Why Cats Meow At Night?

You have had a really long day at work and as soon as you get home all you want to do is have a long hot shower and jump straight in bed. Your shower even makes you more sleepy and you don't even have time to flip through a few pages of your favorite book. So you slip into your pj's or nightie and snuggle into your bed. Just as your eyelids start getting really heavy and you are slowly drifting into dreamland it suddenly pierces your ears. ..."meow"..."meow"..."meow". We cat owners know how annoying this can be. It can make you resort to very drastic measures to silence your feline companion. That especially applies for people with short tempers like myself, and of course many others out there. Another night of sound sleep interrupted once more. Just when you needed it the most. Cats make many different sounds during the various phases of growth.

What is the real reason why cats meow at night?

It is important to know this since the message they may be trying to send varies. For instance, cats that are less than one year usually meow when they are trying to tell us that they are hungry or feeling cold. Older cats on the other hand make a variety of sounds such as yowling, growling, purring and hissing. However, these sounds are usually reserved for communication with other cats. For us meowing is their all time means of communication.

This is the million dollar question we all want the answer to. Stick with me and we will explore some of the major reasons behind this. First we need to get one very prominent trait of cats into mind. Our feline buddies are nocturnal in nature. What this means is that they are more active during the night than they are during the day. This should clear out the misconception that most people have that cats are lazy. To state this more plainly, they have a natural inclination to sleep all day and play all night, odd right?

The noises they make at night are referred to as night calling or night vocalization in other cases. Cats make these noises for many reasons. One of the reasons they do this is to attract a mate. They do this so to attract the most suitable mate. This is something really hard to stop. Especially when it is mating season as their desire to reproduce can be hard to resist.

If you are a cat owner who really values their sleep there is a way to avoid this. All you need to do is to visit your vet and have your cat neutered. Another reason why cats meow at night is that they may be trying to seek our attention for many reasons. They may simply be hungry and want some food, or they may also have an underlying medical condition. They may do this  to draw your attention to this as is the case with older cats. When cats come of age they are prone to suffer from Cognitive Dysfunction Syndrome (CDS). Apparently, this is the equal to Alzheimer's in humans. This may cause your cat to be disoriented and confused during the night. So they resort to communicating to you by meowing.

For other senior kitten they may decide to vocalize as they may be losing their hearing.

On a lighter note, cats may also vocalize when they are in physical distress. Due to their playful nature they might find themselves stuck in tight spots all around the house. In your closet wrapped up in your clothes or even locked in a room in the basement. They will definitely resort to meowing as a call for help. The sad part is that these calls will usually come when you are enjoying your good night sleep. You will probably be having a very pleasant dream.

  • August 18, 2017
  • Cats
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