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- Jan 10, 2016
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I have 5 cats, a mother and her four 2-year-old male sons.
Last week, my air conditioner went out, so for the first time since the kittens were born, I turned on the ceiling fan, and it freaked them all out (except for the mother) for a while, they all ran and hid for a few hours. Eventually they seemed to get over it. Jellybean, in fact, was probably the first to come out of hiding, and he seemed OK.
On Wednesday I left for a 2-day business trip (I'm usually gone a couple of days a week, this is nothing new and has been the case their whole lives. I always leave them plenty of food and water and make sure their litter boxes are clean before I leave.) When I came back, I noticed a lot of Jellybean's black hair (he is the only black cat, and the only one with medium-length hair, the others are all shorthairs) on the bed, and he was on the bed and didn't come out to greet me when I came in.This is unusual, because of all the cats, Jellybean spends the least amount of time by far in the bedroom. He almost always sleeps in some other part of the house, and rarely comes in to the bedroom just to hang out. The presence of all the hair on the bed made it seem like he'd been on the bed the entire time I was gone.
He now refuses to come out of the bedroom at all. If I pick him up and carry him out, he runs right back in (I have no door on my bedroom). I put out some fresh food when I got back, and usually just the sound of me opening cans brings him running to the kitchen, but not this time He is a big fat boy and loves his food, so this is a huge behavior change and a huge concern. I picked him up and carried him all the way to the kitchen, and he completely freaked out, howling loudly and crying in my arms and when I put him down he ran straight back to the bedroom and hid under the bed (note: the ceiling fan was not on, and there was nothing different in any way about the kitchen or dining room). I brought him some food to the bedroom, and he ate it up quick, so there is no loss of appetite. I tried to lure him out with his favorite freeze-dried fish treats, another thing that always brings him running, again with no luck.
This morning he pooped on the suitcase I keep on the bedroom floor, rather than leave the room and use the litter box...another huge concern because Jellybean has always been my litter box champ. He's always seemed to love using the litter box, and when I pour in new litter, he always wants to be the first one to "christen" it.
Other than this, he seems OK, health-wise.No nasal discharge, no sneezing or coughing or drooling. Maybe a bit more lethargic than usual, though being a big boy, he has never been quite as energetic as his brothers...plus, it's hard to be energetic when you're keeping yourself confined in a relatively small bedroom.
Has anybody else ever experienced anything like this? I'm not sure if I should give him more time to recover from whatever it was that changed his behavior, or if more time will only cement this as the new normal for him. Should I stop bringing him food to the bedroom, and hope that hunger will eventually bring him out, or will he just starve himself? He has never been a particularly fearful cat prior to this, so I am worried.
Help!
Last week, my air conditioner went out, so for the first time since the kittens were born, I turned on the ceiling fan, and it freaked them all out (except for the mother) for a while, they all ran and hid for a few hours. Eventually they seemed to get over it. Jellybean, in fact, was probably the first to come out of hiding, and he seemed OK.
On Wednesday I left for a 2-day business trip (I'm usually gone a couple of days a week, this is nothing new and has been the case their whole lives. I always leave them plenty of food and water and make sure their litter boxes are clean before I leave.) When I came back, I noticed a lot of Jellybean's black hair (he is the only black cat, and the only one with medium-length hair, the others are all shorthairs) on the bed, and he was on the bed and didn't come out to greet me when I came in.This is unusual, because of all the cats, Jellybean spends the least amount of time by far in the bedroom. He almost always sleeps in some other part of the house, and rarely comes in to the bedroom just to hang out. The presence of all the hair on the bed made it seem like he'd been on the bed the entire time I was gone.
He now refuses to come out of the bedroom at all. If I pick him up and carry him out, he runs right back in (I have no door on my bedroom). I put out some fresh food when I got back, and usually just the sound of me opening cans brings him running to the kitchen, but not this time He is a big fat boy and loves his food, so this is a huge behavior change and a huge concern. I picked him up and carried him all the way to the kitchen, and he completely freaked out, howling loudly and crying in my arms and when I put him down he ran straight back to the bedroom and hid under the bed (note: the ceiling fan was not on, and there was nothing different in any way about the kitchen or dining room). I brought him some food to the bedroom, and he ate it up quick, so there is no loss of appetite. I tried to lure him out with his favorite freeze-dried fish treats, another thing that always brings him running, again with no luck.
This morning he pooped on the suitcase I keep on the bedroom floor, rather than leave the room and use the litter box...another huge concern because Jellybean has always been my litter box champ. He's always seemed to love using the litter box, and when I pour in new litter, he always wants to be the first one to "christen" it.
Other than this, he seems OK, health-wise.No nasal discharge, no sneezing or coughing or drooling. Maybe a bit more lethargic than usual, though being a big boy, he has never been quite as energetic as his brothers...plus, it's hard to be energetic when you're keeping yourself confined in a relatively small bedroom.
Has anybody else ever experienced anything like this? I'm not sure if I should give him more time to recover from whatever it was that changed his behavior, or if more time will only cement this as the new normal for him. Should I stop bringing him food to the bedroom, and hope that hunger will eventually bring him out, or will he just starve himself? He has never been a particularly fearful cat prior to this, so I am worried.
Help!