Does My Cat Have Separation Anxiety?

[kmsimons]

I have a male Maine Coon who's 1y10mos named Bear. He was a stray as a kitten for the first 4 weeks of his life then he was cared for by the Humane Society. When I first adopted Bear, I liked him because he was derpy all the time and not to mention adorable. He was very attached to me (and not my husband at all) and would sleep on my chest, my homework, laptop, laundry...really everything. I have another tabby that we adopted the same time and he doesn't do any of these things.

As he's gotten older, he has become much needier. He will follow me around the entire house step for step, sleep in the same room as me, jump on my desk when I'm on my laptop, jump on the counter when I'm cooking, etc etc. He plays fetch....yes, fetch with hair ties and bottle caps. He has opened the screen door outside and will try to run away. He constantly attacks my other tabby by jumping on him and gnawing the back of his neck (he doesn't listen when we scold him). My husband gets upset because we try to train him and he never learns.

Bear is also very chatty. He will meow for no reason at all times but they're always happy purr meows. When I walk into the bathroom, he will jump on the counter and meow at me. When I'm eating dinner he will jump on the table and meow at me. He's very cuddly, I give him constant attention, and his food/water is always full so I really don't know what he wants.

I tried to research if this is a trait of Maine Coon or any other cat breed. As soon as I get home, he is right at the door and rubs all over me. He will follow me around the rest of the day and meow. Does he have separation anxiety? He is also supe hyper 24/7 so I'm not sure if it's just his personality or...if this is normal? Maybe he just loves me a whole lot? Thanks!

PS. As I write this, he is clawing at the screen door trying to open it up. He is actually very smart and knows what he is doing.

 

[abyeb]

How does Bear do while you're away? Has he shown any destructive behavior such as inappropriate elimination or over-grooming?

I'll attach a link to an article about separation anxiety in cats, and maybe some other posters can chime in too.
Separation Anxiety In Cats

 

[danteshuman]

My punk is a jealous one person cat ... and he wants ALL my attention to himself. He follows me around, he fetches to and thankfully with training learned sitting quietly got him food and cuddling me got him play time. So how did I get him to share(ish.) By including both cats in everything if my punk wanted to be included! If he wanted to play he had to share or he got kicked out of the room while I played with Salem one on one. I petted both cats at the same time. Eventually my brat Dante accepted my other cat provided he was top cat and got the best spots

 

[kmsimons]

How does Bear do while you're away? Has he shown any destructive behavior such as inappropriate elimination or over-grooming?

I'll attach a link to an article about separation anxiety in cats, and maybe some other posters can chime in too.
Separation Anxiety In Cats

He actually doesn't groom as much as he should. My tabby obsessively cleans himself but I rarely catch Bear cleaning. He really loves scratching posts, when I come home he goes to town on them. He doesn't destroy anything else though...I'm just wondering if he is a weird cat.

Thanks for the article! I'm going to read up now.

 

[kmsimons]

My punk is a jealous one person cat ... and he wants ALL my attention to himself. He follows me around, he fetches to and thankfully with training learned sitting quietly got him food and cuddling me got him play time. So how did I get him to share(ish.) By including both cats in everything if my punk wanted to be included! If he wanted to play he had to share or he got kicked out of the room while I played with Salem one on one. I petted both cats at the same time. Eventually my brat Dante accepted my other cat provided he was top cat and got the best spots

We've tried doing that too...we've tried everything. I've tried to get him to patiently wait on the ground for food but he jumps up on the counter, so I put him down and he jumps back up...it's a vicious cycle. I will even tell him NO and he does not even care.

 

[danteshuman]

Training your cat to stay off the counter is different than separation anxiety.
Have you tried putting things on the counter that your cat dislikes (aluminum, citrus smells, carpet place mats spikes up, sticky tape?) Have you given your cat a space up high to watch you cook? I gave my cats the breakfast bar but death reigned down if they touched the counters. If you want to be especially evil & your aim is good you can do my training method. I had about 5 squirt bottles or six or so penny cans stashed around the house. If they got on the counter I would yell "NO!" squirt them or shake a penny can at them. When Dante kept attacking his brother I tossed the penny can against the wall about a foot from them while yelling "NO!" In retrospect I would try gentler aversion methods first ... at least for the counters. Heck our semi feral was able to be trained to stay off the counters/table by yelling "OFF" and picking him up and dropping him that last 6 inches to the ground every time I spied him there; if he didn't get off quick enough. I also do NOT give my cats people food so it helps the temptation factor. Plus they are allowed on the high chairs by the counter to observe the crazy humans.

 

[danteshuman]

Cat Whisperer Jackson Galaxy's Advice for Keeping Your Cats off the Counter