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older cat suddenly starts acting strangely, maybe lost a fight?
The older cat needs to see a vet.
Gail "Reid Fleming" wrote in message .. . a couple of months ago we added a foundly kitten to our household which already had a ~2 year old neutered male. the older cat did not take to the new arrival exceedingly well, there were rough&tumbles and hissing and the like, but up until a couple of days ago things seemed to be going OK. they hung out together, chased each other around, ate out of the same bowl. the kitten seems to be doing great. he's grown a lot, he's full of energy. the older cat is eating a lot more though, and he's put on a _lot_ of weight. he scratches a lot and licks and cleans himself much more than he used to, but we figured it was fleas or something and that a flea-treatment would deal with it. a couple of days ago the older cat began exhibiting strange behaviour. he started hiding in really odd places (for him), such as under the kitchen sink or on my bedside table. all the time. i mean _all_ the time. pick him up (oof! he's heavy), he complains, put him down, and he's right back in/up there again. he won't come down to the floor. he seems to be wary of the kitten, hisses at him if he comes near. we examined him and found an irregularly-shaped bald patch about 0.5 x 1.0 inch on his back. it looks like a chunk of hair either fell out or was ripped out. touching it doesn't seem to hurt, and he appears undamaged aside from that. if the kitten isn't around, he's pretty relaxed and sleeps a lot. but the moment the kitten shows up, he seems to get agitated. the kitten seems pretty confused about this. he wants to play with the older cat, but the older one wants nothing to do with him at all. has anybody encountered this kind of situation before? if so, what did you do? how did it resolve? |
In article ,
enlightened us with... a couple of days ago the older cat began exhibiting strange behaviour. he started hiding in really odd places (for him), Cats do this when they are ill. Take him to a vet. -- -- ~kaeli~ Murphy's Law #2030: If at first you don't succeed, destroy all evidence that you tried. http://www.ipwebdesign.net/wildAtHeart http://www.ipwebdesign.net/kaelisSpace |
On Wed, 14 Jan 2004 04:17:36 +0000, Reid Fleming wrote:
since i couldn't afford the $100+ for the lab tests, he prescribed mox..something, an antibiotic, to be given 2x day. Clavamox perhaps? -- Dennis Carr - | I may be out of my mind, http://www.dennis.furtopia.org | But I have more fun that way. ------------------------------------+------------------------------- |
On Wed, 14 Jan 2004 04:17:36 +0000, Reid Fleming wrote:
since i couldn't afford the $100+ for the lab tests, he prescribed mox..something, an antibiotic, to be given 2x day. Clavamox perhaps? -- Dennis Carr - | I may be out of my mind, http://www.dennis.furtopia.org | But I have more fun that way. ------------------------------------+------------------------------- |
In article ,
enlightened us with... i'm not familiar with cat psychology, and thought only dogs were into the i'm-the-dominant-animal-bow-down-before-me/i'm-the-submissive- animal-i-don't-dare-intrude-on-your-territiory thing. do cats do this too? Yes, they do. Cats have a complex social structure, just different from the heirarchical structure of a dog pack. They can switch roles sometimes and they can be on even footing. Dominance and territoriality are the main reasons an intact male sprays. Submissiveness is why a cat buries its excrement. A truly dominant cat will not bury it. There are reams of books on the subject, far too much for me to put here. Look over at amazon or google the subject. You'll find lots. how long is this going to last? am i doomed to have a cat who won't _ever_ come down from the table/bedstand/windowsill? Depends. On many, many things, not least of which is how adaptable he is and how much of a **** the other cat is. You can influence their behavior by rewarding appropriate responses, punishing inappropriate behavior, using time-outs, etc. If the brat likes attention, remove your attention when he's evil and lavish it when he's good. He can earn extra playtime by being good, etc. Took almost a year for my one girl and my boy to get along well. Took nearly 6 months for her to allow him within a foot of her (no fights, just a spitting and hissing female cat and a perplexed male). He's friendly with anything that moves. She's a brat affectionately termed "Princess" . LOL Now, the other female accepted him pretty quick and they became good buddies within a couple months. They sleep together, groom each other, etc. None of my cats are particularly wallflowers, though, and don't take to being pushed around. But they're not aggressive, either. So, I have it pretty easy. The brat gets a time out if she's evil, so she usually behaves. heh -- -- ~kaeli~ Once you've seen one shopping center, you've seen a mall. http://www.ipwebdesign.net/wildAtHeart http://www.ipwebdesign.net/kaelisSpace |
In article ,
enlightened us with... i'm not familiar with cat psychology, and thought only dogs were into the i'm-the-dominant-animal-bow-down-before-me/i'm-the-submissive- animal-i-don't-dare-intrude-on-your-territiory thing. do cats do this too? Yes, they do. Cats have a complex social structure, just different from the heirarchical structure of a dog pack. They can switch roles sometimes and they can be on even footing. Dominance and territoriality are the main reasons an intact male sprays. Submissiveness is why a cat buries its excrement. A truly dominant cat will not bury it. There are reams of books on the subject, far too much for me to put here. Look over at amazon or google the subject. You'll find lots. how long is this going to last? am i doomed to have a cat who won't _ever_ come down from the table/bedstand/windowsill? Depends. On many, many things, not least of which is how adaptable he is and how much of a **** the other cat is. You can influence their behavior by rewarding appropriate responses, punishing inappropriate behavior, using time-outs, etc. If the brat likes attention, remove your attention when he's evil and lavish it when he's good. He can earn extra playtime by being good, etc. Took almost a year for my one girl and my boy to get along well. Took nearly 6 months for her to allow him within a foot of her (no fights, just a spitting and hissing female cat and a perplexed male). He's friendly with anything that moves. She's a brat affectionately termed "Princess" . LOL Now, the other female accepted him pretty quick and they became good buddies within a couple months. They sleep together, groom each other, etc. None of my cats are particularly wallflowers, though, and don't take to being pushed around. But they're not aggressive, either. So, I have it pretty easy. The brat gets a time out if she's evil, so she usually behaves. heh -- -- ~kaeli~ Once you've seen one shopping center, you've seen a mall. http://www.ipwebdesign.net/wildAtHeart http://www.ipwebdesign.net/kaelisSpace |
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