My Cat is Making Me Batty!

[A10CalGal]

I have recently had some very unpure thoughts about my kitty. Brittany is 10 years old, I've had her since she was a 6 week old kitten. Lately I have caught myself saying things like "oh my god Brittany, I'm going to kill you" and "shut the f&%$ up."

 

She has just become the most neurotic cat ever. She is constantly licking herelf, scratching herself, ripping her hair out or screaming at me (loud meow informing me she would like to eat). I am woken up in the middle of the night with her stomping all over my head & meowing or having a full on lick-fest on my chest. If I lock her out of our room she just does the yelling meow thing all night long.

 

A few nights ago I actually thought to myself that she doesn't have much left in her lifespan...so maybe she'll go away soon. Isn't that awful?

 

Any thoughts on making her chill out??

[TATrisha]

Sorry! My cat is the exact same way! It's driving my mother crazy!!! She's 21 years old and all she does is CRY! My mother has VERY impure thoughts about her.

I guess I would suggest just trying to think of the good things, like she she snuggles with you WITHOUT licking!!

[Jessica]

I felt that way about my old cat. As much as I loved her, and am an animal person in general, the behavior she had during those last few years drove me absolutely insane, I was practically counting down her days.

 

I felt like an ass... but seriously, it wears you down!

 

It was similar behavior... walking all over my head while sleeping... but if I put her outside she whine and scratch the door. It was a lose/lose for me. She became super clingy. I also did the yelling very bad things at my cat. It gets so frustrating. Honestly, I tried everything I could with my cat to make her chill. Put a cat bed in the room hoping she'd sleep there instead of on my face, gave her lots of love before going to bed hoping this would satisfy her, even tried to snuggle in bed with her hoping that perhaps this keep her furry ass off my head (didn't work... apparently I couldn't hold her but she could trample all over me!).

 

I never sought input from the vet though... so maybe if that's an option for you, you can do better than I did! Good luck.

[A10CalGal]

As I type she is laying next to me on the bed incessantly licking herself. It stresses me out rediculously! I get so pissed. "STOP IT!!" and then i have to make a loud noise or throw something at her to even get her attention>

 

Ugh> I was thinking maybe living in this apartment is getting to her like it"s getting to the rest of us> (i don"t know what"s going on with my keyboard here)> In reality< i think she"s been doing this for a while< it"s just gotten worse>

 

She has these horrbile scabs all around her neck & ears from scratching. And then she scratches the scabs. It's horrible.

 

I did talk to the vet about her itchiness a while back & we changed her food which made a bit of a difference. The current behavior is just pure neurosis. I love my kitty, but lately I just really hate her behavior!!

[MikkiStreak]

Cats sometimes like themselves bald (or to the point where they have open wounds) in reaction to stress due to changes in their environment. You've been thru a lot recently, and the move, combined with everything else--- she could be picking up on everyone's stress around her and reacting this way because of it.

 

Also, I know that allergies have been *really* bad this year for animals. Our dog hardly ever has had allergy issues, but this year---- she's beet red all over, constantly chews/licks herself, etc... and none of our usual 'remedies' have helped her at all.

 

I'd say take her to a vet just to check for allergies or whether it's stress-induced, or symptoms of old age. They'll have some solid advice on how to deal with whatever is causing it.

[1elephant]

when we put our house up for sale, and people were coming in and out, eddie started to pull out his fur b/c we had to put them in a cat cage all day. the vet gave us some kitty prozac and it worked, but was a bitch to get him to take it.

i also recommend feliway. it comes in 2 forms, a spray and a plug in. it's cat pheromones that calm the kitty down. we use the plug in so we don't have to spray all the time. you can find it at any petco/petsmart/etc. but it IS pretty pricey - about $40 for the first and $25 for refills...less than a vet tho...

you can also get bach's flower remedy to put in your cat's water. it supposedly has a similar calming effect, but i've never used it.

 

i know i sound like the crazy cat lady, but we REALLY researched before buying purebred cats, and then researched every little strange thing they did.

 

hope this helps!

[A10CalGal]

Thank you Lauren! Taking notes now, heading to the pet store ASAP!!

[CarrieRN]

I never had much luck with Feliway. One of my cats (now in kitty heaven) went deaf in her later years. It made her a much improved cat...she slept through the night and didn't wake up to paw at me or meow or lick. It was great! So if you can think of a way to have your cat lose her hearing? Other than that she was still obnoxiously loving. Half the time I would just carry her around the house with me. If not, she just followed me and meowed. And since she couldn't hear it...she was really loud.

[TammyWright]

christa,

 

call the cat communicator that lyssa posted about...my cat was acting so crazy and she really helped me.

 

http://bestdestinationwedding.com/forum/t12305

[A10CalGal]

Oh my gosh Tammy, thank you for posting that link! What a trip, as I read Dawn's bio, I realize that I have met her mentor Linda Tellington Jones!! I actually did a research project on telepathic communication with horses when I was in 7th or 8th grade. Awesome! I am scheduling an appt asap!