Why does my senior cat sometimes yowl at night?

They don't have to be a senior to do that. I can tell you my young kitty likes to just sing the song of his people at night. I think he wants to keep me awake, and he's bored, but we certainly see this happen a lot more as cats get older. And this can be an indication of some cognitive decline, basically kitty dementia. They can get confused at night, and the night's more common for this to happen. We can also see it as associated with overactivity or hyperactivity with hyperthyroidism. So if this is a behavior you’ve seen, then we should certainly take a look at the kitty and make sure there's nothing else going on. And we can talk about things that we can do for cognitive decline as well.

Yowling could be a part of your cat's personality, but it can also indicate other issues like cognitive dysfunction, vision problems, or disease processes like hyperthyroidism which can increase vocalization. It's crucial to have them evaluated to determine what is normal behavior and what is not.