat parents learn to live with the constant meowing, and their life with their cats is fulfilling.
A constantly meowing cat should not a deal breaker.
Learn What Your Cat Is Saying
Cats rely on meows to let you know what they are feeling or if they are unwell. Unfortunately, cat parents tend to take their feline friend’s meow as a disturbance and ignore their cats.
Do not be that cat parent.
When a quiet cat becomes vocal, it could be in pain, and a visit to the vet is recommended. If you have moved houses, it could be that your cat is scared, anxious, and stressed.
In some cases, your cat may just want to spend some quality time with you.
Meeting your cat’s needs as a parent is critical to ensuring a happy camper. Listen to what your cat is saying. Cat speak is not that complicated. But it requires patience and time to get it right.
Be patient, and your cat’s meows will sound like words. That means you will both be so in tune with each other to know what kitty is saying and how you should respond.
Writer: Mercy Nandika Amatieku
