Cats inappropriate behavior

by Carol E
(Cold Spring, MN)

Our cat Sophie is 5 years old. She is the only animal in our home & there is just my husband & myself. We are retired so we are home all day with her. She is an inside cat only & has never been outside. She has all of her shots & has always been healthy. She has never been an overly affectionate cat but she always sat on our laps for hours & stuck close to us around the house & slept on our bed during the night. She has occasionally bitten us. This has changed the last two months. She disappears all the time - we find her in our guest bedroom, under the bed, just sitting there, for hours on end. She doesn't socialize with us anymore. I don't see her drinking any of her water. Her liter box gets changed regularly & it still smells of very strong urine. She bites us all the time & they are hard bites that break the skin. Every time we pet her we now can count on being bitten. Now she is pooping on the bathroom rug. She is a totally different cat than she was just 2 months ago. She doesn't run thru the house like she used to. We don't know what to do. The biting is totally unacceptable to us.

Answer by Kate
Hi
well my first piece of advice would be to take her to the vets as soon as you can. Any change in a cats behaviour needs to be heeded and the first thing to do is check their health.
A cats urine shouldn't smell very strong, it only doe when they have a urine infection. if she does have an infection this could be causing her discomfort and distress, enough to change her behaviour like this.

Once you have seen the vet you will be better placed as to how to tackle the situation i.e sort out the ill health or realise that it is purely behavioural and must be caused by some change in the home.

At this point you need to rule out any health issues first before any further advice can be given.

best wishes Kate