Jumpy Cat

by Staycee
(London UK)

I have a female cat who is about 4 yrs old and recently she has become very nervous and jumpy.

We hav 4 cats (1 is just a 3wk old kitten) and she is the oldest when we got our 3rd cat (a male) she started "batting" the others around the head and hissing at them she had never done this b4. She can b around the others sitting with them etc without the hissing and stuff.

But for no reason now with evry noise or movement she gets all nervy and stuff.


She's a very loving cat but when she wants 2 b (except with my fiancee who she loves loads) but she is also quite a loner she sleeps in the bathroom and doesnt really hav much 2 do with any1.


She is also a very tiny cat despite her age (hav checked with where I got her from and the mum is the same)

Plz I cud do with some advice =0(

Answer by KAte
Well my first reaction is that this is probably caused by the arrival of the young kitten. Cats are not naturally pack animlas and do not like to live in groups with other cats as a rule. It is all to do with territory etc.

Your cat probably feels threatened by the new arrival and this is making her nervous of her position in the house as she probably feels that she will be attacked. This is normal reaction.

this is probably made worse by the fact that you say she is small, again this will mean that she does not feel confident.

Here is a web page about scared cat behavior and some possible causes.

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


As to what you can do about it. Well I'm not sure really. It very much depends on how much space the cats have i.e are they allowed to go outside. If not then their territory is rather small and conflict will naturally happen.

You could try re introducing her to the kitten using the method described on this page
https://www.our-happy-cat.com/introducing-cats.html

This process allows confidence to be built up between the two animals in a smaller area which is controlled and less daunting than the whole house would be i.e where they can be unexpectedly pounced on.

Also make sure there are plenty of activities for your cat, to help distract her from the worries she has about the other cats. cats need a lot of stimulus especially if they are indoor only cats. I also have a web page about that too here
https://www.our-happy-cat.com/indoor-cats.html

I do hope something can be sorted out soon as a scared cat is never something you want.

I hope my information on my website can help

best wishes Kate

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