Question by U Shoulda bought a Fern instead: When to worry about cats behaviour changes?
About 5 years ago after a hurricane we had a stray cat adopts us. She had been spayed/declawed by her previous owners, was in decent enough health, & the vet guessed that she was already in her mid-life or older.
She’s always been very quiet and never playful. Only time she makes a noise is when she’s mewling to let me know her food dish is empty or her litter box isn’t as clean as she wants it. She also has never been one for too attention, going days at a time without so much as looking at anyone, walk up, bonk them suddenly, get a couple strokes, and walk off for another couple days.
Last year we took in a friends dog for a while when she could no longer afford to feed her. My friend did not know it but when she handed her over she was already pregnant. So, 2 weeks after we took in the rescue we also had a new litter. It was aweful for Butterscotch. She ended up with fleas, hotspots, lost all this weight, fur was falling out in clumps, and she started to refuse to come off the table even to go to the bathroom. We tried to find a suitable place for her to stay while we waited the 8 weeks to rehome the puppies, but no one wanted a cat and we weren’t willing to bring her to a shelter as they’d charge us 100$ to take her, and then just euthanize her after 3 days.
For the 10 weeks of new litter hell we moved her dishes up on the table. Set up her ‘Kitty-Crate’ on the table, and endured the pooping on the table. The works. Once we rehomed all the puppies she did a full 180 back to her usual crotchety ole gal self. It was great!
However, over the last month or so she’s changed. She stalks me around the house. I’m a stay at home mom so having kids do it for many years a cat is not bothersome to me. If I get up and go in the kitchen she follows me. If I go to the bathroom she sits outside the door and waits. If I lay down in bed she lays down with me. No matter how many times I get up she follows me. She is constantly bonking me to get me to pet her. Laying on me or on my pillow no matter how much I move around. Or between my knees if she can. Her stalking is also limited to just me. She still doesn’t want to play but she just *has* to be near me at all times. If I close the bedroom door she will sit there for HOURS until I let her in. My husband closed our bedroom door with her in there with me when I had a bad flu. The next day, a good 24 hours later minimum, I realized in my fevered state she hadn’t eaten or gone potty that whole time ~ She still wouldn’t leave the room until I actually walked out of the door.
Physically she’s healthy, but I’m wondering if maybe I should be more worried than I am. Are there any other things I should be looking for to see if its time for a trip to the vet? Could she be ill mentally or just getting old? I know what constitutes an abrupt change in behaviour for humans and when to worry with people, but not so much on cats. If she were a dog I’d know what to look for and get her on the doggy zoloft, but cats are vastly different. Any advice would be much appreciated. Thanks in advance!
Best answer:
Answer by thinker
You are the Mommy cat – and it may have taken all of this time for her real personality to come out. One of my daughters lost her beloved cat to feline leukemia, and swore she would not get another one. Her roommate at the time had other ideas, and sometimes later found a tiny kitten in a tree near where they lived – one that was being bullied by older cats in the area.
It took nearly five years for this cat, Ms. Emma Pine, (Emma for her grandmother, and pine for the tree she was in) to come out, so to speak. She still has some ways to go – and is now 8 years old. She is still skittish and wary of strangers. My daughter (one who worked for vets) would do different things to socialize her – i.e., putting her in her carrier and sitting her in the middle of a room of people, etc.
So, the point is, your cat is perhaps coming out and she has adopted you as hers.We do not own cats, they own us. Some breeds (& mixed breeds) will connect to only one person in the family while others may connect to all family members.
Since this is going on for at least a month, I would not consider it an abrupt or sudden change – that might be something like suddenly getting violent and attacking you, loss of appetite, weight, pooping all over the place when initially a very clean cat, and those kinds of things. The change with the dog and the puppies was a household change and you witnessed how she changed. What you described for recently appears to be a bit different.
However, you might want to do a mental check and see if anything has changed in your household that you did not think about, or realize might have made a difference for your cat. It could be something so small that you do not think it matters. Cats are very sensitive to what happens around them.
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