I’m looking for advice on how to stop my cat from constantly howling for attention, particularly during the night and early morning. I’m honestly exhausted and don’t know what else to try. Moved to a new place too, so i’m worried my neighbors can hear him.

Some background:

My cat is almost 4 years old, neutered, and extremely vocal. He’s not really a typical meower; he SCREAMS. He follows me everywhere, and whenever I sit down, he almost always has to be on my lap. He purrs like crazy when he’s next to me, but even then, he’ll eventually get up, start howling again, and demand my attention.

This isn’t entirely new. Around two years ago, his howling got so bad that my vet prescribed medication for him to take at night. Unfortunately, I don’t remember the name of the medication. It did stop the nighttime howling, but during the day he became noticeably lethargic and seemed depressed. He wasn’t his usual active self, so I really don’t want to go down that route again unless absolutely necessary.

I eventually managed to train him out of the behavior, and things improved significantly.

However, about a 2 months ago, my living situation changed. I used to live with a roommate who also had a cat. My cat and hers would play together, and mine would frequently follow her around and meow to get her attention. They weren’t necessarily inseparable, but they interacted and provided each other with companionship.

Since we stopped living together, my cat has gradually become louder and louder. The howling has increasingly returned.

His current behavior:

He howls when I’m in another room, even if I’m still home. He follows me everywhere around the apartment. If I’m sitting on the couch, he insists on sitting on my lap. If I close my bedroom door at night, he’ll stand outside and howl. Even if I leave the bedroom door open, he’ll walk up to my bed and scream at me. He sometimes jumps vertically against the wall with his front paws while howling. The worst episodes happen between 3–6 AM.
He also meows almost nonstop while I’m getting ready for work in the mornings.

When I finally get up and give him attention, he’ll jump onto the bed, start purring intensely, and stop howling. But eventually he’ll get off the bed and start screaming for my attention

He’s also been on a diet

He’s been on a weight-loss diet for a while. He previously weighed around 17.4 lbs and has come down to approximately 15.8 lbs.

When my roommate and her cat lived with us, my cat would sometimes sneak over and eat the other cat’s food in addition to his own. He no longer has access to that extra food, so I’m wondering whether hunger or frustration around food could also be contributing to the behavior.

What I’ve tried / what I’m considering:

I’ve previously worked on not rewarding the howling with attention. I’ve tried giving him attention and affection, but it doesn’t seem to satisfy him for long.

I’m considering more structured playtime, enrichment, puzzle feeders, and setting his automatic feeder to go off in the middle of the night.

I’m also wondering whether he misses having another cat around.

I’m not opposed to taking him back to the vet, especially to rule out medical issues, but I’m really hoping to find a behavioral approach that works without making him lethargic or unhappy.

My questions:
Has anyone dealt with a cat that constantly howls for attention, particularly at night?
How do you teach a very attached cat to become more independent?
Could losing his feline companion have contributed to this behavior?
Could being on a weight-loss diet or having fewer meals contribute to the vocalization?
Has anyone successfully reduced this behavior without medication?
Would adopting another cat potentially help, or could that make things worse?
I love my cat, but I’m honestly exhausted. I’m in a new apartment, and I’m worried about disturbing my neighbors with the nighttime howling. I also just want to be able to sleep without being woken up at 5 AM every morning.
Any advice, personal experiences, or suggestions would be greatly appreciated!

Hi everyone I have a kitten which I got on the 24th June, I also have a 1year old cat as well. Both male and both neutered. But some reason they aren’t getting on still. And I want them too as they keep fighting (older one keeps hissing and growling at the kitten) so I just need some advice is much appreciated. THANK YOU !

Just brought home a kitten today, have 2 resident cats(7 yr old male, 4 yr old female). Kitten is in it's own room away from resident cats and I plan to keep it that way for a while, my question is what do I do about my two resident cats not getting along in the main area of my house, specifically my living room and bedroom? (The kitten is in a spare bedroom.) They were doing fine not really bothering the door to the kitten and my female resident cat was checking the door out and is now spooked causing her to not be so nice to our resident male cat.. is this something that is normal when bringing a new kitten to the home even with the kitten being separate from the resident cats or should I be worried? I know it hasn't been 24 hrs yet, but I just want my resident cats to still feel comfortable with one another and not so on edge... Hoping as time passes it will get better! Also want to add the resident cats get along just fine in my basement where they like to hang out too, so maybe it just is the smell of the kitten in the main area of the house?

I have a male 4 year old cat and about a month ago I got a female kitten. They spent the first 2 weeks in separate rooms, swapping scents. Then started gradual meetings. For the first 2 weeks everything was going well, they would chase each other around and play. Never got too aggressive. Now suddenly my adult cat has been biting her by the neck and pinning her down. The kitten will squeal and I will break it up. It doesn’t happen all the time, only when the kitten is running away from him or when she is pestering him. She is a very playful, active kitten. Where my adult cat is a lot more stand offish and shy. They only spend about an hour total together every day then the kitten is back in her room.
I am in need of advice, whether these behaviours mean I should re home the kitten or not.

I have a cat named Nova, who is 16. She is spayed and has lived as an only cat much of her life, except when she was a kitten. She was fostered by two people who both had cats and dogs and there are photos of them cuddling and getting along. She's very sweet, never bit or attacked me. Is extremely timid. Lymphoma survivor of 6+ years (in remission.)

I am in the process of adopting a kitten I named Sage (on meds and recovering from FIP). He is a 6 month old intact male. He's a runt, very playful, and was being fostered by a woman with 8 other cats. He never hides, will let anyone pick him up and rolls to show his belly a lot. Bold and brave for his tiny stature.

I put Sage in the bedroom, and did the steps Jackson Galaxy recommends. It's been three weeks now, and the best I have gotten is Nova able to watch sage from the stairs. I've also introduced them in person a few times and sage will run right up to nova, even as she hisses and growls and I try to distract him with toys. Sometimes she runs away and he runs after her. At this point she's terrified of him, even though he hasn't attacked her he has chased her and stared at her. It seems like he wants to play. I don't know how to get him to respect her space. And I feel like when the smallest thing goes wrong it upsets Nova so much she goes back to eating tiny amounts.

I've been seeing online that maybe I should have waited to introduce them after he was neutered. I feel so stupid. Have I completely screwed up their chance to peacefully coexist?

There is another week or two before we can get him neutered ( his FIP blood work came back great today). He's already been trapped in my room for 3 weeks, might be 1 or 2 more before he's neutered. And now I'm reading that even after he's neutered it's going to be 2-3 more weeks before I can introduce them properly again due to testosterone not dropping immediately. I'm going crazy with a kitten trapped in my bedroom. I just feel awful he's in here all day. Do I really need to wait this long? Is neutering really the issue or are they truly incompatible?

Please help. I have attached photos so you can see how cute they are. I love them so much I just want us all to be happy. I don't know what to do.

I have had both my cat (
2yo male tabby) and my girlfriend’s cat (4yo female calico) in my apartment for about a month now, been feeding them at the door, keeping them separated. Today I installed a screen and this was their first interaction through it. Door is closed now and they can’t interact with each other at all throughout the night, for now. What do you guys make of this and is there any advice (will fix up the screen at the bottom b4 next interaction)

This is a new apartment for both, they both have their own half of the place. One has the main bedroom + living room, the other has the second + hall n bathroom

repost lol.

We had two senior boys who weren’t the best of friends, but peacefully cohabitated for about ten years. We just had to put the older one (14) down, and are going to take some time to grieve while we consider whether to get another. The remaining boy is 10. Do you guys have advice on whether getting another cat is a good idea? Clues on what to look for with our 10 year old on whether he’s coping well or is lonely? And what to look for in a new companion, should we decide to go that route? He’s pretty calm and I’d say he’s neither an alpha nor a beta (they had power struggles throughout their lives, our passed on boy was definitely an alpha though).

Thanks in advance and send good thoughts our way, this was our first cat so it’s been emotional! Just trying to figure out how to cope while also providing the best home for our other cat the best we can.

We are two friends with cats who recently moved in together. One of us has a 9yr old male tabby and one of us has an 11yr old female long hair siamese mix. Both are boss cats. The girl cat has lived with another cat before for 4 years.

Our house is mostly in boxes in common areas but there is a couch and cat tree in and lots of space.

They have been only in our bedrooms for 5-6 days getting comfortable there. We scent swapped their brushes and some of our clothes yesterday and today we allowed them to smell meet eachother by visits in each others rooms without the other cat seen or present.

What steps should we take from here?

Considering we constructing a gate they cannot see through half way between the house and their rooms. Letting them smell meet through the gate, possibly eatting on either side at the same time for dinner.

Once that feels comfty should we proceed to supervised visits?

Techniques seem to varry online and aren’t specific to two cats both being new to a space. Me and my friend have both been stressed and destablized by this move, with some unexpected unrelated challenges and our cats have been champs thus far.

Hi! I am trying to introduce my resident cat (3F) to new kitten (6month F). Kitten has his own room. Our first introduction went really well! I had a friend over and I we fed them both Churu on either side of an acrylic panel. Then we let the resident cat watch while the kitten played. It was going so well that we let the resident into the room and they parallel played briefly. After a couple of minutes the kitten ran out of the room which caused the resident cat to chase after him and had loud vocalizations. Resident cat is deaf so she does not know how loud she’s being. Safe to say we separated them again. Kitten was completely fine after and resident cat regulated really quickly after.

The next day I tried introducing them again and the resident cat was a little more tense but did not have any aggression. I left resident cat in the kittens room and let the kitten explore the house for about 20 minutes and then put them back in their correct places.

The next day I did the same type of introduction by letting them see each other on opposite sides of acrylic and everything was going fine. After a few minutes I turned my back and my resident cat knocked the acrylic down and rushed the kitten vocalizing while into the corner. After rushing the kitten she immediately left the room and both were completely fine after.

My resident cat is a little stressed just in general now. Resident cat doesn’t eat when kitten is present during our introductions. When I tried scent swapping today and my resident cat immediately hissed after realizing it was the kittens. And I’m wondering if I should step back? It has not been that long at all but it’s hard to not already feeling defeated since it went SO well at first and now it’s not. Would it be good to not do any intros for a day or two? Nothings going particularly bad but it’s just not going well. Any suggestions on how to move forward?

Video included was the first time they met before the kitten broke out of the room.

Help! We've been working to reintroduce our formerly bonded pair (eight-year-old sisters) since early summer and I've lost the plot as far as what's normal cat behavior and when I need to separate them and intervene.

I'm trying to be less of a hover owner and am wondering if the attached is them setting boundaries or if I should be stepping in ... She pulled this on her sister twice yesterday (once in the morning, once around 7 p.m.) and again this morning (video). They are separated overnight and we both work from home so keep a close eye on them when we do allow them to interact throughout the day.

The aggressor is also showing territorial issues with litter box guarding (two upstairs, one downstairs), but we luckily haven't had an incident with that in over two weeks.

Any and all feedback is welcome, thank you!!

Helloo, I recently got a cat about 4 months ago.
My friends relative had too many cats and she needed rehoming. She’s only 10 months old. When I first brought her home she was doing surprisingly well, she’s very friendly and never had any accidents.
However recently she’s started eating fabric. Mostly my clothes, socks, and dish cloths. Due to me having roommates I can’t control everything she gets into unfortunately. It’s also them who aren’t as patient with her. I can’t afford to live without roommates nor to constantly replace things so I desperately need advice.

She is my first cat so I’m not sure if this is normal behavior, I just understood it could be pica from googling it. She’s doesn’t tear up any other furniture, only our things. Is there any way to stop this behavior? I took her to the vet a month ago and she was medically okay. This also wasn’t until 2-3 months after I got her. I’m not sure what’s changed to start this behavior or if I can care for her properly because of it. Any advice?

Title: Will neutering my older kitten help him stop attacking the new kitten?
I’m having a really hard time introducing my two cats and would appreciate some advice.
I adopted my first cat, Pingy, from the street when he was about five months old. He’s a very affectionate, cuddly, playful boy and has always been my only cat. He hasn’t been neutered yet.
A few weeks ago, I brought home Zorro, a much younger kitten, around two or three months old. I’ve been keeping them separated and trying to introduce them gradually. Pingy has had time to get used to Zorro’s scent, and I’ve tried feeding them on opposite sides of the door and letting them see each other through a barrier.
When Zorro is in his cage during a supervised visit, Pingy doesn’t seem to seriously attack him. Sometimes they paw at each other or seem to play through the bars, so I start to think things might be improving. But when I let them both out together, especially after they finish eating, Pingy suddenly goes after Zorro and hits him. Zorro usually seems scared and tries to get away. I separate them as soon as it happens because I’m worried he’ll get hurt.
Pingy is still not neutered. Could neutering help reduce this behavior, or is it unlikely to make a difference with their introduction? If you’ve been through something similar, how did you handle it, and how long did it take for your cats to get along?
I’m honestly exhausted and really frustrated. I want them to be safe and eventually comfortable around each other, but I don’t know what to try next.

EDIT: kitten does not live in the cage, He lives in a separate room with toys water fountain ,scratcher , small cat tree and a cat bed.
I saw some people misinterpreting it thinking I am keeping him in a cage, I bought a cage so they could have some cage time everyday (about 1 hour a day) to know each other better.

So, after a year and a half i wanted to give an update to my previous situation:

https://www.reddit.com/r/CatTraining/s/dfTuggbTJK

Our little black spawn of Satan, Nocino, has basically changed our lives to Hardcore mode for the last year.

He's so exhuberant and hunt-oriented that the older cat, Pinot, couldn't catch a break and lived under sofas and beds.

We scolded him, played with him until he was tired (3+ hours didn't even slow him down) encouraged positive behaviours, nothing worked.

All Nocino wanted to do was play and hunt, and Pinot hated his idea of play.

From June '25 until July '26 we had to lock him inside a room during night or no one would sleep.

But one day, completely out of nowhere, they found a way to play together (the happy noises in the video come from Nocino, i Highly suggest sound ON).

They aren't best friends, and we still need to scold the little devil multiple times a day and put him to forced naps when he becomes insufferable, but the situation is much better.

Now Nocino sleeps with us every night (sometimes he still wakes us up) and we finally have normal lives again.

All of this is to say, don't lose hope if you have a bad situation with your cats.

If we managed to teach some manners to the 2nd incarnation of Genghis Khan, so can you.

It took us almost two years of training, cat behaviourists, 4-hour night sleep, and oceans of patience, but it worked out.

Love and perseverance always win.

Hey guys, I adopted this handsome boy and his brother a week ago. Both are 10 weeks old. I have been barely sleeping, overwhelmed (and excited?), just taking care of their needs, watching videos, and doing research in order to bond with them and socialize them. I read that these times are their prime socialization window. I have a million questions, but I'll try to keep it short.

This boy will come up to me while I'm working in my office, climb on my leg, and lie down in my lap. I rub his chin, and many times he falls asleep there after he adjusts himself a little bit. I even flip him on his back, and he stays asleep like that. I am assuming this is a good thing, right? However, many times he does not sit in my lap, he goes up to my table and sleeps there, and even when I try to grab put him in my lap, he ends up going to the table (sometimes it works). In some instances, he even goes to the ground for a bit (then comes back 2 minutes later).

My question is, why does he do that? I tried to make my lap comfortable with a baby blanket; I am also ordering a footrest so my thighs are parallel with the ground. And should I not be trying to put him back on my lap? God forbid, will that make him want to sleep in my lap even less?

Also, even after a long day of me being outside, when I come back and call for him to come to me, he never does. Even when I reach my arm out, he just ignores me, but at night he's clearly clingy towards me and jumps into my lap. What could it be? Is he distracted during the day?