My cat has gone off the deep end!

[RolliePollie]

I was away on a trip for 6 days and left my two cats to fend for themselves. I've left them before and they seem to do fine. They're not too good with other people anyway, so I figure it's better to just leave them alone. Quinn, aka "the perfect house cat," acts like she could care less that I'm back. But Claudia, who is very neurotic, usually takes a day or two to "recover" when I get home. She meows a lot, wants to be on me constantly (right now she's sitting on my lap kneading my stomach), yowls if I leave the room, etc. But this time it's MUCH worse than usual. She is a wreck! I got no sleep last night because she absolutely would not settle down. She was walking on me, meowing like crazy, and licking me. But there's no point in locking her out of my bedroom because she just has to get this out of her system. This afternoon she is losing her voice from the incessant meowing. It's sad that she's so traumatized by being left alone. She's acting like a raving lunatic!

Does anyone else have a cat that reacts like this? I think she's officially gone off the deep end. She may have to go stay with a friend the next time I take a trip. Can't you see the potential for psychosis in that cute fuzzy face?

[Zen]

I see more than just potential

[teigyr]

She's cute! But yeah, there's something there. I bet she'd lock you in the house if she could.

We've got one that was normal but clingy until we went away for the weekend. Now, every time we are trying to sleep, she marches around the bed in circles kneading her little paws. Around and around with her back bent like a hedgehog. If we try to stop her with attention, she will accept the attention then go back to the exact spot where she stopped.

Now that I think about it though, 6 days is a LONG time. While our cats aren't what you'd call social, we'll have someone check in to make sure everything's ok. The cats will come for treats or canned cat food so the person can check to make sure all are accounted for.

[RolliePollie]

Yeah, 6 days is too long to just leave them. Even with four litterboxes, it was pretty apparent that it would've been good to have someone come over at least once while I was gone. Next trip, I'll be rethinking this. It's nice that cats are so independent that they can take care of themselves, but obviously they also get very attached to their humans!

Zen - you crack me up! I did choose one of the more psycho-looking pictures. I should've chosen the one where she's got her head stuck in an empty Kleenex box.

[bikerz]

Sara, your cat looks so much like one of my cats, and she behaves the same way sometimes, but just because she wants to, not because she's been left alone. Honestly, they could be twins separated at birth!

[winddance]

Oh yes. I know that look well. I have one cat that was so clingy that I got her a cat (dragging her across the carpet while she clung to my pant leg was the last straw.)

I'm in and out of town these days, so I had to come up with something. I play with my cats when I get home. We run around, I pet them, I dangle their jingly toy while they flip themselves all over the place...and then...they fall asleep in the middle of the floor. I go to bed. Sometimes they try for a bit of a reprise at odd hours of the morning and end up playing Thunder Chase/Freight Train/Feline Bowling, but for the most part this works well.



My limit for leaving the cats alone is 4 days. At 4 days, I usually come home to find that they've climbed up the refridgerator and knocked down anything that's on top of it. I am not sure what they would do after 5 days, much less 6. I do not wish to find out, however, so 4 days it is.

[Tuckervill]

Oh, the little darling.

My black cat, Cooler, does the same thing. He insists on having skin to skin contact with me for days after I've been gone. It doesn't matter if I've left him all alone or hubby or kid stays home with him. He needs ME.

After he gets it all out of his system, he's not so bad. But, the longer I'm gone the worse he is. I think 6 days is a long time with no one checking on them...I'd be worried that something happened if I didn't send someone to check, at least on the house. But it wouldn't make a difference with how Cooler reacts when I return.

Karen.

[colby]

Your poor baby! It sounds painful... for both of you.

I have one that looks just like her, she has her needy moments. She has this tiny little meow, and loves to fluff her pillow (especially your full belly and/or bladder). She's pretty friendly, but I think if we all disappeared for 6 days she'd get a little neurotic.

We have one in particular that is very needy. If he squirts out the door and gets stuck outside overnight, or stuck in a bedroom with the door closed for too long, or if you leave for any period of time, he is very clingy after you are reunited. Following you around, winding between your feet, drooling, licking, meowing, demanding the pettins NOW, you name it. He was originally a rescue, and I think the whole experience rewired his poor little brain. He has a food complex, too. If we left him alone for 6 days, he might revert to kittenhood.

I have a couple that do the "aloof" thing. When I'm gone for a while and return, they have to go everywhere I go, but they don't necessarily want attention, just to be NEAR (with that STARE). They also seem to meow at me a lot more than normal, I could swear I'm getting a lecture ("now mom, I know you understand how picky we are about our habits, and you just had to go and ruin it, how rude!"). Normally, when I get up in the morning, they come downstairs with me and go upstairs when I go to bed, but when I return from travel it seems like everywhere I go there they are. Thankfully, I usually travel alone but don't live alone, so someone is at home with the cats almost all the time.

It would be cool if you could find someone they could get familiar with, so they weren't freaked out when someone new came in (half of mine would hide if a stranger came around, but thankfully the most needy would come out no matter who it was). Even a friend that could sit in your house for a couple of hours, watch TV, read a book, do normal "you" things that would make them feel less alone. It's not a substitute for you and there will still be some neediness when you come home, but at least they can satisfy some of their apprehension and fluff someone else's pillow for a while.

[LBTC]

We've always had the dog and cat combos, so even an overnight away requires a stop in from a friend, but we always prefer a pet/house sitter. I try to make friends with 20-30 somethings who find themselves living with mom and dad again, and could use a break - of course, they have to love dogs and cats!

Crazy as it sounds, I always tell them how many sleeps we'll be gone and who will take care of them; and that they need to listen to that person and be good, just like kids. Yes, reunions are still wild, but not as crazy or long as you're talking about!

I did read in a really fabulous book once, that the if we set aside 5 minutes when we first get home to play and interact with our pets, then they will be better behaved for the rest of the day.....

Good luck with your little monkey cat!

Hugs and butterflies,
~T~

[RolliePollie]

We're off to bed and Claudia seems a little calmer this evening. I have my fingers crossed. I fully expect to be walked on, kneaded on, meowed at, and probably drooled on too...but I hope it's just one or two times throughout the night tonight!

This cat really is a nut...she's a joy to have around, very entertaining and very sweet...but my house is way beyond child-proofed. She's a serious cleptomaniac, she carries things around like a dog, and she's OCD about always placing certain toys in certain places. She'll eat anything, including string and electrical cords, and she has Psychogenic Alopecia, which means she obsessively eats her own fur off in patches due to nerves. The vet wants to put her on Prozac but her mommy isn't so keen on the idea (yet). I guess expecting this particular cat to stay home alone for 6 days is asking a little much. Next trip, a cat-sitter is definitely in order!

[Zen]

I would not want to see your cat on catnip.
If I were better at Photoshop I'd turn her into SuperCat! with that pose.

this outfit was not the cat's idea

[short cut sally]

When we go on camping trips (usually 3-4 days) "Grandma" comes and visits twice a day, she cant' bear to think that her little one is left alone. I've tried to tell her that once a day is fine, check foods, litters etc. NOPE, litters done twice a day (which I do anyways-he's fussy) and she entertains him and he loves it. Of course, he loves it when we come home too. My cat would not know what to do if he was left alone for so many days, he is a social bug.