My New Cat Is Suddenly Acting Indifferent To Me

[jefferd18]

I decided to keep one of the feral cats that I rescued from a parking lot this summer. She is a tabby-tortie who was on death's front door when I got her- infection, staggering when walking, dehydrated, weak, and pregnant.

After treatment and the scary introduction to house-life she quickly became a friend. Each day I could see improvement in her confidence as she played more, snuggled more, and even took on the unsure task of lying on my lap. Even if she didn't attempt to lie on me she would always snuggle up next to me.

As of two days ago- that all disappeared. She will run when I hold out my hand to her and she now lies a few feet away from me . She won't come anymore when I call her. I don't know what I did wrong.

Ideas

We are having a flea infestation in my house right about now and those bloodsuckers are really upsetting her.

My one cat, Figaro, acts really possessive of me and is constantly butting in whenever I try to get Gypsy Rose to come up and lay down next to me.

Could any of that be the problem? She also meows in discomfort whenever I pick her up and hold her. Could she still be in pain from her hysterectomy?

My friend says to just ignore her back and she will come around, but I don't know about that.

 

[ArtNJ]

Yes, it could be and probably is the flees.

 

[jefferd18]

Yes, it could be and probably is the flees.

Thank you, that makes me feel more hopeful.
I was hoping I didn't have to re-home her but I also didn't want her to be unhappy.

 

[ArtNJ]

Just let her be till you get the flea problem solved. I mean, would you want someone loving on you when you were itchy as hell, say from poison ivy?

 

[jefferd18]

Just let her be till you get the flea problem solved. I mean, would you want someone loving on you when you were itchy as hell, say from poison ivy?

I will do just that. I don't know what to use for my house but I can put some flea treatment on my cats.

 

[ArtNJ]

Do a separate post if you want flea advice from here. I'm not knowledgeable on it and not everyone reads every kind of post.

 

[jefferd18]

Do a separate post if you want flea advice from here. I'm not knowledgeable on it and not everyone reads every kind of post.

Will do!

 

[jefferd18]

With all of the members on this site you would think a post would get more traction. I guess they are all over in the political section.

 

[ArtNJ]

With all of the members on this site you would think a post would get more traction. I guess they are all over in the political section.

Eh, this is the Behavior thread after all. Some people like me only give advice here and not also in the Health thread! Post there with an appropriate title and you'll get help for sure. Also, some folks probably read my advice and thought, "yep flees" but didn't bother with a like for my one sentence post.

I see some articles here as well, though I'm not sure if they have received the official build consensus treatment that I know some (or all?) of the articles have. Being honest, probably find something more thorough on the net somewhere. These articles seem fine but not soup to nuts if you will.

How To Treat Fleas In Young Kittens

Cat Fleas

 

[jefferd18]

Eh, this is the Behavior thread after all. Some people like me only give advice here and not also in the Health thread! Post there with an appropriate title and you'll get help for sure. Also, some folks probably read my advice and thought, "yep flees" but didn't bother with a like for my one sentence post.

I see some articles here as well, though I'm not sure if they have received the official build consensus treatment that I know some (or all?) of the articles have. Being honest, probably find something more thorough on the net somewhere. These articles seem fine but not soup to nuts if you will.

How To Treat Fleas In Young Kittens

Cat Fleas

You have been a big help, ArtNJ, and I appreciate it.

I posted here because she is experiencing a change in behavior. I didn't know if it was the fleas but what you said makes perfect sense.

The fleas situation is tricky for me because I have so many cats and I am trying to kill the fleas in the most cost-effective way there is.

But this is a post that is calling out for help and advice about a cat so I am not understanding why more people aren't chiming in. Surely others have experienced sudden changes in their cat's moods.

 

[ArtNJ]

Well, lets do this:

FeebysOwner ; susanm9006 Furballsmom ; rubysmama

There, I hit some of the frequent poster of this forum. I really think it makes sense to assume this is flees rather than running to the vet first since money is tight for you, but lets see if they have any contrary opinions or can bring in a flea expert. Most of my cats have been indoor only so I haven't really dealt with it.

I did notice that I didn't ask when her spay surgery was -- you wondered whether she could still be in pain. Its certainly not impossible, but if the surgery was a while ago and the incision doesn't look infected, it just doesn't seem to compare to flees in probability.

 

[jefferd18]

Well, lets do this:

FeebysOwner ; susanm9006 Furballsmom ; rubysmama

There, I hit some of the frequent poster of this forum. I really think it makes sense to assume this is flees rather than running to the vet first since money is tight for you, but lets see if they have any contrary opinions or can bring in a flea expert. Most of my cats have been indoor only so I haven't really dealt with it.

I will have to go to the vet's anyway because I will have to buy something like Advantage to kill the fleas.

That stuff cost about 19.00 dollars per vial, 19X11= OY!!

Smart move- keep them inside, my friend.

 

[FeebysOwner]

Hi. First of all, unless you are not in the US, I am pretty sure Advantage II (the one you want) is sold OTC - in pet stores and on-line. Secondly, you need to get a product like I used - Adams Flea Spray to spray all carpeted areas - AFTER vacuuming. It contains IGR (more about that in the web site link I will provide below). And, then vacuum, vacuum, vacuum, and respray as well. This spray smells awful (alcohol content) until it starts to dry, so do NOT have cats in the room you are spraying. Once dry, you would never know you sprayed the area.

Once you treat the cats with Advantage II, you can expect some level of fleas to go on for at least 60 days, sometimes more.

About the behavior - we just got through a flea infestation - the first in Feeby's life (she is 15+ yo). She absolutely freaked out to the point of making her ill. But, the key when I look back was her moving from location to location, abandoning old places for new ones, to get away from the fleas (this was over weeks). Finally, she resorted to spending 99% of her time on a coffee table to try to avoid them. Feeby was bit more distant to me, but only from the standpoint she didn't want to leave the coffee table unless she had to.

Unless your girl has some sort of allergy to fleas that is causing the discomfort, she too may have been made ill by just having the fleas. But, as A ArtNJ suggested, if her hysterectomy was recent, she could have related issues causing some of her problems. She likely needs to be looked at by a vet one way or the other.

Here is the web site that I referred to above that is very informative and helpful with regard to fleas and eradicating them.

FleaScience

 

[rubysmama]

Thanks for tagging me, A ArtNJ . Unfortunately, I can't add anything to the discussion about fleas, as my Ruby is indoor only, and (thankfully) I've never had any fleas in the house.

But as FeebysOwner can attest, fleas can be extremely bothersome to a cat.

jefferd18 : Thanks for bringing your tabby girl inside. You probably saved her life. Sorry, though, that her behaviour has suddenly changed. It could be caused by the fleas, but in case it might be something else, I have some questions:

How long has your tabby girl been inside?
Is she inside only, or does she still go outside?
Did she have the kittens? If so, how long ago?
When was she spayed?
Does she get along with your other cat(s)?
And, lastly, has anything changed in the household since you brought her inside?

 

[susanm9006]

I don’t think it is the fleas. If she was a feral she dealt with them constantly so a problem with them in the house shouldn’t be something new to her. To me the most likely cause of her sudden aloofness, especially given she started as a feral was that something unnerved or frightened her. Could be a sound, a smell that was brought in on you or your shoes or if the cats go outdoors, even the smell of another cat . And that is enough to give her a small setback. If that is the case she will probably get over it quickly. Just go back to how you treated her when she was a feral and restart the process of gaining her trust.

 

[Furballsmom]

Thanks for the tag

Just go back to how you treated her when she was a feral and restart the process of gaining her trust.

I think this also

 

[jen]

I recommend buying XL dog Revolution from your vet and dosing it down to treat all your pets, if you have only a couple cats then you can treat them for a few months in a row. Most cost effective I have ever found. Your vet should/may have the dosages for cats but you can easily find them online, or someone on here might have it. I don't have it in front of me or else I would post it right now.

There are many products you cannot interchange between dogs and cats but luckily Revolution is one you can, which is great for how expensive it is. I wouldn't recommend this if I didn't know 100% that it is ok.

 

[jefferd18]

Thanks for tagging me, A ArtNJ . Unfortunately, I can't add anything to the discussion about fleas, as my Ruby is indoor only, and (thankfully) I've never had any fleas in the house.

But as FeebysOwner can attest, fleas can be extremely bothersome to a cat.

jefferd18 : Thanks for bringing your tabby girl inside. You probably saved her life. Sorry, though, that her behaviour has suddenly changed. It could be caused by the fleas, but in case it might be something else, I have some questions:

How long has your tabby girl been inside?
Is she inside only, or does she still go outside?
Did she have the kittens? If so, how long ago?
When was she spayed?
Does she get along with your other cat(s)?
And, lastly, has anything changed in the household since you brought her inside?

Thank you, ruby'smoma for replying.



She has been an indoor and fixed kitty since early June. I rescued her in late May. At first she was very playful, but cautious around me. After a month she began to want to cuddle right next to me and then a few weeks ago she began to lie on top of me if I was laying down. She would always come to her name. Now she totally ignores me.

She was pregnant but because she had not been eating or drinking anything the kittens died inside her. They basically stopped developing after three weeks into her pregnancy.

The only thing that has really changed is that the flea situation is getting more intense. She had topical flea protection put on her twice but not in the last six weeks. She is now letting Figaro rule the roost and she didn't put up with his bullying when she first got here, she would always smack him. Its like she has lost her moxie.

She ignores the other cats or smacks them if they get too close. She has some connection with Figaro because they are about the same age and they sometimes play together.

She wasn't that friendly with me over on the parking lot, I wonder if her true self is now coming out.

 

[jefferd18]

I don’t think it is the fleas. If she was a feral she dealt with them constantly so a problem with them in the house shouldn’t be something new to her. To me the most likely cause of her sudden aloofness, especially given she started as a feral was that something unnerved or frightened her. Could be a sound, a smell that was brought in on you or your shoes or if the cats go outdoors, even the smell of another cat . And that is enough to give her a small setback. If that is the case she will probably get over it quickly. Just go back to how you treated her when she was a feral and restart the process of gaining her trust.

I do think something scared her, Figaro is always knocking stuff down throughout the night and I wonder if that rattled her. Inky was brought in about six weeks ago and is staying in my upstairs bathroom but if she is reacting to him then it certainly was a delay reaction.

She now cringes when I go to pet her, and when I hold her, she meows like she is in pain.

She was never very friendly to me over at the parking-lot, always choosing to stay at least five feet away from me. Never ran from me but never took a chance on me either.

 

[Furballsmom]

She also meows in discomfort whenever I pick her up and hold her. Could she still be in pain from her hysterectomy?

Hopefully the vet is able to determine that she's ok fingers crossed

This might also help re; the fleas ;
from @catsknowme;
would add that salt is effective against fleas, especially in the bedding and carpets - it dries them out. A comb dipped in warm salt water is effective at immobilizing fleas while de-fleaing but use only a tsp or less of salt per cup of water. And have a strong salt solution nearby to dip the comb full of fleas into, so they don't escape.