My eight(ish) year old cat Martha meows all the time!
I notice it is definitely louder and more
persistent when she is hungry (or so I think) but
is she trying to tell me something? What does it
mean when a cat meows, and should I be worried if
it happens a lot?
Holly
San Francisco, CA
Cats vocalize (meow) for many reasons. Some cats meow when they want attention. Others meow when they are hungry. In some cases, cats vocalize when they are agitated, stressed or afraid. Many cats vocalize for no reason that humans can ascertain.
There is one medical condition that quite famously causes increased vocalization in eight-year-old cats: hyperthyroidism.
Hyperthyroidism is a disease of cats that in my experience develops most often between seven and ten years of age. It is a disease of the thyroid gland. The thyroid gland is located in the neck and it regulates body metabolism. The disease causes the gland to become hyperactive. Dogs almost never develop hyperthyroidism.
Hyperthyroid cats may lose weight, drink large amounts of water, vomit, produce diarrhea, have poor quality hair and vocalize excessively. Internally, the disease causes high blood pressure, heart disease and kidney problems. It may also lead to blindness.
Hyperthyroidism can be diagnosed with blood tests. It can be treated with medicines or an injection of a special type of iodine.
I recommend that you have your veterinarian assess Martha. The vet will want to run tests. If the tests do not show a cause for her increased meowing, then the change may be due to personality and temperament changes as Martha matures.
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Is it normal for a senior cat to lose body
weight and muscle mas, with the increased
activity in the spring and summer? She is 16
years old, eats well, is still playfull and
active. Vocal too!
Joan
Saint John, N.B. Canada
Seasonal weight fluctuations are not uncommon in pets (or people, for that matter). The long, warm days of spring and summer offer more opportunities for exercise than the inclement nights of winter.
As well, some degree of weight and muscle loss naturally occurs in all individuals as they age. An 83-year-old person can be expected to have less muscle mass than a 23-year-old; the same is true in cats and dogs.
However, and this is a big however, 16-year-old cats are at increased risk for a number of diseases and syndromes that may cause visible weight loss. Hyperthyroidism, kidney disease, tumors and a host of other glandular and metabolic problems are prevalent in older animals. Hyperthyroidism is especially known for causing weight loss and high levels of vocalization.
Your best move will be to have a vet examine your cat. He or she will be able to quantify the weight loss and run tests to check for the various syndromes I have mentioned. Hopefully the vet will determine that nothing is wrong. But it is better to be safe than sorry.
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I would like to thank Amanda of Environmental Working Group for alerting me to a report that her organization recently released. An excerpt from the report is below.
High Levels of Toxic Industrial Chemicals Contaminate Cats And Dogs
. . . In the first study of its kind, Environmental Working Group found that American pets are polluted with even higher levels of many of the same synthetic industrial chemicals that researchers have recently found in people, including newborns.
The results show that America’s pets are serving as involuntary sentinels of the widespread chemical contamination that scientists increasingly link to a growing array of health problems across a wide range of animals—wild, domesticated and human.
I recommend that you read the report. The findings are disturbing. For instance, consider the following.
Dogs and cats were contaminated with 48 of 70 industrial chemicals tested, including 43 chemicals at levels higher than those typically found in people, according to our study of plastics and food packaging chemicals, heavy metals, fire retardants, and stain-proofing chemicals in pooled samples of blood and urine from 20 dogs and 37 cats collected at a Virginia veterinary clinic.
Diseases such as cancer and hyperthyroidism are becoming more prevalent in pets. Part of the increase in prevalence can be explained by the longer life expectancies that pets currently enjoy. Cancer, in particular, is more likely to strike when animals are older.
However, the bodily effects of many chemicals listed in the study are not fully understood. In my mind, it is very likely that chemical body burden is playing a role in these disease processes.
Environmental Working Group has launched a campaign to raise awareness about this issue. You can view the campaign’s website by clicking here. The campaign’s spokesdog, Eddie, has a good blog. He also has a profile on Dogster.
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My eight(ish) year old cat Martha meows all the time!
You have questions. 