Misty (the long-haired grey one) has taken to yelling at the top of her voice, mostly in the dark of the night or the wee hours of the morning.

I don't know what she wants. I've given her food; I've given her treats; I've given her pettings and ear rubs; I've changed the litter box.

But still she is the cat who sits in the hallway and shouts at the top of her voice. Who knew six pounds of cat could be so loud? The hallway is a fine resonating chamber. She can be heard throughout the house.

I thought she might be sick or in pain so I felt her all over (she purred) and held her on my lap for as long as she would tolerate it (she's not a lap cat), but nothing. Not a chirrup, not a meow, never flinched nor gave any indication of pain.

Back down on the floor and there she goes again, yowling fit to wake the dead. I finally threw a pillow at her which hit her mid-section. She shut up and went somewhere else for a while.

Fair warning: when you wake me up from a sound sleep by yowling outside my bedroom door, I'm really grumpy.