Cat behavior

by Crystal
(Pittsburgh, pa, usa)

I have a 10 year old cat. She is now, for the first time in her life, an only cat. I lost my 13 year old cat a few months ago. Since discovering our routine by ourselves, she has started to act strangely. She will not eat over her cat dish, she pulls the food on the floor and eats from there.

Gizzmo also screams... a lot.... Before, she would yell when she was hungry or when she wanted some of my dinner, but now.. she'll cry when I pet her, but her tail is straight up?
She'll cry when she wakes up from a nap and run straight to go eat?!?!
I recently had to be in the hospital for 4 days, upon returning, i noticed she scratched her ear and recently has what the vet called a 'rodent ulcer'. My mother was in my apartment cleaning, so I'm not sure if she used someething that caused an allergy or ulcer or if it's entirely stress related?

I'm not sure what to do to make her comfortable or stop crying so much.... Anyt thoughts would be helpful. Getting another cat is not an option. And i currently will leave animal plant or soft music on for her during the day so she isn't so alone.. we spend plenty of time hanging out after i get home from work, but I'm worried about my little lady!

Thanks


Answer by Kate
Hi
well the symptoms you describe could be stress related due to the recent changes in the household and routines etc. She may be feeling very unsettled and often meowing and over eating are signs of them trying to comfort themselves.

it sounds like you are doing every thing you can to try and make her feel comfortable. perhaps a few more new toys or items for her to explore would be a good idea as a distraction.

Your right about not getting another cat, at her age it would more than likely cause more problems than it would solve.

The other option is that it could be age related. Sometimes as cats get older they can become more clingy or needy. this may be due to mental old age changes see this page for more details

https://www.our-happy-cat.com/senior-cat.html

or it may be a sign of some other physical illness coming on, something like a over-active thyroid which is not uncommon in older cats.

if I were you i would want to rule out any possible physical illness first, so a trip to the vets as soon as possible would at the very least put your mind at rest.

Once you can rule out illness you will be able to tackle her behaviour changes with the method I suggest above.

I can tell from you question that you care a lot about your cat and want and do provide excellent care for her. Which makes your cat very lucky indeed, so don't worry too much, you can only do as much as you can do. I'm sure that if illness is not involved that with time she will settle down again with your care.

best wishes kate

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