Cat acting differently.

[Bobby1]

Hi everyone,

My first post on here. My cat has been acting strangely of late, he is probably stressed/unhappy right now but not sure how to help him. I was wondering if anyone has any tips at all? He has had a lot of change lately.

He has always been my cat really; he waits for me to get home, sleeps on my bed every night, never more than two yards away from me...
However, I have moved to a new town and the cat has stayed with my mother. Two days after I moved out my mother moved to a new house. So the cat has effectively lost an owner and its home of 6 years.

He was very much an outdoors cat before and bought home countless "presents" but now he literally will not leave the house. We lived in the countryside before but he still has space to play in his new home; there is a busy road near by and he may be scared of that (nearly died in a road accident a couple of years ago but doubt he would remember?).

He is always crying for windows to be open but wont go out. He also cries for any door to be open even if it only leads to the boiler cupboard! In fact he pretty much non-stop meows now. He has always been an affectionate cat but he is now extremely needy and always wants attention. He wakes people up in the night now by jumping on them in bed and kneading on them and meowing.

Lately he has also taken to biting things including cables and wires from laptop, TV etc. Worried he will hurt himself. I am home with him now for Xmas but will be leaving again in new year. I show him a lot of attention but don't know what else to do. Was thinking maybe toys or forcing him to go outside for a set time each day to get used to the new area (even thought of getting him a lead and taking him out !) He wont sit still for more than what seems like 20 seconds now.

Any tips or help welcome.

Thanks.

[Karen]

How old is he? It is fine that he is inside-only for now, he's probably safer that way, but maybe if you got him used to a leash and harness, he'd be happy with "walks" outside, rather than someone having to open a door or window for his perusing pleasure.

How old is he?

Definitely pick up some toys, and teach your mother how to use them to play with him. He sounds bored more than anything. Does he have a cat tree near a window? That might help, so he can look outside and watch the world, but stay safely indoors, and not be begging at doors!

[Bobby1]

Hi

Yes I definitely think he is bored, he has only been in his new home for around 2 months. He is 6 years old now so it may take him a while longer to adapt. He had a cat flap before so he could come and go as he pleased so that may be an option if it is possible here; at least then he can look even if he doesn't feel like going out. With me away for large parts of the year and my mother working he probably goes a bit overboard with the meowing/need for attention when people are around; he was a bit of a hunter cat too so I will definitely get him some toys for Xmas to see if he can entertain himself!

Thanks for the advice

[Freedom]

Keeping him as an indoor cat is the best thing for him. The life span of an outdoor cat is 3 to 5 years; indoor cats live 15 to 20 years. With a busy road nearby and him not car savvy, he won't last long going outside.

PLUS any time you relocate a cat you need to keep him in for a good long time to let him adapt to the new location; otherwise he goes out and "heads home," meaning the prior home.

He needs a cat perch / tree set up in front of a window, so he can look outside and observe birds etc. Putting a bird feeder out in the yard where he can see it will be a great thing to do too. He also needs a few scratching posts. Toys will be a good thing. Remember that dangling toys can only be used with supervision and must be put away once the human is not available to play with him. Buy some catnip and spread that on his cat perch, scratching post, and roll his toys in it. This will all help him settle.

[mon]

I have a problem. Winter here, gotta keep crazy Spicy the feral cat in the house. Gotta keep wee Mia the other cat safe cuz she HATES Mia. Didn't go so well last night. It's become a nightmare really. I think Spicy is insane, literally and I don't know what to do with her. She is SO violent, she got scared or something and violently attacked Mia when I tried to get her back in her room. I can't deal with this crap right now, my arthritis is pretty bad and I just want Spicy to dissappear. I might have to take her to a shelter somewhere cuz I am at the end of my rope here. I love her but I wanna kill her and my husband is SO done with her behavior as well. She is so old and SO nuts. I can't keep her locked in her bedroom forever can I?

[mon]

I have to go in and out of her room and clean her litter box and change her water. Like I gotta go in there 3 to 5 times a day. And she is very smart so she escapes on occasion and she even attacked me yesterday. Hate to whine but she is so very nuts.

[Karen]

She is probably not crazy, just as you mentioned she is a feral and so very, very frightened. Do you have a basement where maybe she could feel safer? Is she spayed and everything, so you could see if there's a barn somewhere near where she could be a barn cat? My sister-in-law once rescued a feral, and had to keep him quarantined in the basement for many months, as he was badly injured, which is why she finally trapped him to get the wound taken care of. He lived in a large cage in the basement, with food and water and places to hide, but it took weeks before he would even appear if anyone but Gail - his rescuer - was in the room.

[mon]

You are so correct, it is fear based for sure. I don't have a basement, and I know of no barns around here. I'm pretty sure she was abused by some @#$ hole somewhere in the past and I shall take a deep breath, mellow out and simply keep her in her room until spring.... or something like that. I'm pretty sure Mia has PTSD now. I know my husband and I do

[mon]

She is spayed as well.

[mon]

That won't work. My husband works out in there 3 times a week and she has to go somewhere else as this scares her very much. I'm hooped

[mon]

It's a hopeless sitchy man and I'm just gonna have to face it. Unless we move and that's not an option. I wish I was back in Mexico. I give up

[mon]

I have made a decision. This evening or tommorrow, I will take Spicy to a no kill shelter and give them some loot and call it a day. I hope ya'll don't think less of me for this but I am done. My spouse is done. Mia is done, and I am done. I love peace, it's what I love the most, this will never be a peaceful household as long as Spicy lives here. I love her, I WILL miss her. We just cannot cope with her behavior any longer Gonna kill me man)

[mon]

Changed my mind. I am keeping Spicy come hell or high water. Ol' mans on board with that too. Thanks for listening peeps!!

[mon]

I know now that Spicy is deaf. She is doing well in her room, has an excellent appetite. Now that I figured that out, on top of the fact that she is solitary and seclusion is actually not cruel, but a gift and a given I am sure we can all co-exist and love one another. On Spicys terms of course. It should have been obvious that she was deaf. It sure wasn't. She had ear mites twice and we took her to the vet and got all her meds, and once they went away, never occurred to me she would go deaf. Guess they did a lotta damage. The vet never told me that she would be deaf, but I guess he thought that was an obvious given. I love her. She is warm and safe and sound.

[Jessika]

I'm pretty sure she was abused by some @#$ hole somewhere in the past and I shall take a deep breath, mellow out and simply keep her in her room until spring.... or something like that.

Feral cats aren't abused; they are just not socialized, not used to being around people or other pets (other animals they encounter outdoors are usually trying to harm them), and are certainly not used to being indoors with the smells, sights, and sounds of what goes on indoors. Not to say someone didn't pick on her while she was out, but that generally is not why they behave that way.

I am very happy to know you've made the decision to keep her, "hell or high water". She doesn't know it yet, but she will thank you as well You do have a looooong road ahead of you, however. Since she was a feral, has she ever seen a vet or been tested for FeLV/FIV? You mentioned she was spayed, so I'm sure they tested her at that time. If she was outdoors for any length of time with unknown whereabouts, it would be very wise to test her again. You have another kitty in the house to think about, especially if she reacts violently to your other cat.

I'm curious however as to how you came to the conclusion that she is deaf?