suddenly acting funny

[scylla]

got back from a trip to see family,
ever since my cat mew has been acting weird.
he wants cuddles and pets but then flops over for belly rubs as he used to do but bites me and scratches me now when i pet him?

so at this point i dont know what to do! last night he chomped on my hand while i was sleeping and i flung him away from me. (i still feel bad) he bit his tongue or i caught it with my nail either way his tongue is sore now and he scratched me for checking his mouth for damage (this morning not right after, i fell back asleep after he bit me. i was worried that maybe he was bleeding or chipped a tooth when i tossed him off me and i felt really bad )
ah i dont know what to do i dont kick/punch him i dont hurt him in any way he still demands pets but gets mad when i do pet him.


the only thing i can think of is that he did get into a couple fights with my roomates cat? my roomate refuses to see the issue and basically encourages the fights!
so mew is a bedroom cat until we either move or the roomate puts his cat away in his room cause his cat is psycho. and attacks mew on sight and spends the day under the couch and patrolling the living room that cat doesnt even really like his owner hes just a very weird very fat cat who doesn't like anyone and theres probably a good reason for it. but i dont want to help someone whos just going to say i've ruined the cat because hes not an angry macho cat.

so maybe mew is hurt? i dont see any blood and his limbs arent bent or anything. ah i gotta take him to the vet if he doesnt improve by tomorrow. he normally so cuddly and happy but hes suddenly so aggresive towards me

hes almost two years old now so hes not an old cat. and my boyfriend said he was freaked out and looking for me while i was gone.
so he's not a cat who prefers only the other humans over me? and he keeps looking over at me and sometime crawling on top of me im just not allowed to touch him?

oh oh i almost forgot he is up to date on his vaccinations himself, roommates cat isn't though

 

[catlover73]

Did the family you were staying with have their own pets in the house?  I am wondering if this is a form of re-directed aggression because you smell differently when you got home. Do you have any dirty laundry sitting around from before your trip?  This may sound odd or gross but perhaps putting on a dirty t-shirt or some socks and just hanging out in the room with your cat will help him realize you are the same person you were before you left.

We have friends that we hang out with that have multiple cats and once in while my oldest cat Starbuck will hiss at me if I pet her right after I come home from their house.  I have found that putting a dirty sock on my hand seems to calm her down.  She will sniff the sock and then I can pet her.

If you he think may have been injured in a fight while you were gone it would probably be a good idea to take him to your regular vet for a check-up. Cats can hide pain really well.  It is also possible depending on how long you were gone that there is pain but the visible signs of the injury are gone.

I think at least for right now it is better to keep Mew in your room away from your roommate's cat. It is really hard to try to fix issue's with someone else's cat when they don't want help. All you can do here is take steps to protect Mew from being bullied.

 

[scylla]

ah thats a very good idea yes!
he sits near me and acts like me knows me but hes angry and pouty haha. yes they have a dog and two cats all fixed and older animals in the double digits now :0

i just tried the laundry thing and now he's swishing his tail at me and getting mad when i stop petting him! so it appearstohave worked very well! but we will see if he gets mad at me again today

but yeah im going to get him checked out if he acts funny at all in the next night but his funny behavior might have just been my funny smelling clothes :0 I never even thought of it because I have gone on a trip and come back with new clothes with no issues? but there weren't other cats just dogs

yes mew is being swapped between our bedroom and Computer room which hes fine with so long as we're in the room too.

EDIT: he still kicks me if i give him belly rubs but hes not using claws or biting, so i think he'll chill once he gets over himself!
and ill take him into the vet if he still doesnt let anyone touch his belly by tonight cause he loves belly rubs :0

 

[catlover73]

It seems like he may want to play right now instead of getting his belly rubbed. Have you tried doing some play time with him?

 

[scylla]

he just looks at me funny or moves away slightly

oh i finally got him to bat at a toy but hes not moving to play with it haha he is lazy though

 

[scylla]

okay so last post!
i figured it out he wanted to take over my roomates cats area. i let him visit my roomates cats area of the house that he took over and mews acting normal again, after he explored that zone (with supervision cause those two cats eat each others faces) he wanted back over to his own and he's been cuddly and normal since? like no more kicking or staring and he's sleeping beside me now? so maybe it was the stress of one of his humans being gone for a week and wanting to visit his kitty 'friend' or at least that kitties couch

he is a social cat who does like other cats he just doesn't seem to understand body language and keeps cuddling everything to death

and weirdly enough he actually really likes belly rubs? he usually prefers them over normal pets unless were talking about face scritches, even our vet is happy cause she can belly rub him.

 

[catlover73]

I am glad to hear Mew has gone back to acting normal. Sometimes it can take a little bit of time for cats to get back into a normal routine when their owner is gone for a while.  It sounds like Mew is really bonded to you and for some reason was not sure if you were there to stay.

 

[scylla]

ah that actually makes sense ;n; he was a rejected runt kitten, we got him when he was 8 weeks old and he was pretty skinny.
i think the momma cat rejected him because he got sick or because he was tiny.

he was so goopy eyed we had to literally pull half hardened layers of goop out of the eye sockets! (after holding some wet paper towel on them. we were out in the middle of nowhere and eyedrops weren't an option because of that)

thankfully he doesn't have any noticeable eye issues!

maybe next time i have a trip of some kind I'll try to take him with me!