My partner and I adopted a six year old cat a few months ago. She's amazing, goofy, clever, I've never met a cat so enthusiatic about tummy pets, and we love her dearly. But onto my point.

She has a tendency to just sprint off into another room than the one we're in and then yowl (that guttoral loud meowing). In the beginning of her living with us, we used to check in with her every time she did this, thinking she needed something or reacted to something. We now suspect it's that she wants us to play with her. We like playing with her, we do it everyday and regularly make blanket forts for her as another type of enrichment. We've noticed she yowls less often when we play with her frequently.

From what I've read, when this happens it's best to not give the cat attention when she yowls, and then give her what she asked for at a time when she's quiet. So we've been following that advice for about a month now. We don't mind her meowing a little bit or "mrrp"-ing, so when she asks for attention that way, we'll give it to her (usually she makes softer sounds when she wants cuddles, and only goes banshee mode when she wants to play). We knew that this method would at first lead to her yowling louder, and then she would learn that it doesn't work, and yowling would stop being a habit for her. She is currently in the "yowling louder" stage.

It's hard to not give her attention when she literally cries out for it. But both my partner and I are committed to this method and don't give in, hoping it will get better in time. It's just hard to see the light at the end of the tunnel right now.

Has anyone else used this method with success? Has anyone tried some other method that worked? Was there any elements that proved more important than others? Of course we're not looking to eliminate yowling 100%, just reduce it so it's not a habit for her that she engages in several times a day.