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Hey everyone. I have a neutered male cat named Ash. He's a purebred Napoleon and will be eight years old this summer. He's around 10lbs, was 11lbs before he got sick and lost a lot of weight. He has arthritis in his back legs and is on glucosamine for it which helps a lot, but sometimes he has bad days. He's a sweet, relatively laidback cat, but is very opinionate and isn't afraid to let you know just what that opinion is. He's the only of my three cats that'll use claws and teeth, but has never actually broken skin.
Anyway, I'm posting because of a strange behavior earlier. Honestly, I'm not even sure if I should be posting in Behavior or Health. It was about an hour ago when it happened. I had been sitting the couch with him on my lap. My dog was pressed against my legs in front of me, Frost (Ash's not-blood brother) was right next to us, and Ember (my youngest cat) was laying on the opposite end of the couch past Frost.
Well, I had to get up so I shifted Ash up towards my chest so I could love on him a little before getting up. Usually being shifted in any way is more than enough to get them to leave, so I figured he'd take off immediately after. He didn't. Rather, he settled down where he was and didn't show any inclination of getting up. That in itself was strange. Then he growled. At first I thought it was because I was touching his tail (he's always been sensitive about his backend, even before the arthritis and, when it gets bad, the arthritis can cause him pain in the base of his tail), but I moved my hand away and he growled again. it seemed like he was growling at Ember, but I couldn't actually see his face to know where he was looking. He stopped though and I petted to calm him down and he went to sleep for a few minutes. Once he woke up, I actually wrapped my arms around him a bit and lifted him a little, which he tolerated without even a flick of his tail or any sign of annoyance. Then I went to put a hand under his front end and a hand under his back end so I could pick him up. He growled. I set him back down and petted him for a little bit to calm him down. Once he was calm, I tried lifting him from under his front legs (no arthritis there that I'm aware of). He still growled. I tried to be careful as I lifted him from my lap and put him on the couch next to me, but he still growled and hissed the entire time, hissing at Ember three times in the time it took for me to get him over there and then get up. He stayed exactly where I left him for at least a few minutes too. He usually doesn't like being lifted or moved and will run off if it's done, but doesn't usually growl, so it was really weird for him to not move at all and growl about it.
I'm a bit worried about him. He seems alright now, but he has these times that he just doesn't even look like he feels well and he's had a lot of goop (some of it green) in the corners of his eyes. Then he's totally fine again and getting up on the counter, in the sink, and overall being a pain. He's capable of jumping fine, so it doesn't really seem like his arthritis is bothering him that much, but I do have pain medicine I can give him if needed. I don't like giving it to him though since it affects his personality quite a lot and he gets a bit rough when given it. We use it so we can cut the fur off his back legs and I feed him treats while it's done and he ends up biting my fingers rather harshly.
Anyway, I was just wondering if anyone had any ideas what could have caused the drastic change in behavior. Is he just being a crab? Is it his arthritis? Something else entirely? Should I give him the pain medicine if he does it again? Or is there anything else I should do?
Anyway, I'm posting because of a strange behavior earlier. Honestly, I'm not even sure if I should be posting in Behavior or Health. It was about an hour ago when it happened. I had been sitting the couch with him on my lap. My dog was pressed against my legs in front of me, Frost (Ash's not-blood brother) was right next to us, and Ember (my youngest cat) was laying on the opposite end of the couch past Frost.
Well, I had to get up so I shifted Ash up towards my chest so I could love on him a little before getting up. Usually being shifted in any way is more than enough to get them to leave, so I figured he'd take off immediately after. He didn't. Rather, he settled down where he was and didn't show any inclination of getting up. That in itself was strange. Then he growled. At first I thought it was because I was touching his tail (he's always been sensitive about his backend, even before the arthritis and, when it gets bad, the arthritis can cause him pain in the base of his tail), but I moved my hand away and he growled again. it seemed like he was growling at Ember, but I couldn't actually see his face to know where he was looking. He stopped though and I petted to calm him down and he went to sleep for a few minutes. Once he woke up, I actually wrapped my arms around him a bit and lifted him a little, which he tolerated without even a flick of his tail or any sign of annoyance. Then I went to put a hand under his front end and a hand under his back end so I could pick him up. He growled. I set him back down and petted him for a little bit to calm him down. Once he was calm, I tried lifting him from under his front legs (no arthritis there that I'm aware of). He still growled. I tried to be careful as I lifted him from my lap and put him on the couch next to me, but he still growled and hissed the entire time, hissing at Ember three times in the time it took for me to get him over there and then get up. He stayed exactly where I left him for at least a few minutes too. He usually doesn't like being lifted or moved and will run off if it's done, but doesn't usually growl, so it was really weird for him to not move at all and growl about it.
I'm a bit worried about him. He seems alright now, but he has these times that he just doesn't even look like he feels well and he's had a lot of goop (some of it green) in the corners of his eyes. Then he's totally fine again and getting up on the counter, in the sink, and overall being a pain. He's capable of jumping fine, so it doesn't really seem like his arthritis is bothering him that much, but I do have pain medicine I can give him if needed. I don't like giving it to him though since it affects his personality quite a lot and he gets a bit rough when given it. We use it so we can cut the fur off his back legs and I feed him treats while it's done and he ends up biting my fingers rather harshly.
Anyway, I was just wondering if anyone had any ideas what could have caused the drastic change in behavior. Is he just being a crab? Is it his arthritis? Something else entirely? Should I give him the pain medicine if he does it again? Or is there anything else I should do?