Moo our cat is acting weird

by Lauren
(Pittsburgh, PA)

Hello,

My fiance and I have an adult male black and white cat, we also recently adopted a male kitten from the Western Pennsylvania Humane Society, so he has been a little more testy since that.
He's an indoor/outdoor cat and in the past couple years at our new apartment, we have been letting him outside more often than we have in the past. (We live right on the outskirts of Pittsburgh in Mt. Washington and it's a high-traffic area, not suburban and spread out). Anyway, last night he was out for several hours and came to us at our front door when we got back from being at our softball game. He right away seemed to be acting mean, was growling, and not wanting to walk around much but just wanted to lay somewhere alone. Don't get me wrong, he has a strong personality and has acted somewhat like this before, but this time he seems to not be "snapping out of it". We also could tell that it was obvious he had been fighting with another neighborhood cat...there was a piece of claw in his fur, and some parts of him looked like they were wet as if it were saliva. This morning he didn't want to even come downstairs to eat his food. He laid in the kitchen next to the food dish with no interest until I had to put the dish right under his mouth. I'm hoping that he's not hurt. I really just want him to be ok and happy again. Should we take him to the vet if he keeps acting like this? Should we keep him inside for a couple of days?

Answer by KAte

Hi well this is tricky. It could simply be that he has been riled by the fight. It may have even frightened him so much that this has made him behave this way and may just take awhile to get over. Or he may be hurt and this is why he is behaving strangely.

If possible see if you can check him over with your hands (if he'll let you) to see if there are any obvious injuries. If he cries out or growls at you when you try to touch him them this could also indicate an injury , in which case yes he needs to see a vet.

If you find nothing and he is fine with you touching him, then perhaps wait a few days to see if his behaviour returns to normal. If not, then again I would say take him to the vets just to be on the safe side.

Hope he is back to his old self again soon.

best wishes Kate


Thank you!

-Lauren

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