My cat has issues!

[jason grala]

I had an outside cat that I fed and she ended up having babies. We were able to catch most of them when the time was right and got them all fixed including the mom. I decided to keep 2 of them. One has what I refer to as thumbs (named him mittens) and the other one is just regular (Piper). They are both boys. 

The issue im having is with mittens and its very weird (at least to me it is). I live in a 2 story house my room is downstairs. When im upstairs if I go to pick up mittens he will run, hide under the table, under the bed or just go any place in general where I cant pick him up.

Now the minute I go downstairs and in my room if close the door he will start crying and scratching at the door to let him in, if I dont the crying will just continue until I finally cave in and open the door. Once I open the door he jumps in my bed and will lay with me and has to be right up against me, he also has a thing where he likes to suck on blankets especially my bed spread.

Now the other issue pretty much related and he only does this with me is like this morning he will stand at the side of my bed and just cry and cry and cry. He has food, water, and when I get up to pick him up he just runs away and then ill lay back down and he will just keep crying at my bed. 

Can anyone make any sense of this? Thanks for your help!

 

[jason grala]

you guys are a big help, thanks for all the help.. ******* useless forum

 

[bobbie sue]

I see you are a "newbie".  I have also recently joined and am very pleased to be a member here.  May I suggest you give those in this forum an opportunity to respond to you and have some patience.

I can only assume by your written tone and those asterisks that they are a substitute for an expletive;  there is really no need for this.  Every member here is dealing with their own lives and perhaps difficulties concerning their animal loved ones.

I doubt anyone expects an immediate response to a post.

 

[Ladewyn]

Yeah, patience my dude. You're asking a specific question about unusual behaviours. A lot of people who read this probably won't respond because they aren't educated about cat behaviour and so don't want to give you the wrong answer. Plus it's a small forum, responses usually come over the course of days, not hours.
So, as someone who has minimal education in cat behaviour, I will point out that some of this could just be his personality. When he wants to cuddle, he'll let you know. If he doesn't want to be handled, he'll let you know. My own cat is very independent, and generally doesn't enjoy being held. But sometimes he decide he wants to cuddle, and will hop on my lap and stay for an hour if I don't get up.
As for the meowing for seemingly no reason, the best way to figure out what he wants would be to see if he'll tell you. Get up, don't pick him up, but watch what he does when you're up. Does he lead you somewhere? Did he bring you a toy to play with? Does he rub up on your legs? Try to see if he gives you further signals to help yourself and us piece it together.

 

[poppyheart]

Sometimes alot of posts happen at the same time and I have noticed sometimes get missed. I agree with Aldewyne this sounds like personality. Mittens suckling on blankets could possibly be a habit that he just does (I think it can be a sign of being taken from mum too soon but dont think this in your case). My cat hates being picked up and doesnt overally enjoy petting but must be near me at all times wherever I am in the house. My cat is shy an skittish. Maybe Mittens just likes the reassurance of having you near him without the extra attention of holding or petting. There are other people on the forum who have more knowledge then me. Hopefully they will be along soon.

 

[Brian007]

@Jason Grala   How old were the kittens when they were first handled by humans?  If a kitten is not handled by humans daily in the first few weeks of life, it will be fearful of human touch, possibly for life.  The sucking on your bedding could indeed be because he was taken away from his mum too soon - they need to be at least 8 weeks old to learn to live independently from mum.  It could also indicate that he misses being around by mum, who he would have suckled from, not only for milk but for comfort and if frightened or stressed.  Sucking on your sheets shouldn't cause him any problems but take away wool blankets and wool sweaters from him if he starts sucking on them, as the he might injest fibres, which could then cause a stomach or bowel obstruction.  And look up "pica" syndrome in cats, as he could potentially develop this syndrome, which entails eating weird, non-food stuffs that can cause him harm:

https://www.vetary.com/cat/condition/pica

However, because he does like to nestle into you, he probably sees you as his substitute mum.  And sucking your sheets that smell of you is comforting to him.  But his mum wouldn't have picked him up the way you would.  So, it may just be because he's not used to being picked up by humans, due to not being handled up by them in the first few weeks of his life.  If he doesn't need to be picked up, I'd just not bother him with any more attempts just now.  It sounds stressful for him.  In time, he may be more receptive to being picked up, but many cats squirm when they're picked up, and you should only pick them up when absolutely necessary.  Other cats love to be carted around.  Every cat is different.  

As for the upstairs downstairs thing, are there any scents upstairs that might irritate his nose?  Like air freshener, perfume, cleaning products, smoke, and such like.  Cats have very sensitive noses and scents can cause odd, mysterious behaviour.  

When upstairs instead of trying to pick him up or even stroke him get out an interactive wand game for a bonding play session instead.  It sounds as though upstairs is stressful for him for some reason.  Also, block off the places where he hides under the table and bed etc, and put a cat tree up there for him to climb on and feel safe.  Cat trees are very important builders of courage for cats, as the cat owns the space, it is theirs alone.   And, height would give him a vantage point to see all the goings on down below.  We need more details about your upstairs, please. 

Why don't you leave your bedroom door ajar for him to come and go as he pleases, so he won't have to meow to get your attention?  You could get a door wedge to wedge it just wide enough for him to slip through but not so wide that it disturbs you.  I was brought up with many cats and have been well-trained to always leave any door ajar.  And, I have multiple door wedges for a number of different open, closed, ajar doors.

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• Brian007
• Mar 16, 2017

Crying in the morning could indicate that, "it's time to wake up and play, you lazy human."  Your best way of training him out of this is to completely ignore him.  Do not respond in either a positive (trying to pet him, play with him, and talk to him) or negative (shouting at him and, in his case, trying to pick him up) way.  He is seeking your attention and any attention will do.  So, ignoring him completely will break this habit as he'll get bored of your nonresponse and find something else to entertain himself.  This type of retraining takes time and patience.  

But, do try to play with him at times more suitable to you.  And gently pet him when he snuggles up to you on your bed.

So, to reiterate:

1. Don't pick him up!

2. Locate any smells upstairs that might be effecting him and either remove or replace them.

3. Block off hiding places upstairs.

4. Put up a cat tree upstairs.

5. Wedge your bedroom door ajar.

6. Ignore his cries in the morning.

7. Play with him.

Please reply to us and tell us what you think to these suggestions, and if there is any other behaviour you can think of that will give us more clues as to what is going on in his environment to make him behave strangely.

I'm sorry that no one has been able to help you until now.  The people on this site are ever so caring and considerate, and someone will almost always reply, given time.  However, sometimes the threads get driven down the boards by lots of newer threads, which get picked up on first.  If that happens, just make anther swift, polite plea on your thread, which will bring it up back to the top of the pile.