Is there any chance there's something behind the wall -- like a mouse?

That would explain the reaction -- well, that or hallucinations. Unfortunately I don't know what you'd do in either case.

It sounds like there *is* something in the wall,
or maybe in the attic above the wall.

something like an electric gizmo buzzing, maybe a transformer going out, or a small animal has made a nest in there.

Do you have snakes where you live?

You might keep the bathroom door closed for several nights & see if he'll forget about it.

I think I'd be in favor of husband going into the attic with a flashlight to check:
if there's an animal caught up there, he could free it.
You don't want something to die in your wall or attic.

(It seems like if he had a medical problem, he'd yowl no matter where he was, & he wouldn't be so fascinated by that wall.)

I'm sorry I can't think of anything more;
I wish you the best.

Thanks Alison and Sylvia, for your responses.

The wall's solid brick, and no attic - we stay in an apartment building. No snakes. Mice and electric gizmo sound likely, though I can't imagine why the other cats aren't interested in it. Is it possible he could smell a mouse thru a 6-inch wall? But the other cats did not get all excited ...

Simba ends these episodes with snuggling with me thru the night - demands extra attention when he gets scared. What could scare him this way? Sat in my lap all thru the afternoon too - unusual.

If I keep the bathroom door closed, he will yowl it down - he hates closed doors.

I forgot to mention that, at one point, in the middle of yowling he looked back at me with watery eyes. Then puffed up his tail as he went into the hall - he does that when he sees something new. There was nothing/nobody there.

Lol My friends haven't helped by telling me that cats are able to see ghosts (I know it's pure nonsense - but scared me anyway) - just an old Indian belief.

I'm dreading it again as night approaches - it's 18:50 where I live (Dubai - UAE), and I'm hoping Simba doesn't start again in the middle of the night. It's good that I'm not working at present!

Thanks again.

Sorry, your friends may be right cats sense the non physical. The good part is these things pass. You may want to light a sage smudge. Just an idea.

Is he neutered? If not, maybe the neighbors have a cat he's interested in.

If not, I vote for mice, roaches or ghosts.

Sorry, I'm a moron. I just reread your post and saw that he's neutered.

So, I guess it's mice, roaches or ghosts :)

If a cat is already agitated, they can get startled easily and might puff up and act scared from any little thing. Xena used to be petrified of a certain pair of DH's socks. They were a tweedy/stripey pair of work socks. I think the pattern was making her eyes go weird, and she would yowl and sneak up on them. Eventually she would get close enough and give them a good swatting, then run away. If you came anywhere near her during this, she would puff up, hiss, and jump sideways like she had never seen you before.

Dh thought it was funny, until she bit his toe a good one. He got rid of the socks ;)

I agree he might be hearing something in the wall that you cannot hear, and the other cats are just not interested in. As to what that might be? No suggestions.

Acorn, Bbaird, I'm real scared of ghosts !!! Most people laugh it off, but I know I'd die if I felt anything weird like that happening in my house. This is quite an old building, too. I'm getting the creeps now !

Lol Dances in Garden, these babies are quirky aren't they.

Simba doesn't puff up at anything that easily, really. If it's some kinda noise, I'll have to check with the neighbors and they might not like it. Their bathroom (the bathtub, to be precise) is on the other side of this wall; no idea who'd make any noise there at 0100-0300 hrs - every night. And it started up just a day ago!

They had the habit of vacuuming at 2 AM until the last year, and that didn't bother the cats. It did bother some neighbors who got them to stop :-D

Let's see what happens tonite; I just said to DH what if it's a ghost and he said coolly "Ask it what it wants" Crazy, crazy ! Nikita used to sit on top of the microwave oven, swatting at nothing, head going one way, then another, as if following something - no insect there. (That was when my bright friends got the idea that a pure white cat with blue eyes can see ghosts lol).

I'm just hoping, whatever it is, it'll pass. Else I'll need info on sage smudge!

I didn't want to scare you, sorry. Might be someone on the other side of the wall making a new noise.

My cat is named Simba, too! And, he is a nut case if there is a mouse anywhere around, and this sounds just like something like that. He will not leave for anything just in the spot where the mouse is...or a big bug or something. He sat for several nights in front of our fridge and there WAS a mouse under there...I can always tell! Check it out, they are pretty smart on that stuff! good luck!

like everyones saying...mice and roaches. (sorry, acordin to me, ghosts are no go. dont belive in 'em)heres an idea! smash the wall! mabye a mouse nest is there. ive done it when i was little.(then again, i was grounded:3) at night, keep your cat somewhere where you cant here the yowling, silently go to the wall, press ur ear against it, and listen. might take awhile, but u MIGHT hear scrabbles, squeaking, scuffles, or even a faint clicking sound. then u know its a mouse or roach. if not, then mabye ur cats bored, and u should make it an indoor AND outdoor cat

I'm betting on mice too. Cats usually have excellent hearing.
Sometimes, when it's really really quiet, I can hear mice in my walls too.
Sometimes my big orange cat wants to get into the cupboard way up high where we keep the cereal. He acts just the same as your cat. I pick him up and put him up there. After a while, when I find him with his head in a cereal box, I put him and the box outside until he's got that mouse. FWIW, we don't eat the rest of the cereal.
Once, the other orange cat, Eric, was acting similar about the dishwasher. And there was a mouse in it!

I don't really even know if I believe in ghosts; but just the idea scares me so much!

This wall is solid 9-inch brick; can't imagine a mouse nest there, and if there were mice there, I'm sure the other cats would be interested too. We cannot break the wall to check, as we don't own this place.

Anyways, Simba didn't do the yowling routine last night for that long. Today he did it in the afternoon, but only for 10 mins or so. I just ignored him, he came back to me, settled in my lap and promptly snoozed away. I think I just shouldn't show interest in it, then he'd calm down.

He has plenty of stimulation inside the house - he and Max play most of the time they're awake, he gets regular playtime with us as well. Outdoors just isn't an option here - we're on the third floor and the building gate opens out onto a very, very busy road.

Thanks for your thoughts on this.

Have you put anything new in your bathroom, or anywhere in your house???

My cat did this when I turned on my ceiling fan the first summer I had her. It took me days to figure out she was so terrified of the ceiling fan. She really scared me. She'd look up at the ceiling fan (that I couldnt see from where she was) and SCREAM and puff up and run away. She looked like she was staring at the doorknob to the basement!

Also, maybe there WAS an insect in there somewhere?? My one cat has a very keen memory for where a bug was. And she will go looking for it the day after if she hasn't seen it since.

It always spooks me when cats bolt up and look around and then go chase something that isn't there. The yowling would spook me even more!

Hmm Munkos, well yes, we put a new mirror in the bathroom, and rather than admire his beautiful markings in the shiny new mirror, Simba lavishes all his attention on the wall and spooks Mama late at night.

Haha, our cats too weren't sure what to make of the ceiling fans the first summer. They weren't scared, though, just a lil over-ambitious - when they realised they couldn't jump high enough to catch the fan, they settled for lying on their backs and swatting up at the fan :-P

You may be right, there probably was an insect (or something else of interest) in there before, and he remembers it, but then usually all three cats 'hunt' together, and Nikita should've been right up there with him with her cute lil chirps. Also, why would he do that only at night? Maybe some noise coming from the other side, but I could hear nothing - I tried last night.

I can't begin to tell you how spooked I am right now - everything Simba does, everywhere he looks, I have to check out. He's also asking for more attention than before, more purring, more sucking on the tail (he does that when he's anxious and just before he goes to sleep), more 'Ma-maaaa' in top volume all around the house, when he's not yowling, he's sitting in my lap, or somewhere near me.

(DH still finds it funny that I'm scared all the time; I'm thinking of dressing up as a ghost - flowing white robes and all - and waking him up while Simba's screaming his head off - maybe that will make DH take this a lil seriously. Lol)

Well I'm hoping the yowling routine stops before I land a job!

Wondering what happened next? Did Simba stop driving Mama crazy? :)

-Judy

Three things come to mind. One - something is wrong with him and he needs to see the vet. Two, he needs more playtime during daylight hours or three - he needs squirt gun training...

Well no, not exactly 'stopped driving Mama crazy' but he yowls at the wall any time of day or night now.

Doesn't help when I'm in the shower, he has to get onto my shoulder and yowl even louder at the wall. I can't close the door to the bathroom bcoz then he'll cry pitifully to be let in. Our other cats are fine with closed doors, Simba isn't.

Simba also gets scared easily now and his ears perk up at the slightest sound/movement and sometimes I'm not sure there's anything going on for him to react like that. But it does spook me when all of a sudden he goes on high alert in the middle of the night (sleeps next to me) and I open my eyes and see him staring intently at 'something' - what it is, I'll never know. I'm alone at home 4-5 days of the week since DH travels to another city for work, but I think I'm not scared the way I used to be when all this had just started.

Well if there's a spirit in the house I guess we've all learnt to co-exist peacefully LOL

If your neighbors have their bath on the other side of the wall, is it possible they might have put a radio in there? Maybe Simba can hear it through the wall and does not like their choice of music. If they were vacuuming at 2:00AM before, why not shower to music at 3:00? If you are still nervous, you might just want to ask them if they added a radio or made some other change recently. Maybe they added a fluorescent fixture that hums when they turn it on? If they are good neighbors they will be understanding. Besides, they have probably heard Simba by now, and will hopefully be happy to help if they can.

Mazer, he went to see the vet and apart from mild constipation, the vet found nothing. We added a tsp of sunflower oil to his food every day at first, then alternate days. Then summer started and Simba started drinking enough water, and that problem has been solved. You're probably right about more playtime during the day - he loves to play in the late morning, late afternoon and evening - just put a blanket on the floor, and toss a paper ball- he rushes it back to the blanket, whooshing all over the drawing room floor. Other times it's a feather toy. Else he plays with Max. I also take him out for a walk in the corridors of the building, he enjoys that (we haven't taken him outside the building yet, I'll do that when he's comfortable with it). He is a bundle of energy and lets you know when he wants to play, it's fun. And the squirt gun training, well I'm a lil reluctant to do that :-) it might just make him stop talking altogether? He's extremely vocal, and we love that (when he isn't screaming his lungs out).

Jcrowley, I'll talk to the neighbours ábout this when I see them :-) The lady saw Simba once when he was out for his 'walk', and liked him a lot. Probably hasn't heard him yowling yet. But it isn't as awful as before, maybe we got used to it (at night if he starts it I usually call out to him once or twice and then ignore him, he comes right back), and he doesn't yowl as often or as long as he used to.

Did you read "It's a Mystery"? Could the other people next to you have got a new cat that Simba senses? If he is getting calmer, maybe it was just something new that he needed to get used to. I imagine hearing a new sound that was not placeable could be very aggravating. Poor Simba, I'm glad he is feeling happier!

Could it be the new mirror? Maybe it is throwing reflections on the wall in a new place? Try convering the mirror with a cloth at night and see...