I Think My Cat Was Abused By A Friend And I'm Not Sure What To Do

[Rakan1411]

Hello everyone,

over the last weekend, I asked a friend of mine to watch my cat while I was away. This was my first time trusting someone to watch over Joey (my cat), and when I wen to pick Joey up from my friend's place he was unusually afraid. Joey is normally the kind of cat that greets at the door with excitement. I don't remember it ever running away from me or hiding unless it was scared of a new game or a visitor cat. But when I went to pick him up that day, I had look for him with that friend for about five minutes to find him hiding under a couch. When I picked Joey up he was unusually stiff and uncomfortable in my hands and tried to run away so I put him down. Immediately after that happened my cat ran into my friend's bathroom and hid behind the sink. I asked my friend then if anything had happened to my cat and he was very calm for someone being accused of cruelty and had promised that nothing had happened. Earlier that day he had told me that his roommate came by and moved a couch and that Joey is spooked by it. I Joey since it was a little kitten and it had never acted in such a strange way. I honestly can't describe how horrible I'm feeling. Joey is going to see the vet tomorrow and hopefully he is totally ok. He was strange on the first day back home, but right now he is back to normal completely. I have no idea what to do. This "Friend" comes by my apartment, sometimes while I'm not there, to study with my roommate.

 

[Letta]

Hi,
From what you can describe there are a lot of things that can explain his behavior outside of abuse. Cats hate change, really. He was probably stressed to be in a new territory. And this is very common among cats. My mom cat (Pacha) was the most cuddly, social cat I have ever known. But a few years ago she had to spend 2 weeks in a new rented appartment. The entire time Pacha was there, he ihe hid on top of a closet, went down only to eat and go to the bathroom. He was hiding really the entire time, despite everything my mom tried to do to calm him down. Once they went back home, the cat was back to normal.
So I truly think it can be simply that your cat was stressed by the new surroundings, smell ect.. cats are very attached to their territory.

 

[PushPurrCatPaws]

I agree with the above poster, being in different territory not his own was hard on him... then the couch movers arriving, the noise of that, and him not having his regular places to hide when stressed, could all be reasons he was spooked when you first saw him. The good part is:

... He was strange on the first day back home, but right now he is back to normal completely. ...

 

[ch-leesha]

Are there other factors outside Joey's behavior that would cause you to think this friend was abusive to him?

I know my past kitty would have been stressed to the point of sickness had she been moved to a totally different place for even just a day! And moving furniture on top of that? Forget it!!!

I think it's very encouraging Joey went back to "normal" after being back in his stomping grounds. And I think it's great you're taking him to the vet just to be safe. Hopefully you will get some peace of mind Sounds like he has a great owner!

 

[sargon]

Cats are easily spooked and having a strange person care for your cat in a strange place ( especially with movers and extra chaos) is plenty to spook a cat. Additionally, many cats do experience seperation anxiety when their humans aren't around.

unless there is some reason that you believe your friend abused your cat ( which seems odd, since they were the one you trusted enough to care or your cat in the first place), it is highly unlikely that any actual abuse happened.

 

[orange&white]

I had a roommate for a very short amount of time who believed in "spanking" cats. I told her that I never hit my cats, but she kept doing it if they got on the table, sniffed a houseplant, or if she thought my cat was "picking on" one of her cats. She never "punished" them if I was home and watching, but would tell me that she had spanked Maslow for some specific reason. When I started finding my very social, outgoing cat cowering under the bed when I got home, I moved out as quickly as possible.

At least she was honest and told me she hit my cat for "this or that" reason.