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I've had my cat for a little over three months, and she's always had separation anxiety. I would however be able to leave her by herself for hours without incident until recently - she would be mad and ignore me for a while when I returned but nothing more serious than that.
She had a traumatic vet visit a couple weeks ago, and started acting differently. She stopped purring for me altogether and her urinary habits changed - she went from peeing two or three times daily to five or six times. I was concerned she had a UTI but she had no other symptoms, so I decided to observe her and see if things got better. I've been spending the better part of the last two weeks literally glued to her side, and have not left her by herself for more than ten minutes unless someone has been around to stay next to her.
She would go back to peeing normally whenever I was constantly by her side. In fact her bathroom habits have been perfect for the past five days, because I've spent pretty much every minute with her. I started trying to leave her alone for short periods of time yesterday, and noticed that she started peeing again when I'd leave her by herself. The peeing seems to be stress-related, since it clears up completely when she isn't anxious.
Feliway doesn't seem to soothe her anxiety, and she isn't interested in distracting herself with toys - the only toy she really enjoys is a wand toy she needs me to play with. She has plenty of places to perch and burrow but instead just sits in one place waiting for me to come back when I'm gone. Cat TV and music don't help either. I understand why she's so anxious, as her original owner got her when she was a kitten then dumped her when she was just a year old. She was really attached to this woman and is obviously afraid of something like this happening again.
I do need to start leaving her by herself at some point though, as being by her side 24/7 is not possible. What can I do though? It seems like all she wants is for me to be with her all the time, and refuses to accept any other alternatives.
She had a traumatic vet visit a couple weeks ago, and started acting differently. She stopped purring for me altogether and her urinary habits changed - she went from peeing two or three times daily to five or six times. I was concerned she had a UTI but she had no other symptoms, so I decided to observe her and see if things got better. I've been spending the better part of the last two weeks literally glued to her side, and have not left her by herself for more than ten minutes unless someone has been around to stay next to her.
She would go back to peeing normally whenever I was constantly by her side. In fact her bathroom habits have been perfect for the past five days, because I've spent pretty much every minute with her. I started trying to leave her alone for short periods of time yesterday, and noticed that she started peeing again when I'd leave her by herself. The peeing seems to be stress-related, since it clears up completely when she isn't anxious.
Feliway doesn't seem to soothe her anxiety, and she isn't interested in distracting herself with toys - the only toy she really enjoys is a wand toy she needs me to play with. She has plenty of places to perch and burrow but instead just sits in one place waiting for me to come back when I'm gone. Cat TV and music don't help either. I understand why she's so anxious, as her original owner got her when she was a kitten then dumped her when she was just a year old. She was really attached to this woman and is obviously afraid of something like this happening again.
I do need to start leaving her by herself at some point though, as being by her side 24/7 is not possible. What can I do though? It seems like all she wants is for me to be with her all the time, and refuses to accept any other alternatives.
