Wondering if any dopers have experienced this kind of vicissitude in kitty behavior.
Penelope is a big pretty calico with a particularly bizarre behavioral thing. She runs hot and cold vis a vis affection, like many cats, but her streaks are months-long. She can go for months sleeping on the bed, being lovey, sitting in laps, and so on. And then one day, you can’t touch her, she goes nowhere near the bed to sleep, if you touch her she gets up and moves, she does not want lap time or any lovins, stays outside most of the time.
For months. And then all of a sudden it’s back to I love you, rub my belly, sleep on the bed all day, stretch and starfish when the human puts its face in your belly…
I, who find generalization a useful tool, believe that on the whole, male cats are more stable and affectionate than females, who are just more, well, catty, if you get my drift. But I have never met a female kitty quite like the Spotty Bitch.
What say you, dopers?
Sorry, no pics. We take mental picture postcards over here at El Rancho Malario.
We have had cats go through “attitude shifts” like that - one was due to a thyroid condition, the current girl could be due to a bit of tissue that got missed during her spay. Pain will change a cat’s attitude pretty severely, too.
Has she had a thorough vet checkup, including thyroid?
No offense but maybe it’s not the cat but you. Maybe you’re having the mood shifts and it looks like the cat is. I don’t mean that as a rap. Or maybe someone in your family is having mood shifts of every three months or so and it’s effecting the cat.
As long as the cat is physically fine, animals don’t need the same kind of attention humans due, especially cats which are somewhat loners by nature.
My vet just saw her. She is healthy and active. She eats normally. She just baffles me is all, and I wondered if other Dopers had seen this behavior pattern in a healthy adult cat.
Honestly, I can go for weeks without touching her and then all of a sudden she is Miss Kitty Lovins 2009.
I’m chalking it up to regular ol kitty bizarreness. But I will keep an eye on her, so thanks for the thyroid tip, all.
Your vet just saw her, knowing about her lengthy mood changes? Or, just looked her over not knowing? If he didn’t know, go back and mention this and get a special checkup pertaining to this. They don’t automatically look for things like thyroid trouble, you have to tell the vet these things for them to consider while doing the exam. The presumption is there are no problems if the owner hasn’t mentioned any, and the vets then go from there. They won’t draw blood to test for thyroid problems if they don’t see a need to check, you know?
If she’s not having appetite or weight changes, thyroid problems aren’t very likely. Especially if her coat and skin look good and this is a long-term pattern for her. It’s possible, of course, but in the absence of any other symptoms I personally wouldn’t bother pulling blood on the little dickens.
I had a male (fixed) cat kind of like that. For a while I thought it might be seasonal–he was more inclined to sleep in my bed in the winter when the house was cool than in the summer when it was warm–but it didn’t always work that way. He was also aloof sometimes, but not always, when I came back from vacation, as if he was upset or maybe had just forgotten who I was. If there appear to be no health or environmental issues, it may be that your cat is…a cat. I’ve lived with six of them over the years and am convinced that they have inner lives that defy human analysis.
Other problems that would cause enough pain to make the cat 180 it’s behavior, but not show up any pain on physical exam, or affect general activity level or appetite? That seems even less likely than thyroid problems. If she had any other symptoms at all, I’d probably pull blood on her just to be sure, but as it stands now, it sounds like she’s just being a cat. Some of them are like that, for their own inscrutable kitteh reasons.