My Kitten Has Strange Behavior After Moving

[hzrose]

I recently moved myself and my one year old kitten to an apartment. It's a bit of a downsize from my family home, but I have cat trees and even stairs that I exercise her on regularly. From when we first moved in, she has had a weird obsession with the ceiling. Part of me thinks it has something to do with the popcorn ceiling, but I may just be grasping at straws. She'll stretch herself up on the walls and look towards the ceiling meowing loudly, eventually she'll look back towards me. She wants me to pick her up and bring her closer to the ceiling, but if I don't do that (and when I inevitably set her down) she'll keep meowing and looking for a way to get up. I recently had to close my closet doors (except for when I quickly go in and out for clothes) because she began jumping with her claws out at my hanging clothes and haphazardly climbing them to try and reach the ceiling. This always ends with new holes in my sweaters and her falling fast and hard. She's never done anything like this. She does love to climb, but she's never driven herself mad to do it. No matter how many times she falls or hurts herself trying to get to the ceiling, she keeps doing it. Has this happened to your cats before? What can I do to help her relax and stop?

 

[susanm9006]

When I first got Willow she did the same thing. Spent hours staring at the ceiling. We joked that she was seeing the ghost of my former cat. About a year and a half later I realized what she was actually staring at was a thin long cobweb that dangled a few inches from the ceiling. So, it is worth dusting your ceiling just to make sure she really isn’t seeing something like a cobweb or a spider.

 

[FeebysOwner]

If you have an apartment above you, she might be hearing sounds that you can't hear - or, as we humans sometimes do, you are automatically tuning them out.
Or, even if you don't there might be something going on atop the roof that is drawing her attention.

You might also ask if the ceiling was recently cleaned/treated before you moved in as well. She could actually smell something you can't smell. If you find out there was some sort of treatment, if it were me, I would be tempted to use a spray of some sort that she is used to and get up on a ladder and spray the ceiling with it.

 

[hzrose]

I'm glad to see I'm not the only one with a ceiling obsessed kitten! I sent off a text to my landlord to ask if there's been any roof work lately, the building is in the process of being remodeled so that might be it! I certainly hope there's no spider though...I have a particular phobia of creepy crawly things so maybe I'll have a friend come and check for me. And I never mind a good fresh scent, so Leia is used to my scented candles and sprays too, I wouldn't think of spraying the ceiling but it makes perfect sense! Thank you so much for all the ideas!!

 

[FeebysOwner]

Keep us posted!!!

 

[MoonstoneWolf]

Just now Shaman was lying in the wet grass (instead of the dry area I have for them) and looked up towards the kitchen window when my Mom was getting ice cubes out of the tray with that little head tilt.