My Cat Is Behaving Odd - Any Help Needed!

[Airabell247]

Before I begin to tell you about my cat I need to give you a little background so you truly understand! My cats name is Airabell, she is almost 2 years old, she is half Bengal and half Manx. She's not very social, but she loves me and my husband. It's always been an understanding that, while Airabell loves both of us, I am her main go to master, and my husband is the second master for when I'm not around. She's not like most cats - she'll lay beside me all day and only plays with one toy, her rat toy, she likes laying on the window sill and watching the cars and the birds go by. We did get one friend for her, Gizmo (she was a tortoise shell), but Gizmo ended up getting pregnant by escaping our house one night a week before her scheduled spay and her and Airabell got into really bad territory battles so we gave Gizmo to a new home who wanted kittens. Airabell was fine afterwards, she went right back to being herself.
A few months later we got a new kitten, we figured Airabell needed a new friend and we had given her enough time to get over Gizmo and all the fighting that went on the last few weeks she was here. The new kittens name was Storm, who was also a tortoise shell. Storm and Airabell seemed to get on really well. We introduced them the same we introduced Airabell and Gizmo, by separating them for a week and giving them things with each others scent on it. Storm and Airabell were playing and sleeping with each other, Airabell even cleaned her. Then, out of nowhere Airabell just turned on Storm. Storm was only 2 and a half months old so there was no chance of her being in heat. Airabell started hissing at Storm and would pop her and chase her if she came close to her and she even started making a low growling noise which I had never heard her do before. So, for obvious reasons, we gave Storm to a home where she wouldn't be stressed out like that. Also, I did pay some attention to Storm, about as much as I did to Gizmo, because I didn't want Airabell to get jealous. I wanted her to know that I was still her master. We acted no differently with Storm than we did with Gizmo.
Now, Airabell is acting very strange. It's been 2 weeks since Storm found a new home. She's doing a few things that Storm did - Storm used to hang out in her litter box, and my husband would carry her around a lot because she liked being treated like a baby. Now, Airabell is hanging out in her litter box sometimes and she has becoming annoying with wanting to constantly sit in my lap when I'm busy with things, or wanting to be held. She's also not playing with her toys anymore, when I wave it in her face she just looks at it. And the other night she was laying on my husbands lap and when he tried to move her to get up and go to the bathroom, she hissed and dug her claws into him really hard- which she just did this to me today too. The only normal thing she is doing is sitting on the window sill looking outside.
I'm not sure what's wrong with my cat. I love her and I really don't want to get rid of her but I'm not sure how much longer I can hang on, especially now that the hissing and the clawing are in effect. We can't afford to take her to the vet, because ever since the hurricane in August we've really been struggling with money. This is my last hope by posting on here and seeing if anyone can tell me what may be wrong with my cat!

 

[5starcathotel]

Wow, that's a lot!!! But good you included everything!

I'm deducing the timeline of all this is maybe 4 or 6 months? So I'm going to write this from Airabell's perspective....

Several months ago, there was a female cat in my territory, Gizmo...I never got to know her well, because she got pregnant, and started to smell weird, and become really territorial. I didn't like that, and we had some fights, but then she was gone.

Then a couple of months ago, a new kitten was in my house. I liked Storm at first, she was cute!!! Then Storm got a bit older, and a bit stronger, and bit more energetic....and before I could teach her adult-cat manners, she was gone too....

I don't know where my playmates, especially Storm, went....and I'm scared of all this change in my house! The humans are really the only constant...maybe if I cling tightly to them, I can feel safe...

This is your cat's "problem"...there is a lot of change in her life recently. And also, cats can definitely sense our emotions - if you are stressed since August, she can sense this.

So how do we help her? Back to basics...keep trying to play with her, especially in the mornings and evenings if possible. If you don't already, have regular feeding intervals (again, morning and evening), rather than free feed.

As far as practical advice regarding her claws.....have towels nearby. When she wants to lay on a lap, put a towel down first, either next to you or on your lap. She will lay there, and if you have to get up, the towel will let you move her safely/comfortably if needed.

Just know that cats use their claws instinctively, and socially, to hold each other "in place". That she isn't drawing blood, or biting, or being very aggressive says her claws are meant as "I love you, please don't go!"

 

[mservant]

A lot of good thinking and advice here. The only other thing I think could be useful is to pay careful attention to that litter behaviour and consider a vet trip if you haven't done that already: it is always a hard decision because the additional stress can contribute to things, but I am wondering if there could be some bladder issues going on?

 

[danteshuman]

I agree with 5starcathotel .... I would add that an extremely insecure/frightened cat will lay in their litter box. It is the human equivalent of her huddled in a corner holding a binky to her chest, rocking back and forth chanting "I'm safe ... I'm going to be safe, I'm safe, it is safe here, I'm going to be safe..."

If it was my cat I would be extremely concerned. I would isolate her to my bedroom, where I would spend all my time with her when I was home. I would puuurrr at her & do the slow blink (and put a blanket between her cuddle claws & me.) I would be ordering the feliway now. I would give her a box to hide in with a towel draped over 2/3 of it, so she can hide. If in a week she was still doing the litter box thing, I might to the vet for her anxiety. In a month & still doing it? I would be taking her to the vet! Assuming she starts to level out and be less stressed I would move some blankets & things with her scent out of the room & see how she does around the house.

She needs you to be calm so she can become calm.

How Well Do You Speak Cat?
How to Calm Down a Cat: 5 Herbs for Cat Stress Relief | petMD

 

[danteshuman]

I have heard people say zylkene works for anxiety on some cats. So if you want to try it, I'm sure if you ask someone will tell you how to use it.

 

[Airabell247]

Thank you everyone for the advice!! I have been doing a few things that y'all suggested and Airabell seems to be slowly coming back around. I called and asked a vet about the litter behavior and told him that Storm previously did this, and he said Airabell was just mimicking Storms behavior and he wouldn't be too concerned about it for now.