old siamese

Question
I have a 17yr old neutered male siamese. He is slim but otherwise in good health. As he grows older, he has taken to bouts of howling, quite loadly, at seemingly nothing. He is not in distress, not hungry, cold or wet. The bouts last only a few seconds - usually 4 to 7 howls, then he settles down. This happens several times a day & neighbours have actually heard him through the closed door when we're not home. We feed him hi quality wet food & supplement with dry. Also give him regular sprinkle of oak bran on his food to keep him regular and loose. Any suggestions?

Answer
Hi Edite.

I wonder if your kitty is experiencing Cognitive Dysfunction Syndrome.  This is very similar to human Alzheimer's.  It's a decline in normal brain activity due to protein building in the brain.  Symptoms in cats are most commonly overvocalization as you are seeing, failure to use the litter box consistently, hiding, unexplained aggression, confusion, not recognizing familiar people and things, disorientation, and hallucinations.

There is a treatment for CDS called Anipryl (selegiline).  This is the same drug that has been used to treat Alzheimer's in humans for some time.  It reverses symptoms in many cases and slows the progression of the disease in almost all cases.  There is no cure for CDS, and it is a progressive disease.  But it can be managed, sometimes for years.

I suppose anxiety may also be the cause, although cats tend to be very persistent when howling anxiously.  Episodes last longer.

Some other medical problems that can cause howling are anemia, hyperthyroidism, high blood pressure, and kidney failure.  Hyperthyroidism and kidney failure are extremely common in cats, especially those over 10.  Simple blood tests can check all these levels, except for blood pressure.  Blood pressure testing equipment isn't available in most vet offices.