Hi, I am a new cat caretaker who recently started taking care of an injured stray cat. I slept with him yesterday because the weather outside was very cold, and his clingy/anxious behavior worried me a little. Is this behavior natural? If not, what can I do to help him behave better?
Background Info:
First, I have never owned or taken care of any pets my entire life. I became friends with a stray cat in my apartment complex, and fed him some food for a while. I stopped after receiving a notice from the apartment leasing office asking me not to feed the stray cats.
I stopped quite a long time ago, and recently I traveled out of town for Thanksgiving, so I didn't see the cat for a while. 3 days ago, I was throwing my trash away and found him with an injured front paw. I decided to take him in to feed him and give him some warmth. I also called a mobile vet to treat his injury. She came 2 days ago and gave him a shot of antibiotics and some treatment for ear-mites and other parasites.
Being a stray, he freaks out whenever he is in an apartment with the apartment door closed. Therefore, I have been keeping the apartment door open a bit whenever I take him in to feed him and give shelter.
Yesterday's events:
Yesterday, I brought him in again, because it was a very cold night. After dinner, he cuddled up next to me and slept. Of course, I had to get up and do things like brush my teeth, go to the bathroom, turn off the lights, etc. Whenever I got up, he seemed really anxious and stressed out, as his meows sounded very strained.
To alleviate his fears, I tried to sleep next to him. However, I messed up by not turning on the apartment heater (only using an electrical space heater), and it was very cold and uncomfortable. He did not like it when I woke him up because of me turning over in my sleep, and was quite vocal with his displeasure. This is probably his natural, bossy personality, right? The day before, he was laying his head on my leg, and he tried to bite my leg when I got up to do something. He seems to generally display bossiness/anxiety/displeasure whenever he cuddles up next to me and I have to get away and do something. Is this bad behavior? If it is, do you have any tips on what I can do so as to not reinforce bad behavior?
He's generally very confident and friendly to anybody, so his anxiousness/clingy behavior was quite new to me.
The most puzzling thing was the anxiousness he showed whenever I tried to tuck my hands into my blanket to warm them up from the freezing cold. Does anybody know why he would exhibit such behavior? He calmed down very shortly after I took my hands out, much to my dismay hahaha.
I don't know if I will adopt him long term, due to my unpredictable schedule, travel needs, and potential life changes. I just want to make sure he doesn't pick up bad habits while I take care of him as he heals his injury.
Sorry for the long and rambling post. I have no experience with any types of pets, so I would appreciate any tips or advice.
Thank you.
Background Info:
First, I have never owned or taken care of any pets my entire life. I became friends with a stray cat in my apartment complex, and fed him some food for a while. I stopped after receiving a notice from the apartment leasing office asking me not to feed the stray cats.
I stopped quite a long time ago, and recently I traveled out of town for Thanksgiving, so I didn't see the cat for a while. 3 days ago, I was throwing my trash away and found him with an injured front paw. I decided to take him in to feed him and give him some warmth. I also called a mobile vet to treat his injury. She came 2 days ago and gave him a shot of antibiotics and some treatment for ear-mites and other parasites.
Being a stray, he freaks out whenever he is in an apartment with the apartment door closed. Therefore, I have been keeping the apartment door open a bit whenever I take him in to feed him and give shelter.
Yesterday's events:
Yesterday, I brought him in again, because it was a very cold night. After dinner, he cuddled up next to me and slept. Of course, I had to get up and do things like brush my teeth, go to the bathroom, turn off the lights, etc. Whenever I got up, he seemed really anxious and stressed out, as his meows sounded very strained.
To alleviate his fears, I tried to sleep next to him. However, I messed up by not turning on the apartment heater (only using an electrical space heater), and it was very cold and uncomfortable. He did not like it when I woke him up because of me turning over in my sleep, and was quite vocal with his displeasure. This is probably his natural, bossy personality, right? The day before, he was laying his head on my leg, and he tried to bite my leg when I got up to do something. He seems to generally display bossiness/anxiety/displeasure whenever he cuddles up next to me and I have to get away and do something. Is this bad behavior? If it is, do you have any tips on what I can do so as to not reinforce bad behavior?
He's generally very confident and friendly to anybody, so his anxiousness/clingy behavior was quite new to me.
The most puzzling thing was the anxiousness he showed whenever I tried to tuck my hands into my blanket to warm them up from the freezing cold. Does anybody know why he would exhibit such behavior? He calmed down very shortly after I took my hands out, much to my dismay hahaha.
I don't know if I will adopt him long term, due to my unpredictable schedule, travel needs, and potential life changes. I just want to make sure he doesn't pick up bad habits while I take care of him as he heals his injury.
Sorry for the long and rambling post. I have no experience with any types of pets, so I would appreciate any tips or advice.
Thank you.