# Strange Cat Behavior at Night

Category: Animal House

## Post 1 by HauntedReverie (doing the bad mango) on Wednesday, 29-Jun-2011 9:13:46

For those of you with cats, I wonder if yours ever does this.
here's the situation. It's nighttime. Both my grandma and myself are normally in bed. Sometimes I'm in the living room with the tv on low, but I'm on my laptop, so I'm not really making any noise. The house is dark and quiet, and the Pomeranian is asleep somewhere. My cat will stand in the kitchen, or the hallway, and start meowing. It's one that comes from low in her throat. She'll keep meowing, and it sounds like she wants something. They're short meows. it usually wakes me up,and I'll call out her name, or else go shhh, and she stops.
We pick the food up at night so the dog doesn't get it, but I've put her up on the dryer to eat, and she jumped right back down.
Does anyone have any idea what she wants or why she does it? It's woken me up the past few times, so that's why I wonder if something can be done to placate the beast. she's been spaid, and she's about 2 years old. She is primarily an indoor cat, except for when she escapes outside.

## Post 2 by Shadow_Cat (I've now got the silver prolific poster award! wahoo!) on Wednesday, 29-Jun-2011 16:52:03

I'm definitely not trying to be an alarmist, but this is the first thing I thought of. Is this a recent behavior for her? If it is, then it would seem to suggest a change somewhere. I'd consider having your vet maybe do a, I don't know, I guess you'd call it, physical on her. I am speaking out of my own experience. My cat Shadow suddenly started doing this kind of thing, but I just put it down to weird cat behavior. Eventually because I noticed him not eating wel, I took him to the vet, and as it turned out, he was sick. I still sometimes wonder if that's what those meows weren't about. Cats have a way of hiding when they're sick. They don't want you to know. As I say, I'm likely wrong on that, but speaking from the experience I went through with Shadow a few years ago.

## Post 3 by Blue Velvet (I've got the platinum golden silver bronze poster award.) on Wednesday, 29-Jun-2011 22:57:02

I'm not claiming to be an expert on cat behavior, but it's been my experience with cats that they go through phases. They love a certain toy for a few months and then won't touch it. They love to play a certain game with their human and then get tired of it. They want to sit on your lap all the time and then stop being affectionate. They stay up all night prowling around and making noise, and then they start sleeping through the night, just like their humans. So while taking him to the vet might be a good idea (you should take him once a year anyway), it might just turn out to be a phase he is going through.

## Post 4 by Miss M (move over school!) on Thursday, 30-Jun-2011 9:16:48

This isn't uncommon. If your cat's behavior is elsewise fine, chances are she's just bored or lonely.

## Post 5 by Dirty Little Oar (I'd rather be rowing.) on Thursday, 30-Jun-2011 11:29:26

My first thought was that it's because cats are just nuts and they do wierd stuff like that. It could also just be attention seeking because she is bored or lonely. When I had cats, I started out with just 1. When he was an only cat, he drove me nuts like this as well as with some other disruptive behaviors. A friend advised me to get him a playmate which I did. My first cat straightened right up and was a perfect little gentleman after he had another cat to play with. And for what it's worth, my grandmother had a cat that did the same thing you're describing when he wanted a drink. He didn't like drinking out of a bowl and preferred drinking straight out of the tap. So, he'd go to the kitchen or bathroom and howl when he was thirsty. Anyway, just some things to consider. Good luck.

## Post 6 by kithri (Help me, I'm stuck to my chair!) on Monday, 04-Jul-2011 19:36:59

First, this is not uncommon behavior and cats are generally more active during the night hours as that's when they generally hunt and roam about, even indoors cats. If your cat isn't fixed, have her fixed as she may be calling for a mate, but if she isn't fixed and has gone into heat before and never done this, it is either a new behavior or she could need a checkup. If this only happens at night, she might want a new toy or possibly even think she wants to go out even if she's never done it before. Also, if you've recently changed her food, litter, bed/blanket, toys, she may be just letting you know she isn't happy and exhibiting behavior to show you. Cats can be fussy about their litter and where the litter box is placed and their food.
If she hasn't been to the vet in a long while, it might be worth a check-up just to be on the safe side, but call them first and explain what she's doing just to avoid any unnecessary vet costs.
If she's only doing this in the kitchen or in that area it might be something has changed in there she just doesn't like at night like new dish soap she doesn't like the smell of, a new appliance and sometimes they can allert you to funny sounds like if your fridge noise is somehow different and they might hear it, but we can't.
Cat's can see many times great than us in the dark so she could also be reacting to shadows, the play of light if a piece of furniture has been moved or even that some of her eyesight is failing depending on how old she is.

## Post 7 by BryanP22 (Novice theriminist) on Saturday, 09-Jul-2011 15:14:39

Mine occasionally does that sort of thing. More often though he goes into what I like to refer to as his Caffeine mode, though that isn't limited solely to nighttime. He'll do it whenever he feels like it and I generally ask him if he's been drinking my Dr. Pepper LOL. Usually what happens in caffeine mode is that Max will suddenly zoom around the apartment, usually in short bursts punctuated by little meows. Then he'll stop for a time and be quiet before suddenly resuming again. Other times he'll stop, be quiet for a bit, then give vent to a long, loudish meow before shifting back into turbo again. Most of the people I've talked to about tis agree he's probably trying to get some exercise or work off some restless energy. It'll be interesting to see how he reacts to having othercats to play wit once I move to Michigan, which I'm planning to do before the end of the year if all goes well. He'll have a mother cat and a few kittens to play with and it's been my experience, even if a bit limited, that Max generally does well with other animals. He does with my folks' pets at any rate and that's encouraging.

## Post 8 by Blue Velvet (I've got the platinum golden silver bronze poster award.) on Saturday, 09-Jul-2011 20:16:27

LOL Bryan. I've been around cats for most of my life. I've always gotten a big kick out of what you called your cat's caffeine mode. I always wonder if they are hallucinating and chasing something only they can see. Unfortunately as cats get older, this cute behavior and great form of exercise happens less and less frequently. My cat is currently about a pound overweight. While a pound might not seem like much on a human, it is considerable on a cat. As Smokey is now in middle age for a cat, it's getting harder and harder to get him to play and work off calories.

## Post 9 by BryanP22 (Novice theriminist) on Saturday, 09-Jul-2011 23:11:48

Max is about three. In fact in seven days it'll be the exact three-year anniversary of my bringing him home.

## Post 10 by BryanP22 (Novice theriminist) on Wednesday, 13-Jul-2011 17:46:31

The slightly sad part is that I'm currently on vacation and won't be able to celebrate, not that I really do anything on that day LOL. And when I make the move e's going to have to sta with my folks for a while afterward since I'll be making the trip by bus and they'll have to bring him later.

## Post 11 by blw1978 (I'll have the last word, thank you!) on Saturday, 23-Jul-2011 22:53:26

Hi, my cat Simon likes to run around my apartment at night or early morning. Just when I'm about to drift off to sleep at about 5:00 am, he'll go on a tear! It's cute but annoying. To the original poster, try changing your cat's toys. Simon gets bored easily. If he meows, I know he either wants to play, or needs attention. I keep him wellfed, so he doesn't yell at me for not feeding him too often.

## Post 12 by DRUM GODDESS (I can't call it a day til I enter the zone BBS) on Tuesday, 26-Jul-2011 19:28:01

My cat does that sourt of thing at night sometimes too. Usually I think he does it for attention because usually when I call him he'll come to me or just stop maiking noise. I think he just wants to know someone is around. Soetimes he'll run around like crazy at night too. And yeah cats do have phases they go through. Mine will love sitting on top of the fridge and then it'll be months before you see him up there again. He also loves drinking out of the bathroom sink. So I think in general cats can just do some weird and interesting stuff sometimes. I think its pretty cool though.

## Post 13 by BryanP22 (Novice theriminist) on Saturday, 20-Aug-2011 19:38:48

Definitely. LOL. They're a fascinating critter.