My male cat (neutered, indoors, will be 4 next month) has been scratching doors and meowing/howling. Mainly at night, late at night. Last night it was at 5am. This is a fairly recent behavior.

Any idea what is causing this and what I can do to stop it?

He has lots of scratching surfaces available to him. Is this something to do with vertical scratching/marking?

Thank you.

I agree with Nabiya, we're starting to see (and smell) a few intact toms here, roaming around due to the onset of mating season. Sometimes even neutered toms exhibit mating related behaviors; or he may be sensing the presence of other toms out there, and in response marking his territory by scratching, and howling at them. Hopefully this behavior will cease at some point. Most of our cats eventually adapted fairly well to our schedule and learned to sleep when we do.

I also agree with Nabiya.  The last few days we have had several cats visit our yard who all seem to be particularly interested in the presence of one particular cat, that I think is a female, who is also visiting our yard.  She acts very coy, and they seem to be stalking her!    One night we had the female and 3 other cats I assume were males watching her every move and acting very tom-catish.  The 3 males are strangers to me, but I have seen the female cat visit in the past.  I assume they are being drawn here because she is in season.  I just wish that people would keep their cats, male or female, indoors instead of allowing them to wander and mate and be subjected to all the dangers of roaming outside.  BTW, years ago we brought a female cat in out of the cold in February who turned out to be pregnant and the baby kitties were born on April 4 ( which just happened to be my one son's birthday.  He was ectastic!).      

Thanks Mandy cat yeah its one of those odd facts a cat mom learns too late..My girl cat blew her Retina's from HBP because the vet could not take her BP but he told me, and I googled it...its the number 1 symptom... I ought not type so late at night lol I tend to late night typo I have to go up now and c orrect to NIGHTLY from hahaha mightly..Also it is seen in cats who have hyperthyroid ...I could be a vet with all I have seen with the kitties in my life.

Mickey, remember that a cat's sense of smell is much more sensitive than ours are.  A cat could be a few doors away in another apartment, or someone could have walked in your apartment with the smell on their shoes.  I agree with SandyBeach, though, getting a vet to check him out is the best thing to eliminate any obvious problems.  Blood pressure is very difficult to take in a cat as most of them get their pressure up just by visiting the vet.  But other symptoms can lead to a high blood pressure diagnosis, like broken blood vessels in their eyes that lead to the retina detachment.  If it is a high blood pressure problem that is caught early, with the proper meds you can bring the pressure down and the retina will re-attach itself as well.  Had this happen with a hyperthyroid kitty and sure enough the retina re-attached after a couple of months of meds.

Taking your cat for a checkup is a good idea.

In my experience the neutered male may react to the female in estrus. He might also react to the presense of another male lurking around, especially if it's an intact male who's spraying, but in this case with territorial behavior. You are right about the scratching. Scratching serves as both claw maintanence and scent marking of the cat's territory, as there are scent glands in the cat's pads that transfer his announcement of "MINE" to the surface he scratches. We can't smell it but other cats can. They are such amazing creatures!

Did your vet do a full workup?  Blood tests and everything?

Assuming no health issues, could be that he's lonely or bored.  Any chance you could get a second kitty to keep him company?

5CatMom
₌^..^₌

Blood tests, blood pressure, urine all checked. As well as some specific liver test and xrays. $$$

He seems to hear ok. He comes when I call him. I wondered if maybe it was his eyes. I mentioned that to the vet but she shrugged it off.

He has a sister that he loves to chase.

I guess just bored?!?!