Need some advice about my cat
 

My sweet Puddin' has been acting very strange the last few days. By strange I mean she is doing things that she has never done before.

She is usually a very quiet sleep all day kitty, not ever wanting or asking for special attention. She rarely gets on the bed or furniture. The other night when I went to bed she followed me and stretched out next to me, she stayed there all night. She's never slept in the bed with us before. She also has started going into the bathroom and laying between the toilet and shower. Also for the first time she climbs onto the back of the couch and onto the computer desk. Dh found her this morning sound asleep laying on the keyboard. :confused:

The one thing that is really starting to creep me out is that she finds a place facing the wall and she just sits and stares at the wall. She doesn't hear very well so I don't think it could be something in the walls that she's listening to.

She is eating and drinking water just fine, other than this odd behavior she is okay. Could it just be that she is going through a phase? Maybe just a change of routine she's trying to figure out?

I don't know what could possibly be going on with her and I was hoping that y'all could maybe give me some advice.

Sorry this is such a long post....I'm a worried "mom" :(

:grouphug:


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how old?
 

How old is she?

When I took our very elderly cat in to the vet in June, the vet watched her stare at the heat register under a chair. I had put her down so the vet could watch her walk.
This is what the vet's opinion was:
Based on Sheba's elevated heart rate, the vet thought she was developing cardiomyopathy. And because of this is getting less oxygen to the brain, and is acting "weird".
Well, I told her, we don't have heat registers, we have radiators, and Sheba probably thought it was a cat door, and was hoping to escape.

I have been told that cats that become vocal in the night, or more active may be developing hyperthyroidism.

My middle cat follows me around like glue now, asking for more and more food. I sort of pampered her when she had her tooth problem, and now I am stuck, with her begging for treats. This week she has moved off her spot next to my monitor and is trying to sit on my mouse hand...she also licks my fingers for attention. I know it is FOOD she wants. Plain old cat food has lost its allure!

I am convinced that cats are strange and sort of do odd things just because. Then I saw Dr. Amen on PBS and he said cats have NO prefrontal cortex compared to the 7% dogs have and the 11% chimps have. So planning and intent is rather low for them. They just do stuff for the moment.

I have noticed that cats get more affectionate with age.

Our youngest is terrified of storms/thunder and will stick to us like glue during any storm. Otherwise she is not much of a lap cat.

I'd wonder if one of you has sleep apnea? Perhaps your cat can sense your breathing changes? My oldest sleeps with us, and she sometimes wakes me up! Sometimes I wonder if she is really my lifeline? :rolleyes:

The picture on your post of Puddin is cute. She looks wise.

I have no idea what Puddin could be up to, but oh what a pretty baby! :hug:

I would probably talk to my vet about it and see what s/he has to say.

She was a stray that we adopted, the vet guessed her age to be around 6 or 8 years old. We don't know why she lost her hearing, but she was that way when we found her.

She's still acting a bit weird but seems to have found a place that she's happy with. Earlier this evening she sat at the book case looking at the bottom shelf...she just stared at it. I took all the stuff out and she decided she wanted to lay there...that's where she is now sleeping, been there most of the night. I will keep an eye on her and if she's still acting strange tomorrow I'll call the vet.

Thank y'all :hug:

What a sweet looking cat! We have 4, and they all have their "weird" moments. The youngest is the only female, and she does similar things ~ all the attention getting stuff to get her head scratched, sitting in one spot and staring at something for no apparent reason..Vet says she's healthy except for being overweight, which we're working on. Hopefully your baby is just trying to assert her place in your home. When it comes to cats, strange is the norm, I think..:)

YOur Puddin is almost as cute as MY Puddin...........lol.

If all of these behaviors are new, it wouldn't hurt to get the little angel checked by the vet. I must say, The Little Prince started all of those behaviors after having him neutered last month accept for staring at the wall. When his hormone levels dropped, he became far more affectionate and attentive. He climbs all over the computer station when I am using it and attempts to sit on the key board to watch the screen. He is still very young and I expect rather annoying kitten behavior. Best wishes.

curious when she is starring at the walls, does puddin tilt her head back and forth, don't forget cats have keen hearing and mine can tell me if something is in the attic, and often do tell me

as for laying between the two items is it a hot spot for the furnace? we got two in our house one in a bed room and one in the bath we got one who camps out on the warm spots

don't forget she is a cat and cats will do what ever they want, whatever you don't want, and do it whenever they want, have you changed her diet lately? stroke her fur too make sure its soft and not getting matty or harsh feeling, if it is get to the vet

I agree with Frank about the hot spot, is it near the heat register? Is this her first winter indoors? If so, that could explain a lot. Also, she could have gotten on the bed to be near you for warmth.

Our cat Rocky started sleeping next to me as soon as the nights turned cooler. Also, he lays directly in front of the heat registers when the fan is blowing warm air out into the room. I would look at those spots and see if they're near a source of warmth or sunshine. Or maybe there's a spider or cricket nearby that Puddin' is keeping an eye on.

Cats are hunters and heat seekers by nature, so hopefully that's all that's going on and your baby is ok. :hug:

Well Puddin' spent the night sleeping in the bookshelf...and she seems okay today. Maybe she is just starting to show her "true" self lol since we rescued her and really have no idea what she was really like before. It's not been cold here....still near 90 during the day! and she loves the sunshine for sure...I'll keep an eye on her though don't worry. ;)

Oh LOL and now we have a stray that has been showing up at our door, ya know maybe she is feeling a bit jealous and throwing a little pity party for herself!?

Here's a pic of the stray, such a beautiful cat, very friendly...shame it doesn't have a home....yet (if I have anything to say in the matter lol)


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Oh my gosh Suzy Q!!! Look at that beeeeooootiful stray! What a purdy baby!

LOL I am SUCH a sucker for that, but I took my last feral in 6 years ago when I moved into my new place.

I've decided that I just can't handle anymore furbabies anymore (not at this point). My budget just won't allow for that flexibility. :o

How long have you had your adorable Puddin? Or did I miss that and am asking for old news? :o Or should I say how long have you had her?

For Puddin >>> :hug:

(I wish daduck would come in here and tell some stories about one of her cats that passed some time ago, LOL. cute)

Cats DO change their behavior and do strange things in an attempt to communicate that something is wrong. MY Pud, aka The Little Prince, pooed on top of the litter box this afternoon. No, I didn't kill him. The box was clean with fresh litter. No, it was the same old litter he has always used. I used the same old cleaner that has never seemed to offend him before.

I called the vet and when he finally stopped laughing he said to keep an eye on him but he honestly thought that he was just acting like a little $hit. He knows him well. Durring the warm months, he sleeps between the toilett and the back wall where it is nice and cool.

About an hour ago, I changed his water, put a few drops of Rescue in it and told him if I woke up to anymore treats I was going to ring his neck and feed him to the neighbor's pitbull.......a real big baby. He yawned, flicked his tail madly in response and swaggered his way up onto the living room window . Dang cat.

Please get cat checked by a vet - no harm in checking
 

Hi,

We have 5 beautiful saved ferals and they are all great pets - Nikki, the bear, Tigger, Cleo and Tom-tom. I also feed about 10 more outside and have gotten over 15 adopted and placed. We live near farms and most cats come by and end up staying in our little community.

I grew up a dog person and boy has that all changed!!!!

Hugs,
Lisa:D

It sounds like Pud is settling in. Just about the time you think you have the situation figured out, they change the rules on you. Very deep sigh :rolleyes: Best wishes.

LOL @ Pud. Yes they do change. That little rascal. You love him and you know it Jane!!! :hug:

Bless your heart ((Beachlover)). I have 2 ferals and Chewie settled in quite nicely. Annie did as well but she is definitely the alpha of the group. She takes no crap from anybody but knows how to dish it out. :rolleyes:

Do you know if there is a TNR program available in your area? Maybe they could take care of your feral community. I'm not sure. My daughter 'sees' a feral community going on where she lives. But a woman down the street from her started feeding them regularly and they now live mostly on her porch. When my daughter asked about having them trapped and neutered, she was told that if there are people caring for them, then the people are partially responsible for paying for the neuter/spay. :eek:

I don't know if that's common everywhere or not.

Being a dog person, becoming a cat slave has been a real adjustment. I do not understand Pud at all. I accept that I am not supposed to as that seems to be part of the dynamic.

He would be long gone if he had not been neutered and I didn't keep a trusty bottle of Rescue on hand for those unbearable psycho days. Yesterday was one of them. When I got up, he was running about the apartment all hump backed, fuzzed up, squawling. He was actually running on extended claws. When I would approach him, he would hiss at me but not attack. I make certain that his water bowl is empty when I get up and he is thirsty so I can put Rescue in a quarter cup of water and he will drink it down if needed. He drank it down and was perfectly calm ten minutes later. He spent most of the day snoozing on the top of the recliner, above my head...........occassionally batting at my hair. Today, he was almost affectionate...........almost. Dang cat.

Sweet dreams, all.

I read through the posts, and might've somehow missed it: Did you take her to the vet?


I had Siamese, and each definitely had a distinct personality and unique behaviors.

When one of mine would do as yours, and started sticking to me like glue and staring at me while I slept (and I'd awaken with him hovering over my face), I thought it was just sweet and cute.

When he started putting himself in a corner - and I've never done that to a furry friend - it seemed "odd" for him.

When I was getting ready to leave for a weekend get-away, that's when he made sure that I wasn't about to leave him; he parked himself on my luggage and refused to move. He also had tears streaming down his face.

Of course, I rushed him to his doctor. I'm not saying this is what your kitty is experiencing, yet mine had a blockage in his bladder, and he needed some expert assistance to "void."

After that, none of my cats were given tap water. My cat's vet had said that it leads to a build-up of uric acid in kitties.

Any time a furry friend is acting odd or out of the norm, I firmly believe, it's definitely worth running it past a vet.

Pud is well. He had a full physical two weeks ago. These behaviors have been going on since I got him at six months. Just to be on the safe side, he does not drink tap water either. Our tap water is high in chlorine and calcium. Neutering certainly helped and Rescue calms him down when he goes off the chart. No more swan dives off the top of the refrigerator onto the recliner where I sleep.............in the middle of the night. No more attempting to have mad monkey sex with the cat in my dresser mirror. That one was disgusting.

what do you feed this "hyper/psycho" cat?
 

Cats need alot of omega-3 in the diet. They also need
alot of fat and protein, with less emphasis on carbs.

The IAMs company has some good products. We found that Eukanuba for the dry is just excellent. One of our cats is allergic to corn, and does well with this instead.

I would avoid products with wheat gluten added. Some animals cannot tolerate that.

We no longer use Purina/MeowMix, or Friskies dry. We used to have horrible vet bills, and the simple switch to Eukanuba fixed the health problems. They have lovely coats, behave normally, and one is 21 yrs old now (the one we got the Eukanuba in the first place for! )

Your cat seems pretty "wild" to me. Kudos to you for putting up with him! (I wouldn't be able to do it myself, I confess).
The behavior may settle down with more good fats in the diet, since fats go to the brain.

Good luck!

Update on my Puddin'
 

I'm happy to say that Puddin' is great. I guess she was just trying to establish a new place that was all hers. She made me :wink: clean out the bottom shelf of the bookcase next to the computer desk...now that is her own place...she doesn't spend much time sitting in the window anymore. She's eating and drinking and acting normal (if there is a normal for a cat lol) and she still likes to go outside some just not as much as usual.


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Puddin' wants to say thanks for everyones concern! :wink:

Remember the other cat that showed up at our door? Well hubby has pretty much decided that it should stay with us. He has started calling the cat Cedric the Entertainer LOL He says when we give the cat catnip it's free entertainment and he acts just as crazy as Cedric! (I swear sometimes I think men are weirder than cats lol shhhhh don't tell him I said that :D)

Anyway....Cedric doesn't like to stay inside too long but he is getting pretty comfortable coming in and hanging out with us for a while. He's such a sweetie. He doesn't bother Puddin' but he sure doesn't get along with the neighbors cat (a neutered male) Puddin' has walked right up to Cedric and all of a sudden smacks his head LOL so I think she's put him in his place. When I get back from TN we're going to take him to the vet, check for a microchip, if there isn't one then we'll have him neutered and all shots etc. We have checked everywhere to see if someone might be missing a cat and nothing has turned up so I guess we'll be adding some more madness to the house. LOL


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Cedric looking for the catnip!


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yummmy catnip!


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passed out on the couch! (I had to put an old sheet on the couch cause he had rolled in the catnip :rolleyes:)

Thanks to everyone for their advice about Puddin'

:grouphug:

Oh yeah...what is the rescue that I've seen mentioned here? Sounds like I might need some (not for the cats for me! LOL j/k :p)

About 5 years ago I took in a stray...I was going through a rough divorce etc. and she seemed like a guardian angel to me. I started noticing that she would lay in her water dish, get in the bathtub and was becoming very slow. I got her to the vet asap.

The vet said that she was in kidney failure and would be lucky to live a few weeks. It was because of the tap water. It was killing me...I had become so attached to this little cat but I didn't want to see her suffer. My dad refused to let me put her to sleep...he said we'd do whatever it took to help her...that she was sent to me for a reason.

So every day, twice a day my mom and I would put an IV in this poor little kitty to give her fluids. It wasn't easy LOL But it worked...the vet was (and is still) amazed at how healthy and loving she is now. She weighs almost 12 pounds now LOL She stayed with my mom to keep her and her cat company when I moved to Houston. All the cats in my family get bottled or purified water now. :D


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Pud arrived on cheap dry catfood. It took several months but I slowly got him weaned over to the good stuff. A good quality diet is much cheaper than vet bills in the long run. Since he will eat NOTHING but kibble, I must make certain that it is a good one. This cat won't even take treats.

He certainly began to look like a new boy when I got him switched over to bottled water and a good diet. That did not seem to impact his behavior. He is dominant/aggressive by nature. Neutering was a must. I can now hiss with the best of them and THAT has made a big difference. By George, I am top cat around here.............most of the time.

A huge plus to neutering / spaying is also that it reduces cancer risks to cats and canines.

I've been reading a great deal about it - on veterinary sites and ones that are cancer-related.

This picture in your post looks familiar! LOL
I'll try and get one of our girls to pose for you, but now is dinnertime and they are not in the mood.

We brought home a flat box from Costco one day...it was for some designer apples or something similar. It is pretty shallow, only 5 in deep. The cats moved in on it quickly. Then I received a couple of things from Ebay sellers, with gray butcher paper as stuffing and some tissue paper. One of our cats really glombed onto that paper when I opened my box, so I threw it in their flat box and now it has become the general cat bed. It is over the furnace/boiler spot in the floor in the dining room and that is an extra plus. It is totally unglamorous but they like that crinkle paper and the size and location so I leave it there. I'll try and get a picture up in a day or so. (I also have to charge some batteries for the camera, etc).

But I can really relate to that photo... it is so typical of CATS!

Also my son brought this up... did you know the distemper mixture vaccine given to cats is showing kidney failure!

.

This is pretty scary stuff. Now we have kidney failure and vaccination sarcoma in cats from simple vaccines. My middle cat had her 2nd vaccine reaction this summer to rabies. Now she is not allowed ANY vaccines according to the vet. Even pretreating her with Benadryl did not stop this last attack.
She is 15.
Autoimmune disease from vaccines.... we humans should pay attention. This is why I do not
recommend flu vaccines anymore (or get them myself).

here is Sheba
 

in her Costco strawberries box:

It is very difficult getting a picture of a black cat... the iso
my auto camera chooses puts in noise...so I can't lighten it past a certain point. And I am clueless how to fix that, even tho my son told about a zillion times this past summer. :rolleyes: Someday I'll "get" it, just not today...LOL

So no fancy beds around here for our girls. Sheba is 21 now!

I suspect Sheba knows she is a beautiful, regal thing. Looking good for 21!

What a gorgeous cat!!!!!!!

I am green with envy that your fur babies will agree to sleep in a box. Pud, aka The Little Prince, thinks boxes are to pee in. Mind you, he is litter trained. He just happens to think that the boxes are trays that I have forgotten to put litter in.

His bed of choice is my recliner.........where I sleep. When I reclaim the recliner, I have to put a fluffy blanket on my wheelchair where he will reluctantly go. Don't ask me why he won't go into the bedroom and get on the bed. I am half afraid to get him a pet bed as he is just ornery enough to think it is a cozy litter box.

Dang cat.

thanks for the compliments guys!
 

This morning was Oreo's turn!

She likes to pose, and will even go where you point to
take her picture. Sheba will not cooperate that way!

And Tippy is very furtive.

So I caught Oreo in the strawberry box this morning and
she was so cute, I made a new avatar out of her! LOL ;)

What a gorgeous gang. Best wishes and have a peaceful, comfortable weekend.

Tippy REFUSES
 

to pose in the strawberry box.

But she WILL sit on my computer mouse and try to keep me
off here! :rolleyes:

Naughty kitty. Mine leaves the computer station alone unless I am using it then he marches back and forth across it until I shoo him away. They are a hoot.

Hee, thanks for sharing the gorgeous pictures.

My Annie is sitting on the window sill in my computer room. The winds are REALLY high today out of the northwest and I seem to be accumulating a huge pile of corn stalk leaves. She is watching the leaves fly like mad past the window, her head just a movin like crazy, LOL.

I am going to have to try and switch my cats (again!) to a better cat food. I've tried Iams, Eukanuba, all those, and they keep insisting on Purina's indoor cat formula.

Think I'll buy the Eukanuba and slowly start adding it to their food, see what they do.

Yes, mix it in....
 

Our cats really love Eukanuba... the older type. The newer
natural selection is less desirable to them.

There is some odor/flavor technology that really addicts them quickly. But if the pellets are more than a day old? Well, they won't eat them anymore. So we give small amounts, and mix the new into the old, so the fresh scent is there. (they smell the same to US--but who are we? <shrugs> )

I bought two very inexpensive window suction cup bird feeders on Amazon. I am putting sunflower hearts and black oilers in them, and the cats are going bonkers with this. You have to clean the window well, to keep them up. That is the only trick.
Locally I couldn't find anything less than $25 each!

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The shipping for these was quite low...and the price was less than 1/2 of what was on EBAY, so I bought two.
I have chickadees, titmice, finches, two kinds of woodpeckers and nuthatches coming every day! They are staying up well, and by choosing the right kind of seed, there is no mess.
A cup of seed is lasting 2-3 days...not expensive at all!

I have one in the living room, next to the TV, where the cats also have their cat poles, and one here above my computer.
For a very low price, we are getting alot of enjoyment, and the cats are loving it big time!

So please consider some window bird feeders for your kitties!
And for yourself too! We watched a nuthatch take an oiler sunflower seed over and over and hide it in the shingles of our neighbors house. Unbeknownst to him, the red bellied woodpecker was following him, and after the nutty hid his stash, the woodpecker went right to it and stole it! This was really mesmerizing! Competition in LIFE!

LOL Mrs. D!

Okay, yet another thing I MUST buy! In addition, I've been looking at specially made Dachsund clothes (?). She has this lovely sweater that HUA sent with her, but I'd like to get those that are more of a harness too. I can't find harnesses at pet stores that fit my wiener at all!

See if I can find what I am talking about....


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What are the black oilers? Regular sunflower seeds in their case? (Stoopid me!)

You sound like Ms. Alffe! LOL she is a bird feeder extraordinaire. I think Ms. Wren is also. If I could find the picture I'm thinking of...Alffe has one of Cooper sitting by one of their trees with a squirrel feeder on it that my dad made for her. He loves makin those things! But my trees on my property are young and not big enough for his squirrel feeders yet.

Now I know I've scanned that pic but can't find it.

There are 3 types of sunflower seed.
 

1) very large striped seeds which are the regular ones. They are black and white striped.

2) tiny all black narrow ones, called oilers. These are quite small, and almost all birds will take them

3) hearts and chips. These are sunflower seeds like we get at the grocery, only they are damaged and not grade A type for humans. They are bits and pieces but no outer shell to make a mess. These are the most expensive. And highly desired and we only use them close to the house, carefully.

There are very good prices on oilers and hearts at WalMart. As good as at seed/feed stores.

Sometimes when I am feeling generous, I mix a premium finch food with the hearts, for the house. We have a narrow, tube feeder outside the kitchen. But the doves and black birds and house sparrows, have crowded out the nicer prettier birds there. They are basically PIGS... They will empty that feeder in a day, and we can't afford that anymore. So now I put oilers in there, and am carefully putting the other seeds in the smaller suctioncup type.

I have never had success with thistle. I think alot of it is stale by the time we get it in the stores.

We have a large wooden pole feeder in our backyard...for many years now. We get a cheap generic all purpose seed for it. The sparrows, and doves usually will go there.

I like the Doves...but man, they are such PIGS.... gad!

We also have alot of hawks, which are drawn to the feeders.
That is a sad fact of life, but sometimes they are very interesting to watch as well. I am not so upset when they pick off a dove. There seem to be so many of those, anyway!

The cardinals have not yet learned to come to my new suction cup feeders. I don't understand why that is happening? But time will tell. ;)

The cats really get into watching this. It is better for them, than toys on some days!