Multiple personalities: is this normal or should I be worried?

[jayjhis]

My female cat is almost 4 years old now, she was spayed at about 6 months. But she has this fairly predictable personality cycle. She'll be really aloof for a few days, then chaotic and impulsive for a few days, then extremely affectionate for a week or two, then the cycle starts over.

She eats normally through all of this, doesn't show any aggression or signs of health problems, and I can always get her to run and practically climb me for treats no matter what. But her personality does change dramatically. And each "personality" does things the others never do.

If this isn't a sign of anything I'm doing wrong I'm perfectly fine with her being like this, it's part of her charm, but if there's something wrong I want to do what I can to help her.

 

[ArtNJ]

Cycle sounds like its hormonal, but she is spayed so I dunno. Some other possibilities I can think of: (1) its related to something concrete, like changes in weather, when the outside cats visit or changes in what you feed her; (2) an intermittent health issue - no idea what though; or (3) some type of periodic mental disorder. Such things exist in humans at least (manic-depressive disorder follows this pattern). I'd guess (1) - a link to something concrete that coincides with the changes.

 

[di and bob]

Some cats just act neurotic at times, I think it is more related to their genetics. Siamese breeds are known for excessive mood swings, I have had many and can attest to that. They are stubborn, prone to wild sprints around the house, and let you know in no uncertain terms what they want. They are also loyal, fun to relate with, exasperating, and very lovable! We called ours Bobo as a nickname because he was such a clown, totally different from the other cats!

 

[rubysmama]

Have you ever kept track on what's going on in your life when these changes happen? Like weekends? Different people at the home? Weather?

Course it could just be her own quirk. If she's eating normally and using the litter box normally throughout her purr-sonality changes, then I guess there's nothing to worry about. Cats do go through phases where they'll sleep in one place all the time, then drop it and find another. But those phases aren't generally predictable.

 

[susanm9006]

I don’t think it is cause for worry. I suspect this is just who she is and her pattern of behavior. As long as she doesn’t seem stressed or have sudden changes to this established pattern of behavior then she is fine. It never hurts to mention it to your vet at her next visit though.

 

[jayjhis]

I can't think of any external reason for it, we do the same things every day and the cats get fed at the same times, there's not really any reason she should know the difference between a Monday and a Saturday, our work schedules are varied and it's rare for us to have the same day off.

Currently she's switching from her chaotic attention seeking personality to her affectionate clingy personality, which is marked by spending a whole night crying in front of the door no matter what I do. This is probably the only thing I really dislike about her. Chaotic attention seeking Ganji is really terrible but hilarious. I posted about her habit of crying at the door years ago, I never got her to stop - but she only does it for a day or two of the cycle and I've learned to accept it. I've even opened the door to see what she did and she ran out just to hunch down and look terrified then run back in - only to start crying again.

I'm looking forward to her coming into my room and kneading my comforter because that means she's back to being clingy and sweet for a while instead of loud and annoying.

 

[minish]

Minish has mood swings some days or a few days during seasonal changes but never a recurring cycle like that. Since your cat has these changes all the time and not for worse, I wouldn't worry.
We may unknowingly reinforce some behaviors during these phases maybe that's why they seem like a personality change

 

[FeebysOwner]

Hi. I know it is a stretch, but have you ever considered having her hormone level checked - just to see if by chance some tissue was left behind when she was spayed? What made me even think of this aspect is because you see a pretty consistent cycle to it.

The other thing you might want to do is to chart the behavior and see if it coincides with a full moon. Feeby, when she was younger, took to spells of wanting to be out on our screened in patio late, late at night - when we charted it, we discovered she did this right around a full moon.

 

[maggie101]

I haven't paid attention when but she doesn't act the same every day or week just like people. Were both mammals so I guess they can get moody!