So, last night, my neutered, 5 year old boy cat just started howling and acting weird. I have 0 idea why. Other than, maybe he saw/smelled another cat last night that set him off? Idk. Has anyone else had this kind of a problem? Should I take him to a vet? He doesn’t seem to have a problem with me touching him anywhere but he’s definitely on edge and being weird/howling. He’s never done anything like this before. Thoughts?
Edit: I have taken him to a vet. We’ll see. Thanks everyone.
Edit 2: urinary blockage. Removing that and getting X-rays. Thanks everyone. Going to be an expensive visit I think.
I concur with most everyone else on going to a vet. It’s usually a sign of being in pain. Possibly from a urinary tract infection or the like. Hopefully resolved by something simple like antibiotics.
Of course it’s good to take him to a vet if you can, just in case.
But my 1.5yo cat does the same and is also neutered. Before neutering this was everyday and night. After neutering it is sporadic and I think it has to do with my building having two female cats. And this got more intense after I switched him to neutered cat food.
Also, his brother never had this issue before or after neutering. So I guess he just has a lot of testosterone maybe.
Might be in pain. Would definantly take him to a vet!
Wow holy shit I’m glad you went to the vet, urinary blockages are a life or death emergency. I’m a senior veterinary student and your description just screames blockage, but I was worried I was late to comment since your post is already a day old!
I’m glad I went too. The vet said it went surprisingly well so I must have caught it quickly. I love them too much so I’m glad he’s okay.
Erring on the side of caution is usually good policy.
Cats hide pain instinctually, and things can go wrong quickly if not treated. There’s a decent chance he’s fine, but not worth the risk imo.
- Is he peeing normally? If you suspect he’s not peeing, or is having trouble peeing, take him to the vet immediately.
- Is he drinking water normally? If he’s not drinking water, take him to the vet immediately.
- Is he eating normally?
If he’s doing those three things, it’s probably OK to observe him for a couple of days and see how it develops. If he keeps it up, I’d take him to the vet.
We once had a cat that inexplicably started yowling in the middle of the night. Did not appear to be in any distress, but would not stop. In the morning, we discovered that a water heater had burst and we had 6" of water in the basement - where her litter box was. We’ve had them begin yowling at night, because they’d “caught” their toy and were letting everyone know how great a hunter they were. We’ve certainly had them yell when they caught scent of another cat through the window. Once, we had once start every night, the same time… turns out we had racoons visiting the porch, and our cat did not like the looks of them at all, even through the glass sliders. But, once, we had one take up yowling and prowling at night, and that turned out to be lukemia.
The peeing thing is super important; beyond that, most things that have no obvious injury, you can observe for a couple of days.
Sounds like hes in pain
There is absolutely not enough information to draw that conclusion.
What kind of area do you live in? Is it possible there could be a predator in the area?
