My oldest cat must be going through some sort of change. I’m sitting here at the computer and she came up and yowled at me until I offered her my lap to sit on. She never, never does this. She may lay all over me when I’m in bed, but that’s because she thinks the bed is hers. She is not a lapsitter. Then after sitting on me for 15 minutes, she asked me to clear a path for her to jump from the floor to the printer stand (which was covered by stuff, hence her request) to the ledge to the top of the computer desk. The other two cats spend a lot of time up there, but not her. She never ventures up there. But today, up she goes. Then just now she starts swatting at a metal clip fastened to the ceiling! None of the other cats has ever paid attention to it…it’s a clip for the smoke detector, and it’s fairly flush…but she’s up there trying like crazy to get it off the ceiling. This requires her standing up on her back legs and stretching way up, which caused her to lose her balance and nearly fall off. And now she’s back in my lap.
Not necessarily. My big old kitty had pretty drastic personality change a few years ago. From the time he was 2 days old until he was 12 or 13, he was extremely quiet, except when I forced him into the cat carrier and car, or when another baby critter chomped on his tail, I almost never heard him meow. He didn’t “play” very much. Never with toys or strings or toes, and would roughhouse very rarely. He was calm. Not exactly lethargic, but close. When the baby rabbits nuzzled his belly, it took a good 5 minutes before he was annoyed enough to expend the energy to move away. He’s always been a cuddler, but didn’t like to be on my lap.
Then, 3 1/2 years ago, he changed overnight. He talks constantly, starts roughhouse sessions, attacks those little fake mice, sparkley balls & my toes, climbs up to lay on me (even weirder, on my husband!) and even runs down the hall once in a while. I thought he had a stroke, or developed some weird form of sudden dementia. My vet could find nothing wrong with him, other than a bit of arthritis, and he’d gained a little weight (up to 23 lbs from a healthy 22. He’s a BIG kitty). He’s going strong (as I type, he is telling me, in great detail, about something.)
You should probably take her in for a check-up, but she might just have decided it’s time for a change.
Not necessarily. My big old kitty had pretty drastic personality change a few years ago. From the time he was 2 days old until he was 12 or 13, he was extremely quiet, except when I forced him into the cat carrier and car, or when another baby critter chomped on his tail, I almost never heard him meow. He didn’t “play” very much. Never with toys or strings or toes, and would roughhouse very rarely. He was calm. Not exactly lethargic, but close. When the baby rabbits nuzzled his belly, it took a good 5 minutes before he was annoyed enough to expend the energy to move away. He’s always been a cuddler, but didn’t like to be on my lap.
Then, 3 1/2 years ago, he changed overnight. He talks constantly, starts roughhouse sessions, attacks those little fake mice, sparkley balls & my toes, climbs up to lay on me (even weirder, on my husband!) and even runs down the hall once in a while. I thought he had a stroke, or developed some weird form of sudden dementia. My vet could find nothing wrong with him, other than a bit of arthritis, and he’d gained a little weight (up to 23 lbs from a healthy 22. He’s a BIG kitty). He’s going strong (as I type, he is telling me, in great detail, about something.)
You should probably take her in for a check-up, but she might just have decided it’s time for a change.
I certainly hope not. Our last cat before our current two, Jaws, was really independent and nervous as a cat on a…, well, you know. He NEVER ever sat on a lap, and just barely tolerated being petted or even touched. He hung around where we were, but didn’t want any human touch.
When he was around 11 years old, I was sitting in a chair reading when he jumped on my lap. Almost had a heart attack. He was as tense as a coiled spring, but stayed there for about ten minutes. As time went by,he stayed longer and longer and actually became a lap cat. Weird, eh? Never know with cats.
My younger cat Buzz disliked human interaction for nearly a year and barely said a word or mew) to us. When we moved, the change in his environment must have sparked something in him, because now he won’t SHUT UP. Not only that, but now he gets in my lap and does sommersaults for a good 15 minutes and head-butts my arms before finally getting comfortable for a good long nap at the 'puter. This is a rather bizarre change in my feline, but like everyone else is saying, the felines are unpredictable.
Did you change something in your kitty’s environment? Maybe she went outside and met that special someone who changed her life. Or we could blame the full moon I suppose. Cats are like people, sometimes they discover things about themselves and act upon them.
There’s no figuring cats. Years ago my son bought me a dream catcher kind of thingy. It has some sort of animal fur in the center (probably rabbit) and a plaster cast of a wolf’s head mounted in the center.
It’s been hanging on my wall for years. One day I sat and watched as my cat jumped on the wall repeatedly, trying to kill this thing. She’ll still go on the attack every once in a while.
Our oldest cat has always been somewhat aloof, and a bit overweight. The weight’s always been an issue, but since we had another cat who needed weight gain food for the last year or so of her life, followed by kittens, the old cat always managed to get access to the high-calorie stuff.
Well, a month or so ago the kittens moved from kitten food to “indoor adult,” and the dessert bar closed for the old cat. She’s a little skinnier now (maybe 11 pounds instead of 12), but has all of a sudden become a lap cat, started tolerating the kittens, and even playing again.
It’s an amazing change for such a small modification (the food is even the same brand), but since the behavior change happened within a week of the food change, I’m pretty sure about the cause.
That’s what my cat wants when she sits in my lap alot. The day that my furnace broke and my landlord wouldn’t send someone to fix it, the damn cat wouldn’t get up all day. Now I can occasionally pawn her off on the down comforter with the flannel duvet. Cats loves their warm fuzzies!
Cats are like people, sometimes they discover things about themselves and act upon them.