WHY DO CATS HOWL WHEN EATING?

by RHONDA
(SAN JOSE CALIFORNIA USA)

I have a female cat born 1981 she is still very active and healthy. When she eats her wet canned food given 2 times a day she howls while eating and sometimes after eating when finished. Her wet food is not cold but usually room temperature. She was hit by a car when younger and recovered totally. I worry about her due to her age. I also have a younger female cat and she does not howl while eating wet food like my older female does? Please email me answers to this question as maybe I may need to take her to her vet. she is current on all her shots. and she is mostly an indoor cat she only goes outside when people are not around and only on my front porch only. i have no children living in my home with her and i. please email me asap. thank you. gjstwldncrzy@aol.com

Answer by Kate
i well as a rule I would say that it is not normal for a cat to howl whilst eating. I know my cat howls just afterwards and we have never worked out why. Often this sort of behaviour is believed to be that they are sort of daydreaming or thinking about something like hunting etc and may howl in consequence. However we can't be sure.

Your cat is very old indeed and it is not uncommon for older cats to display strange behaviour due to some form of mental ageing. A bit like Alzheimer etc, so it could simply be that this is the case with your cat.

All i would say is that as long as she is eating normally and is able to use the litter ok and is generally her normal self in all other ways that I would not worry too much at this stage. You could get her teeth checked in case she has some pain there which could be causing the howling, it is worth checking especially due to her age.

i hope all is well

best wishes Kate

Ps I have a web page about senior cats which you may find of further interest here
https://www.our-happy-cat.com/senior-cat.html

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