We want to remind you that we're participating in Blogathon 2006, from July 29-30. Every half hour from 9 a.m. Pacific Time (noon Eastern Time) July 29 to 9 a.m. PT July 30, we'll answer questions from readers on a variety of health and behavior-related issues in our LiveJournal blog. We're raising funds for Noah's Wish, an organization dedicated to rescuing animals affected by natural disasters. Please support our Blogathon and Noah's Wish by making a pledge here. All money you donate will go directly through Blogathon to Noah's Wish. And as a gift of thanks for your support, we'll send anyone who gives US $75 or more a free Happy!cat coffee mug. A pledge of $25 or more will get you a copy of either The Paws and Effect Guide to Introducing a New Cat or The Paws and Effect Guide to Solving Inappropriate Urination Problems, plus a Happy!cat refrigerator magnet. If you donate in these amounts and would like a gift, please e-mail us with a postal address and the e-mail address under which your pledge was made.

Dear Sinéad, Siouxsie and Thomas:
Oh, thank goodness for your website! I've just found it. I hope you can help us.

I feel like we are being held hostage by our cat. We got her from the pound about 6 years ago, and she has always been a very noisy cat. She can meow for very long periods of time, sometimes with short meows a couple of times a second and sometimes with super-long 20-second meows. Generally she just cauterwauls and talks, talks, talks. I've had guests stop their conversations and scream "My God, doesn't that cat EVER SHUT UP?"

Although I think that she constantly craves attention, many times when we do pick her up and cuddle her, she wants down so she can continue meowing. Sometimes cuddles do help, but even after an hour of lap time, if I get up she continues to meow. However, we usually do have a nice cuddle time every evening, which she enjoys.

She does other attention-getting tricks like running under our feet. Sometimes she meows to be let out of the front door, comes in on her own through her cat door at the back, and then sits at the front door to be let out again. But again, when I go to pick her up or cuddle her, she doesn't want me to.

She has always been like this, but previously I used to work during the day. I am home all the time now with our small baby (she was absolutely like this before the baby), who she continually wakes up. And I have to admit that I'm not sure how much longer I can live with this cat. I promised to take care of her, and I will -- which is why I feel like my family is held hostage by this cat because there is no way out.

I so hope you are able to offer some advice, because I think I am going to be driven insane at some point.

Thank you so much,
~ Kerrie

Sinéad: Well, Kerrie, it sounds to us like you've got a bored, lonely and anxious cat on your hands.

Siouxsie: While it's true that you are at home constantly, it seems to us that what your kitty is craving is stimulation and maybe some feline company. Particularly if she was in the shelter for a long time, she may be familiar with having the company of other cats. Having been brought to a home as an "only cat," she may really be missing a kitty friend.

Thomas: It's also possible that if she had a "best friend" at the shelter or a sibling, she may be reacting to being separated from her friend. Excessive vocalization is sometimes a sign of grief.

Sinéad: Contrary to the popular belief, we cats really are not solitary animals. Most of us enjoy the company of other cats. Even in feral cat colonies, you can see that certain groups of cats get together and establish friendships and cliques; and mother cats will "kitten-sit" each other's litters so that they can take turns hunting for food. In shelters, cats tend to pair- or triplet-bond with cats they like.

Siouxsie: Shelter staff are usually aware of cats that are bonded, and they will encourage potential adopters to bring home that kitty's best friend. They're not just trying to foist another animal off on you or get another adoption fee when they do this; they are sincerely interested in the health and well-being of the cats in their care.

Thomas: Of course, there are also some physical illnesses that can cause a cat to engage in excessive vocalization as well, including hyperthyroidism. So the first thing we recommend you do is to take your kitty to the veterinarian for a complete checkup. While you're there, explain the vocalization and behavior to your vet (if she's not making it quite obvious during the course of the exam), express your concern and that you want to make sure she's not acting like this because she's sick, and ask him or her for some advice on how to deal with it.

Sinéad: If your cat gets a clean bill of health, your vet will probably tell you that she's vocalizing from boredom or anxiety. Your vet may recommend a course of treatment with anti-anxiety medication and/or a consultation with an animal behaviorist. The animal behaviorist can help you modify your cat's behavior to reduce the constant meowing and attention-seeking behavior.

Siouxsie: However, this process may take a while. We'll give you some suggestions that you can start with right away. These will do no harm and might actually go some way to resolving your cat's excessive vocalization.

Thomas: The first thing we'd recommend is that if you don't have any toys in your house, you get some. Get a variety of different toys that stimulate your cat's various hunting instincts: Toy mice, rolling treat balls, crinkly tubes for her to run around and play in, a climbable "cat condo" tree with perches that allow her to rest and survey her domain, and so on.

Sinéad: We also recommend that you get some interactive cat toys and spend a couple of 10- to 15-minute periods each day playing with your kitty. This will not only help her get exercise and use her hunting instincts, but it will help to ease her anxiety and could well reduce her meowing.

Siouxsie: There are different kinds of toys available, and different cats have different "hunting" preferences. Some cats like to hunt ground-based objects like a "thing on a string" that undulates around the room like a snake or a darting mouse. Some cats like to hunt things in the air like a feather toy that dances around on the end of a thin wire. In this column, we've listed some particular types of toys that could be entertaining for a kitty.

Thomas: Because your cat's "wrong-side" behavior -- meowing to be let out the front door, coming in the back, and meowing at the front again -- is most definitely a game, we think that by playing more fun (and less annoying) games, you can channel your cat's energy with a couple of interactive play sessions each day.

Sinéad: If you make sure to have a good, energetic interactive play session just before bed, you will reduce the odds that your cat will try to wake you and your baby up in the middle of the night with her crying.

Siouxsie: You can help to reduce your cat's anxiety level by using a pheromone diffuser or spray. This product, which is sold in the US under the brand name Feliway Comfort Zone, is very helpful in treating cats with anxiety problems. It's marketed as a method of reducing spraying and inappropriate urination, but it's a good product for any anxiety-related behavior problems. Mama has used Feliway with us with very good results.

Thomas: Feliway is nontoxic and humans can't detect any scent, so it won't aggravate anyone's nose and it won't hurt your baby.

Sinéad: You can also use homeopathic remedies and flower essences to reduce your cat's anxiety level. We've used these and seen them work to treat many other cats' behavior problems. Flower remedies work on the emotional level and help both humans and animals to resolve emotional issues.

Siouxsie: You may have the Bach Flower Remedies available where you are; these were developed in the UK and are used by practitioners all over the world. The best known of these is called Rescue Remedy, and it is a combination of several flower essences designed to help living creatures cope with emotional and physical trauma. Mama keeps a bottle of Rescue Remedy handy and gives us some when we go to the vet or have to deal with other scary things. To give Rescue Remedy to a cat, simply put two drops on the tip of your finger and massage it into the fur at the top of the cat's head.

Thomas: You could combine the administration of Rescue Remedy with the Anti-Anxiety Massage developed by veterinarian Pamela Wood-Krzeminski. For the Anti-Anxiety Massage, you stimulate the point called GV(Governing Vessel)20 in Chinese medicine. The GV20 point is located in the central indentation on the top of your kitty's skull that runs from front to back and just forward of a make-believe line that connects the ears. Massage this point daily for 30 seconds to a minute in a clockwise direction.

Sinéad: You don't have to massage hard -- in fact, it's better if you massage gently because your cat will react to the massage as she does any pleasant petting session.

Siouxsie: As we said earlier, another possible reason for your cat's excessive crying is that she misses having feline company. You may want to try introducing another cat to see if that helps your current kitty to meet her attention needs without constantly meowing or demanding that you let her out, and in, and out....

Thomas: Of course, it should go without saying that a new cat should be introduced carefully in order to ease the stress of transition for both your current resident and the new arrival. Many shelters will allow you a period of "fostering" a cat you adopt, in order to make sure the relationship works for both cats and for you humans as well.

Sinéad: We've written several previous columns, as well as a Paws and Effect Guide, on how to properly introduce a new cat, and we recommend that you read those if you undertake this solution.

Siouxsie: The addition of another cat may or may not be a workable solution for you, but we think it might help your kitty feel less deprived of feline company. It's something to consider, although we're quite sure you have your hands full with a new baby as well as the one cat you've already got.

Thomas: We hope this advice helps, and please do let us know how things turn out.

Got a question? Need some advice? E-mail us at advice@paws-and-effect.com. None of the material in this column is meant to be a substitute for regular veterinary care.