Deaf cat crying NONSTOP!

(South Africa)

Hi there

My husband and I adopted a deaf cat when we moved into a block of flats in 2009. The cat used to cry in the stairwell until we let him in, and we never fed him, but he stopped crying once he was inside and curled up on our couch. When we asked the owners if we could adopt him, they said yes and told us that the cat had 'disowned' them two years previously due to the fact that they had big dogs and a toddler he could not hear and which stressed him out. We moved to a complex which allowed cats (very difficult to find!) on the condition that we kept him inside our unit, which has a small garden. For a year we were unable to contain him, but the complaints got so bad that we eventually put wire all around the garden and now he cannot leave the unit. It has now been three months since he has had this restricted access to the complex property and he is very unhappy,he now cries all the time until he falls asleep or there is a lot of people around. He loves human company although he doesn't like being petted, and we think he may be lonely and bored but we aren't allowed another cat ,which I don't think is the solution anyway as he used to get into major cat fights and has never lived with another cat. We have built him a cat tree house, provided him with numerous scratch pads, feed him 24/7, bought him a soft bed which he loves to knead and sleep in, played games and used the laser pointer with him, have put catnip in his favourite places and finally given him tablets recommended by our vet to calm him down for the past three weeks. But STILL he meows. It breaks our hearts to hear the tortured deaf cry and we are at loss as to what to do. We moved here so that we could give him a better life because as he is deaf cars are a real hazard (he has been run over once before!). Please help us out. We love this cat and cannot give him away.

RESPONSE:

This porr kitty has learned that crying non-stop gets him what he wants and now, this is the only way he knows how to get anything. You just have to keep working with him. It is very difficult to acclimize a cat to the indoors only when he is used to going outside. Play with him as much as you can and provide interesting things to do indoors such as places to get high up and hide. Sometimes, seeing the outside but not being able to get there adds to their frustration. Block his view of the outside as much as possible and keep him inside only. Add play time, treat balls, etc and a few containers of cat grass for him to chew on. Do your best to ignore his crying - don't reward him for it by giving him attention or playing with him only when he cries. When he cries, casually toss a ball or fuzzy mouse toward him to distract him but act like you are not paying any attention. You may want to try some St. John's Work to help calm him if he get too upset. It will take time but just keep working with him.

Donna - House Full Cats Mom