She cries out in the night.
Has a mousie crossed her line of sight?
Has something evil given her a fright?
It just ain’t right.
Hakuna, as she approaches the age of sixteen, has become very vocal.
She who used to be the Quiet Kitty (Matata did all the talking) now meows loudly, sometimes yowling at random times in the dead of night. It’s something she typically would do after we would return from a trip away from home, as if to say, “Where the hell have you been? Now get right back in this house so I can ignore you!” But there have been nights lately during which sleep has been nigh impossible.
The hell of it is, she sounds almost as though she is trying to speak the language of us Bifurcated Gods. But the words are not quite human words.
She Who Must Be Obeyed did a little research and found that this phenomenon of nighttime wailing seems to be fairly common among older cats. Sometimes it’s driven by creeping dementia and confusion, sometimes by thyroid issues, and other times by causes unknown.
As Sissy Willis has said, cats see things we don’t... and maybe Hakuna is seeing things that mystify or frighten her, things that lie just beyond the limits of our puny human perception. Alas, that I cannot understand what she is trying to say...
Update: Friday Ark #335 is afloat at the Modulator. This Sunday, Carnival of the Cats #370 will be hosted by Pet’s Garden Blog - be sure to stop by and visit!
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6 comments:
We have an old and much loved cat, Agatha Francis, who has begun caterwauling in the night. She is a tiny thing, weighing less than six pounds and has always been quite agressive in defending her food bowl and spot on the bed. Lately she's lost weight and we fear she's not long for this world. She still rules the roost, though and bullies our 70# pit bull bitch, Bella, eating from Bella's food bowl. I just wish she'd put on some weight. The night crying is beginning to get on my nerves. I too wonder what she sees and hears, and if she's calling to it in fear or longing. She seems to show no fear, there's no trembling or hiding, just the calling. Bella appears to be protecting Agatha, she cuddles the cat and licks her to sleep during the day. Paraphrasing "Mr. T" from the A Team, if anyone bothers Bella's cat, "I pity the foo"
Animals are almost as much trouble as kids. Especially if you love 'em.
Gerry N.
Tiny was doing that during the last period of time. I'd get up and go out to the kitchen, and there she would be hovering over the water bowl looking up at me. Usually had something to eat and then settled down. Why do they have to be so cute and so good and so true?
I've put a litter box along with food and water bowls in our master bathroom. That seems to have settled her down. Like Elisson said,the information I found suggested she could be experiencing some confusion or vision deterioration. Now she can stay upstairs and not have to wander around in the dark.
Perhaps she see the approach of the Shunra HaMavis and is trying to scare it away.
Strange... The red queen's cat Merlin has become very vocal as well recently... But early evening and afternoon not the dead of night. A warbling yodel that indeed sounds as though he's trying to call to something or someone somewhere.
Very strange.
Please hug Hakuna for me.
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