Have I Been Watching Too Much Cat From Hell?...

[bayareakitties]

I have three cats one of my male cats has been acting skittish and odd. He is always a little high strung but this is more pronounced. And then I noticed he is going out to the (enclosed) porch a lot more and looking through the slats like he is looking for *something* outside. This made me think of episodes of "Cat from Hell " when the cats is acting out and it is discovered that ferals are coming RIGHT up the front door and making the cat nervous. But the thing is, I live on the SECOND floor. There is no way another cat could get up here. But I doubt that cats use logic that much.. And I have seen two new cats (not feral) in the area coming very near our place. Do you think he finds them threatening?

 

[Mamanyt1953]

He may very well. HE doesn't know they can't get up there, after all! My Hekitty alwasy reacted to the neighborhood cats walking through the area. She's pretty confident, so they didn't spook her, but she DID keep an eye on them!

 

[JamesCalifornia]

~ Cats can climb almost everything and anywhere. Your cat must detect the new visitors in the area. Just hope that they are all spayed/neutrered.

 

[bayareakitties]

Interesting...I will keep an eye on it. There probably isn't much I can do about it really. He isn't spraying or anything. But maybe he just needs to get used to them.

 

[Mamanyt1953]

Think of it this way...it gives him something to do besides claw the sofa!

 

[1 bruce 1]

For a territorial cat (high strung = usually territorial), the very sight of a new cat frankly pisses them off.
If we get a barn cat come to close to our back door, I know about it because one of our girls (also a little high strung) will spray it. At first we thought this was behavioral and she was just being a (bad word), but we've noticed lately that if we see cat paw prints in the snow around the door in the morning, there will be pee at the door (and there is) and if we don't, we don't find pee at the door.
Weeks will go by and there are no tracks, no spraying, then suddenly 2 or 3 nights in a row, there's spray, there's tracks...
Nature's Miracle (just for cats) no more spraying has helped quite a bit, but if she gets mad enough, she sprays anyway.
Most of our barn cats are pretty docile but one ex-tom is a complete jerk. I found him hanging on the window screen one night, and wouldn't have noticed if Queen Bee wasn't hissing, puffed out and spitting her head off in that window. He ignored her, but didn't ignore me when I let out a huge HISS and slapped the screen, which sent him back to the barn.

 

[nymarie]

Question: is there such a thing as watching too much "My Cat From Hell"?

 

[marmoset]

Very likely, especially if they are intact- whether they are females or males. However, I have a few cats here that came from a colony but now live fully indoors with my husband and I. When they see a cat out the window they are fine with it if it's also with one of their old colony members but if they see a new-comer enter the scene it can upset them if the outdoor colony cats react with suspicion or hostility to the newcomers. Either way it is still stress, the only difference is intensity level.

Yes, there is too much thing as my cat from hell. If you don't have a cat and have no experience with them it's not a great show to binge watch....at least until he started bringing in Kitten Lady and other orgs to really educate the general public about TnR and rescue. I think even a newcomer to pet ownership could get into what is essentially a very modern aspect of animal protection.

I do have cats though and yes I binge watch and love Jackson and Kitten Lady- she's actually helped me have success with rescued kittens even though my area is fearful aggressive adults. So keep watching and consider what you know about your cat's background. If she shows signs of distress then he most certainly is stressed, but if it' more curiosity the he'll be feeling a little less threatened.

 

[bayareakitties]

Thanks everyone. He has also started not wanting to eat in the kitchen like he used to. He WILL eat in the bedroom so I am just going with it and feed him there. So it could be all related. Maybe he smells the cats more from the kitchen.

 

[Mamanyt1953]

He may very well be smelling them more in the kitchen. So long as he is eating SOMEWHERE, you're ok!