My Cat Is Getting Worse.for No Reason

[MyHeadHurts]

Olay, so my cat's meowing has gotten a while lot worse.

She had bladder crystals a several months ago, they were treated, she's fine now. I only feed.her wet food: Fancy Feast, 1 can for breakfast and one for dinner. 6am and 6pm. The timing of her food has.been the same since she.was about 8 months old. She's over a year now.

Now she is not only meowing and pissing off my neighbors, but in the last few.weeks she has been scratching my door. Bad. Like, she has literally taken paint off. I have to peel it every time so she doesn't eat it and get poisoned. You can bet I'm not getting my deposit back when I move.

This week especially she has.beem waking me up at night. Every hour. I've tried ignoring her but it doesn't make any difference, and the longer.I let her scratch the more likely it is the neighbors will notice it. This is a small apartment and the walls are thin.

I've tried squirting water at her, I've whacked a towel at the doorjamb to make noise and scare her, I've whacked her on the musclar part of her hind legs enough to startle her, and and I've just smacked her in the same part of her legs. I've never actually hurt her but I think I maight have to cause pain to make her stop. Obviously I don't want to do that. In the morning I'll ignore her after guving her breakfast and that hasn't worked either.

I don't have money. I'm in college. I'm not going to buy a bunch of stuff for her. She destroyed the hiding spot I made her so I figure she doesn't want one. I won't let her in the cabinets because they've been sprayed with bug spray and I don't trust chemicals that can kill roaches.

I still spend a lot of time in my room doing work, obviously. And I try to pet her but if she isn't in the mood and that moment she won't let me. She thinks I'll just drop everything or wake of suddenly to cuddle on her command. I've never ged her on command in her life, so I have no idea where this is coming from.

I wonder sometimes if she needs more food that I'm giving her. Is one can at a time enough for a 13 pound tabby? Or better, would it make any difference?

I've taken her outside on a harness before. I got a really long leash and tied it around a tree. She ran around and climbed up and down. She have fun, but when she was done she was definately done. I've only done that a couple times and she doesn't like it often. Maybe once a month or so.

Anyway, is there a reason she refuses to adjust? I've done the things suggested before and nothing has improved. She is just very angry for some reason. She still purrs when I hold her, so I have no idea.

 

[Furballsmom]

Hi!
You can probably use wood putty and some paint when you're ready to move out.
I'm starting to wonder if there are animals outside of your place that she's reacting to/are frightening her, whether you see them or not, maybe....not sure...

She could probably use a midday snack and some food out for overnight, canned food can be left out without going bad, and are you still feeding kibble or did you stop after the crystals?. She's still growing and will benefit from extra nutrition, you can also add a little filtered water to her canned food.

Did you have a chance to try the calming things mentioned in this post from your earlier thread below? Also, try music, when you're able to, see if it makes any difference. Zylkene added to her food might be another possibility, it's based on (milk) casein.

Separation anxiety is opposite of what you're experiencing it seems, because from what your neighbors said she's quiet when you're gone and gets riled up when you're home, or has that changed?

Something Is Wrong With My Kitty

The butterfly tank? More time with your mom's (no longer) puppies?

 

[MyHeadHurts]

The hormone infuser had no effect. Absolutely none. She likes catnip, but I don't like giving her a lot. And yes, she's still quiet when I'm gone. Usually she's either cuddling in myblap on the couch, or she's raising hell getting into stuff to be annoying while I'm there. She's usually calm when I'm home. But now she'll meow incessantly as soon as she hears my footsteps in the hall. She doesn't always calm down and basic negative reinforcement has been pretty useless. I've been wanting to take her to her grandma's place more, but they've had their own issues lately. There was a death in the extended family (no one I knew) but they have been attending to their relatives. It's just a timing issie there. I do put water in her food sometimes to force her to drink water, but it hasn't really calmed her down. She just has a screw loose or something. I don't know what it is.

 

[jen]

How long did you try the hormone diffuser for? Those can take awhile for the cat to adjust and it is a slow adjustment. You aren't going to see a quick 180 change immediately...

Fancy Feast are small cans. Look on the back and see how many kcals are in the can. Double that and you will know her total kcals for the day. She should be eating around 25 kcals for each pound of her body weight daily. So if she is a 10lb cat she would be eating around 200 kcals per day. First look at all this and make sure she is eating enough.

Also stop hitting, smacking and spraying her. That is only going to make her resent you and act out more.

 

[Furballsmom]

Oh I'm sorry to hear about the family death!
jen is right about calming products taking time, and the food quantity also.

The extra water on the food isn't for behavioral issues, it's to provide more hydration so she doesn't get crystals again.

After you make sure you're feeding enough, Try zylkene, and look at brian007 suggestions in that link in my post above. You're getting a lot of help, there's an answer in here

 

[MyHeadHurts]

I gave her the duration of a whole infuser beginning to end. So about a month. Nothing happened.

She has always been in good health (except for the bladder crystals) and she has always been at a healthy weight. I worry about overfeeding her because she's at a cat and cats are basically always hungry. They really only get up when it's time to hunt. I don't want her getting fat.

 

[Furballsmom]

Take a look at these;
Food Puzzles for Cats

20 Best Interactive Cat Toys: The Ultimate List (2018) | Heavy.com

Home - the Ripple Rug

 

[KarenKat]

What kind of things do you do to play with her and for how long? She sounds super bored, and “misbehaving” is a way to get your attention. I would have a set playtime and play with her for 20 min straight - time yourself even - until she is panting at moments. Really tire her out by having her run and chase Da Bird or something similar, having it hide so she can slowly stalk and pounce it, and be very interactive with her. Then feed her a nice snack so she feels like she hunted something. Some cats require more play, and you may find you need more than 20 min or you can scale it back on some days.

Also, does she have anywhere she can climb like a cat tree? Even DIY bookshelves can be assemble for her to climb and they can be very cheap. This can give her something to do and build her confidence and independence.

Just like a little kid, you need more structure to help her be constructive in using her energy.

 

[1 bruce 1]

I sense stress of your own in this posting. I'm not pointing fingers, because that's how my wife and I joined this site years ago!
Are you a busy person, at work or in school a lot? Even though the recent death in your family doesn't involve you, it seems to involve family that is affected. That can make things worse.
If you're feeling stressed, your cat will act out. They'll be annoying. It's a fact, it's life, it happens. This isn't saying you're unfit, get rid of the cat, or anything like it.
We have a lot of farm animals, as well as cats, and dogs and if I had to choose between the three when it comes to an emotional "mirror"......cats win. Always.

 

[MyHeadHurts]

I have a fluffy string toy we play with. I got it because she used to play with her tail when she was a kitten. She also has a rolley ball qith a bell she chases around. I don't have a lot of firnitire, but there are things she can climb on.

Sorry, I have midterms coming and I'm super busy right now.

 

[sabrinah]

I'm a college student too so I understand the time struggle. This semester is kicking my ***. It's hard to study when the furry things want attention. I find timed play breaks work wonders. My cat is an old lady now so she doesn't play much, but she does demand cuddles and will gladly trample a laptop, tablet, textbook, notebook, etc. to get what she wants. My dog needs to play or he turns into a psychopath. Try to study for 45 minutes, then play/cuddle for 15. Or study for 50 and play/cuddle for 10. Your brain needs a break every once in a while and your cat needs to get some energy out. It's also easy to toss a ball or wave a wand toy while proof-reading a paper or reading a textbook.

 

[MyHeadHurts]

I should mention I did look into puzzle dishes, but I can only give her wet food now since she's had bladder crystals. I don't think wet food is a good idea with those. It would probably take forever to clean them every time I feed her, too.

I'm experimenting with giving her two cans of Fancy Feast at nighr for dinner and one in the morning for breakfast. It won't significantly increase her calories and I'm hoping she won't be so pissy in the morning. Her little body isn't going to adjust to daylight savings, so I'm just feeding her at 5pm and 6am now. Which is another reason I'm giving her more at night. More food at night will let me sleep longer in the morning. I'm just starting this tonight, so I'll have an idea how well it works in a few days.

I'm also trying to play with her more, but time is still not in my side. She's a big cat and she needs a lot of things to kill. Sometimes when she's hungry she gets so grumpy she'll attack my legs. Her claws are out but she isn't intentionally scratching. She also communicates with her teeth. She'll chew on me for various reasons, sometimes love bites, sometimes attitude. Sometimes she'll nip me to get my attention for something. It's all hunting behavior. I think she needs more attention than I have time to give her right now.

That's all I have at the moment. I need sleep.

 

[daftcat75]

Maybe instead of doubling her dinner portion, you can give her that extra portion right before bedtime. Cats have fast digestion and small stomachs. You could be trading her discomfort for your sleep when an extra meal would probably make you both happier. The natural cycle for cats is hunt, eat, groom, sleep. So you can make your bedtime routine into a play and feed session for her. Then you can both go to sleep tired and happy.

 

[MyHeadHurts]

Well it's even worse now. She refuses to adjust to daylight savings and I refuse to get up at 5am to feed her. She yowels so loud it's like she hasn't eaten in weeks. She scratches the door and throws herself against it to make noise. She behaves like she's desperate but I've never refused to feed her ever in her life. She thinks she's eating late so she panics like she won't be eating. I don't get this. Something is wrong with her.

 

[MyHeadHurts]

Here's something I noticed just this morning. She makes noise by scratching her litter around. She's doing it to be as annoyingbas possible, like that will somehow make me feed her sooner. Thing is she does this until half her litter is dumped out of the box. This is all because I won't feed her an hour early. Making her wait even a few minutes is enough to make her think she's starving. I know cats are annoying when they're hungry, but not like this. Mealtime makes her panic.

Then after she eats she'll start meowing AGAIN, sometimes for hours. When she was a kitten she would just thank me for the meal, we'd cuddle, and that would be it. Now she's shouting. I'll pet her like before, but when I go in my room she'll keep shouting. This only started a few weeks ago. Nothing obvious has changed since then, so I really don't know what her problem is. I've treid playing with her more but I haven't seen a difference. I pet her more, too, but when she wants cuddles she yells and screams like it's an.emergency.

I honestly don't know what's going on or where this is coming from. She never adjusted to my college lifestyle even though I've been in college her entire life! Maybe she's just stupid. I've had a couple morons for cats. They were cuddly, but obviously not bright.

 

[war&wisdom]

Have you taken her to a vet recently?

 

[MyHeadHurts]

She had her last followup I want to say in August. The vet gave her a clean bill of health and said only feed her wet food. I'm supposed tongive her prescription food, but it's crazy expensive. He looked her over and felt her bladder and she wasn't aggressive with him at all. At the time she was fine.

 

[catalinacat]

I’m no cat expert but my first instinct was to wonder if she needs another checkup for anything.

 

[daftcat75]

But something has obviously changed with her between then and now. Always rule out medical reasons before you dive down the rabbit hole of behavioral reasons.

 

[jen]

I agree about going to the vet. A general check up doesn't really mean anything unless they did bloodwork as well. If not get her back in for that asap.