I found a forum on here that appeared to relate to this, but after I signed up and tried to search for it again, I kept getting error messages - so I must start my own thread...
My 10 year old male cat, Ernie, has begun to shadow me everywhere in the house. If I'm watching TV or reading he wants to sit on my lap; when I'm at my computer he sits and stares at me for ages or taps my knee, for attention, and when I move from one room to another he follows.....and all this behaviour is constant. If he was human I'd call it stalking!
We have a younger male cat, Seve, (now 7 years old) and, from the time we got him - which was about three years after Ernie was adopted - we have encouraged Ernie to feel he's 'top cat' as he shows signs of jealousy 'though he's never aggressive - just bossy. By necessity I have to give Ernie more attention than Seve which is unfair as Seve is also an affectionate cat.
However, Ernie's constant need for affection and attention is very worrying. He's never happier than when he's in my arms, purring quietly as he pushes his head into my hand or snoring quietly with his nose under my armpit. He doesn't show any other symptoms of separation anxiety so I don't believe it's that which is causing his behaviour.
I've had cats for over thirty years and this is the first time I've had a 'stalking' cat!
My husband suggested Ernie might simply be laying claim to me, to avoid Seve having the attention....but this has only begun quite recently and, as I said before, Seve has been with us for seven years.
Any ideas?
My 10 year old male cat, Ernie, has begun to shadow me everywhere in the house. If I'm watching TV or reading he wants to sit on my lap; when I'm at my computer he sits and stares at me for ages or taps my knee, for attention, and when I move from one room to another he follows.....and all this behaviour is constant. If he was human I'd call it stalking!
We have a younger male cat, Seve, (now 7 years old) and, from the time we got him - which was about three years after Ernie was adopted - we have encouraged Ernie to feel he's 'top cat' as he shows signs of jealousy 'though he's never aggressive - just bossy. By necessity I have to give Ernie more attention than Seve which is unfair as Seve is also an affectionate cat.
However, Ernie's constant need for affection and attention is very worrying. He's never happier than when he's in my arms, purring quietly as he pushes his head into my hand or snoring quietly with his nose under my armpit. He doesn't show any other symptoms of separation anxiety so I don't believe it's that which is causing his behaviour.
I've had cats for over thirty years and this is the first time I've had a 'stalking' cat!
My husband suggested Ernie might simply be laying claim to me, to avoid Seve having the attention....but this has only begun quite recently and, as I said before, Seve has been with us for seven years.
Any ideas?
