So Ollie (my cat) is acting weird…

In My Humble Opinion
1

…and I don’t know what the problem is.

He’s about 5-6 years old, neutered, indoor cat. For the last few days to a week, he’s decided that he’s occupying one of the beds in the house. Not a problem, right?

Well, he refuses to leave it. Unless he absolutely has to (litter box, food, etc). If you go in and lay on the bed with him, he’ll jump up and run over to you. He’ll purr and headbutt you to love on him and he’ll fuss at you like he always does.

I live in a two-story house. He’s usually all over the place. He likes sleeping on the back of the couch, and looking out the windows and normal cat behavior.

Or he did. If you pick him up and bring him downstairs, he’ll stay for a little bit. He’ll hop on the bench or the kitchen table and sit. Then go back upstairs.

But he doesn’t come down on his own anymore. He usually comes down to greet whoever just came home. He doesn’t do that anymore. You can call him from the stairs, and he’ll meow, but he won’t leave that bed.

I don’t know if anything that’s changed in his routine that would disturb him like this.

I do have two dogs, but they’ve all grown up together, and he’s used to being around them (even though they’re bigger than he is; one’s a Shelty/Shepherd mix, the other is a Mastiff/Shepherd mix, he’s always kept them in line).

His reluctance to being on the floor - which I surmise by his staying on the bed, and hopping up on a bench or table if I bring him downstairs - makes me think that he doesn’t want to be on the ground for some reason. There’s nothing I can think of that would elicit this behavior, and I know cats oftentimes prefer higher levels so they can see the land better. But it seems like it’s a psychological issue for him.

There hasn’t been a change of litter types. There are no droppings near the litter box in protest, and none anywhere else, so I conclude from that that it’s not the litter box as the issue.

He seems to be in a good mood when you go see him. He appears to be eating and drinking normally.

But this change in his behavior has me concerned.

2

Is there anything on the ground floor that could be generating carbon monoxide? The one time I had a cat acting similarly to what you’re describing, turned out we had a CO problem in the room he refused to be in.

3

He may be running a fever, and want to stay in a place where he feels most secure.

I’d have him checked over by a vet, to see if they can find a physical cause for the behavior.

4

IANA cat person but my first thought is that he’s cold. Whether that’s due to the onset of Fall, your latest thermostat economizations, or he’s running a fever or his fur is getting thin or … is up to you.

Either that or something scared him but good downstairs and now he’s got cat-phobia about your main floor.

5

I hadn’t thought about carbon monoxide. But me and the dogs have been downstairs the whole time with no adverse effects, so I wouldn’t think it would be that.

6

My husband and I hadn’t noticed we were having any effects until after we noticed the cat’s odd behavior. Dunno if dogs would notice that.

7

Agree with LSL - winter’s coming and it could be warmer upstairs. My old cat spent the summer upstairs where a window A C was nearly always running, and in just the last two weeks I turned the heat on downstairs, 68 degrees, and he has forsaken the upstairs, which is 66.

I’d still take him to the vet. Or maybe crank the heat a bit on the lower floor.

Dan

8

Have you considered the possibility there might be fleas?

9

I’ve checked him, and the dogs both. I haven’t any on any of them, nor on myself from just walking around the house. Plus they all wear flea collars.

But it did cross my mind.

10

Cats like warm places to sit…
Maybe try putting a heating pad on one of his previously favorite spots, such as the couch.

11

He may just not feel well. Another vote for the vet, though they’ll probably want to run blood & urine panels on him that cost around $300 (herein NorCal).

My little 15 yr old lady, sweetest kitty on earth, gradually started moving around less, wanted to only sit on my lap, lost weight & body condition. I took her in & the verdict was chronic kidney failure. I started feeding her the vet prescribed low–phosphate food, instead of Friskies, and within a month she’d gained weight, her fur is thicker, and best of all, she started playing with her cat toys again. I’ve switched the rest of the cats to low phosphorus food too.

12

I wouldn’t want to be cruel to Ollie, but what would happen if you closed off that room and he couldn’t get in?

I’m of the opinion he should be able to go where he feels comfortable. My cats are monkey cats they prefer up, always. When fires are in the woodstove or fireplace they will come down for extended periods.
The floor is covered with dog cooties, don’t ya know?

Yes, vet visit if it does resolve soon.

13

Are you feeding Hills?

Royal Canin makes special diets for cats with kidney disease, both wet and kibble. My two elders like the renal kibble (which comes in three or four flavors; their current fave is the “F” variety). It’s a prescription food. You can order it from Chewy.com, which will get in touch with your vet’s office to obtain the prescription.

I’ve tried the boys on Hills, but they didn’t like it as much as the Royal Canin, and the Hills costs more.

I’ve tried some other low-phosphate food that the boys didn’t like. Even though it was nonprescription and cost less than Royal Canin, it was a waste of money when they decided after a meal or two they weren’t going to eat it.

14

Yes, Hills. The vet prescribed their k/d canned food, but Cookie wasn’t enthusiastic about it & I had to add some of the squeeze tube stuff to make it palatable.

I then found this website (https://www.felinecrf.org/) that gives detailed nutritional info on cat food. In their list, I found another Hills canned food, non prescription, but as low in P as the prescription stuff. All the cats love it, so they’re all on a minimal P diet now.

I sent Helen, who did an incredible amount of work assembling the data, a small donation. She has done a great service for felines.

15

Interesting. My old lady has some early kidney disease, and i tried putting her on “kidney friendly” cat food, and she simply wouldn’t eat it. At all. I tried a bunch of brands. So i bought stuff she likes. But maybe i should try again.

16

Yeah, the high priced prescribed kidney diet doesn’t do much good if the cat refuses to eat it. I used a little squeeze of this stuff (https://www.chewy.com/fancy-feast-savory-puree-naturals/dp/645774) on the vet’s diet to get her to eat. Once I found this canned food (https://www.chewy.com/hills-science-diet-adult-tender-tuna/dp/37905 , 0.52%P) that all the cats really like, I don’t have to disguise it with anything.

17

Interesting. I’m currently feeding Fancy Feast and they’re both doing well on it, but I’ll check into those alternatives.

18

Cats are very mysterious about illness. They hide it well.

You have to be a detective to figure out what’s going on with out bloodwork from the vet.

I had a thought tho’, check Ollie’s feet. He could have a problem with them.
Dry pad hurts. Hair knotted up between the toes pulls. Pulled toe nails may be bloody. Take a look if he’ll let you.

19

So how is Ollie doing?:face_with_thermometer:

20

Thanks for asking.

He’s actually been a little more social the last few nights. I’m at work, so I can’t check his paws at the moment, but it’s on my list for when I get home.

My main concern was making sure that he was eating. His appetite seems as healthy as always. And he’s drinking plenty of water.

He’s come downstairs the last two nights, though he’s mostly stayed in the kitchen (either on the table or one of the counters). The dogs haven’t been bothering more than they usually do (the dogs aren’t allowed upstairs, and there’s a door - with a cat door like this - so that he can go upstairs and be hassle free).

He seems almost back to normal. I’d chalk this up to just being a quirk of his, except he’s never done it before.

But he seems at least a little happier than he was acting last week.