Cat Growling When Moved

Animal Freak

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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?
 

FeebysOwner

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Hi. Are you sure he wasn't growling and hissing just at you for picking him up and moving him, even though it seemed like it might have been directed at Ember? I am guessing he was just telling you that he didn't appreciate being 're-located' off your lap/chest.

I don't know about the off-and-on green goobers in his eyes, but I am thinking the next time he has it to take a pic and send it to the vet to ask for their opinion and let them know he gets it off and on. Is he indoor/outdoor, and perhaps that has something to do with it?

If he is drinking/eating/using the litter box normally, I think you just caught him at a 'bad moment'.

Btw, I have my 14+ yo Feeby on Glyco Flex Plus (glucosamine, chondroitin, and green lipped mussels) for her arthritis. She had stopped jumping up on her favorite spots, and after about 1 month or so of the Glyco, she was back to jumping - although I have also added an extra "step" (footstool) for her to use in between the floor and the bed, recliner, etc. just to help out. She is not on any pain meds. Just throwing out the Glyco Flex in case you might want to try it, especially if you think the arthritis is worse.
 

Mamanyt1953

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If this is a "one-off," he may have simply been having a bad dream, and woke up on the offensive. Cats dream, therefore, they can have both good and bad dreams. HOWEVER, given his medical issues, if it occurs again, have him checked just to make sure that he isn't in pain in that back end.
 
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Animal Freak

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Hi. Are you sure he wasn't growling and hissing just at you for picking him up and moving him, even though it seemed like it might have been directed at Ember? I am guessing he was just telling you that he didn't appreciate being 're-located' off your lap/chest.

I don't know about the off-and-on green goobers in his eyes, but I am thinking the next time he has it to take a pic and send it to the vet to ask for their opinion and let them know he gets it off and on. Is he indoor/outdoor, and perhaps that has something to do with it?

If he is drinking/eating/using the litter box normally, I think you just caught him at a 'bad moment'.

Btw, I have my 14+ yo Feeby on Glyco Flex Plus (glucosamine, chondroitin, and green lipped mussels) for her arthritis. She had stopped jumping up on her favorite spots, and after about 1 month or so of the Glyco, she was back to jumping - although I have also added an extra "step" (footstool) for her to use in between the floor and the bed, recliner, etc. just to help out. She is not on any pain meds. Just throwing out the Glyco Flex in case you might want to try it, especially if you think the arthritis is worse.
Well, the last hiss definitely seemed to be directed at Ember since I had been standing up to the side and he was facing her. They've had some issues off and on in the past, so they can redirect aggression on each other. But I'm pretty sure I got my fair share of growling too. I'm hoping that's all it was. He's just never done it before, so it worried me. I tend to worry about everything though. He can be a bit grouchy. The vet even wrote he was a crabby cat when we took him to have a knot removed and it took five people to get it, so he can definitely be a difficult cat. But he was so limp and tolerant with me moving him that that sort of added to my concerns about this new behavior. He has been getting more... tolerant? With me, anyway. As he's gotten older, he's distanced himself from Frost who he grew up with and was always very close to and attached himself to me. In the past year, he's become a lap cat and sometimes tolerates things that he wouldn't have in the past.

I'll have to remember to do that next time. I'm used to him getting brown, dried gunk in the corner of his eyes, but the green was different. All of my cats are entirely indoor with only the occasional trip out on the porch.

He doesn't drink much, but never has. He's been eating fine and he hasn't peed outside the litterbox in a little while which is great, so no issues there.

Thank you. I'll keep that in mind. Sometimes I do worry it's getting worse, but then there are other times he seems perfectly fine. Since he was sick a bit before Christmas, he seems to have fine hit his "teen phase" (only took over seven years) and has been getting on counters, tables, the computer desk, in the sink... I haven't seen him on the cat trees much lately, but I think it's because it's cold and they're all looking for warm spots.

If this is a "one-off," he may have simply been having a bad dream, and woke up on the offensive. Cats dream, therefore, they can have both good and bad dreams. HOWEVER, given his medical issues, if it occurs again, have him checked just to make sure that he isn't in pain in that back end.
Alright, thanks. I hope it was just a one time thing. He did let me pick him up later on without issue other than the usual not wanting to be held. He's already been to the vet three times in the past year on top of two others going to the vet.
 

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We've found that the approach of rain and changes in barometric pressure make the the arthritis worse. There are those who say this is impossible, but I'm going by what I see and feel, which means we and the cat are suffering from this affect/effect.

It's possible he was anticipating Ember making a move toward him and just shutting it down before it happened. Sweet Gum does that.
 
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Animal Freak

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We've found that the approach of rain and changes in barometric pressure make the the arthritis worse. There are those who say this is impossible, but I'm going by what I see and feel, which means we and the cat are suffering from this affect/effect.

It's possible he was anticipating Ember making a move toward him and just shutting it down before it happened. Sweet Gum does that.
Thanks for the reply. We're expecting snow apparently from Friday afternoon to Monday night, so there is bad weather coming through. But then he gets up where he shouldn't be, so he's jumping fine.

It wasn't Ember, I don't think. At least she wasn't actually doing anything. She was laying there with her back to him and only got tense after he growled. If he had done that, it would have been likely to backfire on him as it's often him growing that gets him attacked. He was lucky this time.
 

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Lucky, yep. Like many others he may not be logical all the time. But it's good to have a pride to interact.

Jumping okay never stopped Sweet Gum from being cranky. It's like she blames us for the rain and other weather changes.
 

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I don’t remember where I read it. But cats with arthritis can still jump. But other movements are more painful.

For me, I don’t have arthritis as much as back pain. I can run and jump but sitting causes me pain. It could be the same with Ash. Maybe just being adjusted is hitting bone on bone in a way that jumping does not. If he doesn’t already have one, maybe get him a heated bed.
 

danteshuman

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I would take him to the vet and assume he is in pain. He may end up needing an extra dose of pain lesson cold days. I have mild arthritis in my hands and they ache on cold weather days.
Also I have heard of alternative medicine helping arthritic animals (like acupuncture.) It may be worth looking into it.

***Cats hide their pain so take it seriously!
 
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Animal Freak

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I don’t remember where I read it. But cats with arthritis can still jump. But other movements are more painful.

For me, I don’t have arthritis as much as back pain. I can run and jump but sitting causes me pain. It could be the same with Ash. Maybe just being adjusted is hitting bone on bone in a way that jumping does not. If he doesn’t already have one, maybe get him a heated bed.
Alright, thanks. I didn't think of that, but it makes sense. I'll have to look into a heated bed.

I would take him to the vet and assume he is in pain. He may end up needing an extra dose of pain lesson cold days. I have mild arthritis in my hands and they ache on cold weather days.
Also I have heard of alternative medicine helping arthritic animals (like acupuncture.) It may be worth looking into it.

***Cats hide their pain so take it seriously!
I do have pain medicine I can give him if needed. The vet said I could give him some when needed since we have to cut the fur off his back end. It's just a little too strong for my liking, so I give to him as infrequently as possible. But if there's anything I can do without taking him to the vet, I'd rather do that. Going to the vet causes a lot of stress for everyone, especially since he comes home and gets attacked by one of the other cats.


I am a bit worried now though. I don't know what to think. He's been totally fine. He moves and eats fine. He plays some. Nothing seems wrong. But now I'm stuck sitting here on the couch with him on my lap because every time I shift or move he growls and sometimes hisses. He also just bit me though not very hard at all. Just barely put his teeth on me and is now acting sweet and adorable with his head against my arm and his paw over my wrist and is purring though if I move my arm too much I get a bit of claws. He was fine until I went to get up, but it doesn't even seem like it's his backend being moved that's bothering him. He's mostly on my left leg and braced against the pillows. I shifted my right leg (which just has his head and front legs) and he growled. I haven't touched his backend whereas I did touch it earlier today with no issues from him whatsoever.
 

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You can get dasuquin or cosuquin for him. Online, inexpensive. Sweet Gum takes the dasuquin. Her vet wanted to give her the metcap (?) but she was allergic to it horrible burn on the injection site and is expensive. I'd gotten cosuquin for my dog before. Looking for it I found the dasuquin. She gets one capsule a day sprinkled on a wet treat. It supposed to take two weeks to work but she was better in about 4 days.

It's inexpensive enough to be worth a try. Chewy has it.
 
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Animal Freak

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You can get dasuquin or cosuquin for him. Online, inexpensive. Sweet Gum takes the dasuquin. Her vet wanted to give her the metcap (?) but she was allergic to it horrible burn on the injection site and is expensive. I'd gotten cosuquin for my dog before. Looking for it I found the dasuquin. She gets one capsule a day sprinkled on a wet treat. It supposed to take two weeks to work but she was better in about 4 days.

It's inexpensive enough to be worth a try. Chewy has it.
Alright, thanks. I'll look into it. I'm still not sure that it's pain because once I got out from under him he let me pick him up no problem, but he still might need something a bit stronger, especially during the cold weather. He seems to have the occasional period of time where he just doesn't feel well and some days he doesn't want to let me brush his back legs.
 
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