Cat behavior towards sick owner

bobbyc2

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I've got two cats, Puffy (3 yrs) and Scruffy (5 months) both female who act strangely when I'm sick. I've got a severe heart condition that has gotten me on Social Security Disability (I'm 50) so I'm home all the time.

When I'm not feeling well, both cats stay extremely close to me. The worse I feel, the closer the cats stay to me. Anywhere I go in the house, the cats follow. If I go to the bathroom, the cats will scratch at the door until I open it up so they can come inside and sit with me.

The cats won't eat/drink, use the litter box, etc., until my wife gets home at night from work. Is this normal behavior for cats?

Background on cats:
We found Puffy when she was about 2 to 2-1/2 weeks old (she had been abandoned by her mother) and it took almost a year for her to "accept" people outside of my wife and I. We had to feed her by hand for a few weeks and teach her how to use a litter box.

Scruffy: we got her from a friend's daughter so she was already "used" to people and is a very friendly cat, especially with out 2 year old granddaughter who hauls her all over the house without fussing at all.

Both cats are "house cats" in that they are not allowed outside unless they are on a harness and lease. Puffy has been fixed, and Scruffy will be fixed once I get my Social Security Disability (just recently approved).

Is it considered to be "normal cat behavior" for them to stick so close to me when I'm not feeling well? I've had cats in the past (our last cat died when she was 17 years old) and have never seen this kind of behavior before.

Thank you
 

organikat

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Well, cats are very intuitive. You've just discovered this for yourself


In fact, there is now scientific research into a cat's purr and its healing effects. You can Google it and see for yourself.

I think every time you lay down you should place one of your cats right over your heart and pet it until it purrs. But that's just me
 

tarasgirl06

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Organikat's right and her idea is a very good one. Each cat is an individual with an individual personality, just like each of us; so though Puffy's and Scruffy's devotion may not be common, they obviously care very much for you and your wife! One word of caution: Please inform the child who "hauls around" your cat of how to properly (and gently!!!) pick up and support a cat under the hindquarters; cats may be strong and fairly resilient, but they do not benefit from rough or careless handling at all, and need to be treated gently and with respect.
 

raggiekitty

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Yes, I have heard tales of cats who stay right by when their "people" are feeling sick. We saw it a bit ourselves one night when my husband was suffering with a kidney stone....Zoe stayed right by him. I would've thought she would be scared, but she wasn't at all...she was there to help him throught it!
Your cats are taking great care of you but I hope you don't suffer from too many bad days!
 

carwashcats

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My cats do the same also! To me it is so comforting, it's like they are guarding me! That is one of the so many reasons why I love cats so much!
There are so many people in the world that will miss out on the special
ways of cats, they have no idea how truly sensitive and smart they are!!!
I hope you feel better!
Monique
 

annericebowl

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My daughter's cat (the one in my sig) has been curling up with me alot more since I have been sick, and he lays on my back to keep me warm.
 

addiebee

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Oh, they definitely know. People think the love only flows one way with cats. Not true. My BF's cat would hang with hiim when he was sick.
 

werebear

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When I take to my bed with the flu, Mr. Bond glues himself to my side. And it's different than when I'm lying on the bed with the same book or laptop; he is there to offer comfort.

Also, the cat purrs at a healing frequency.

Here's a fascinating article:

http://www.paulapeterson.com/CatsPurr.html

It can't hurt!
 

pikate

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I saw a fascinating story on the news that has stuck with me for some time about a cat who lives in a nursing home. This cat is normally not very social, but he knows when one of the people there is going to pass. He'll crawl up on their bed and cuddle with them until they're gone. Here's the article about him: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/19959718/[/url]

Mine know when I'm upset or ill, and it sure does make me feel better when I come home from a rough day and they're purring by my side or on my lap all evening. They have some sort of amazing intuition or understanding we'll probably never understand!
 

colleen withers

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My kitten is a rescue kitten Ive had him since he was five weeks I have a chronic back disorder he knows when Im unwell his five months old now and sits  close to me when Im unwell he seems to sense it he puts his paw gently on me to check on me his now five months old and incredibly loyal
 

tammyp

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Your cats love you.  And of course they are are amazingly intuitive.  Our cats do the same thing, which is truely remarkable given their intense energy levels.  Kato curled up with my husband for a whole week, climbing inside his coat and staying with him...and Kato's intuition got him stressed that something was really wrong so he also peed on the bed (Kato is a stress pee-er, particularly if husband is upset...in this case sick!)  And Kato was right.  A diagnosis came through the next week - leukemia.

I figure the more love and purrs you get, the better your health will be!  Enjoy your cats fussing over you and supporting you - you'd do the same for them if they were sick or poorly (minus peeing on the bed lol!!)
 

tulosai

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My one cat is funny- when I am sick, he will come over every hour or so and give me a little tap on the forehead like 'you still there?'  It's honestly more annoying than anything but I know (hope) he means well...
 

kittychow1001

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I recently started suffering from really bad migrains and am now on bed rest. Every since the pain started my two cats have not left my side, where ever I go the both promply follow me and when I lay down the older one lays on my chest with one paw on my cheek or chin while the other lays spooning my head while purring. I don't care what anyone says they know when something is wrong and try to heal you with their cute kitty ways
 

lilin

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Yup, they know. :) My cat was glued to me after my dad died, and as I battled out some stress-related illnesses in the aftermath (shingles at 24 -- good times!). Lots of cats will "keep an eye on you," as it were.

My dad's cat, however, was sort of a semi-feral. She did grow up indoors, but went for about 9 months with virtually no human contact as she was growing up -- just food showing up in the basement where she was locked up, and that's it.

My dad adopted her after that, and although she liked him, she stayed a bit un-domestic. She calmed down over time, but she was forever a bit of wild critter with a weird way of communicating.

Over the course of a few months, she started getting more and more nervous and unpredictable, after 2 years of him making really good progress with her. No one could figure out why. No change in anything, as far as her living circumstances. No cats outside -- he was in a third story apartment.

And a few months later, my dad was diagnosed with terminal cancer. It was one of those terrible internal organ cancers that often has no symptoms until the end -- he had apparently felt fine until 2 or 3 months before he died. In the last couple weeks of his life, I could smell it.

After he died, she went through a bit of griefy-ness, but then calmed back down to her previous state, despite the fact that obviously her life had been upended by being rehomed yet again. And I can only conclude that she could smell his cancer too (and obviously much sooner than I could, given how much better cats' noses are than ours), but being somewhat un-domestic, didn't react the same way that a more human-socialized cat would.

Cats being able to smell all sorts of illnesses is actually pretty well-documented. There are even a few examples of care facility cats whose behavior has helped caretakers know when something has changed with a resident/patient and take a look at their health status, and also cats who react to their diabetic owner having unbalanced blood sugar.
 
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tigerzeusy

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We just got our two kittens about a week ago, they're about 4 months. They had been abandoned and brought to a animal hospital, where they stayed in a tiny room as big as our bathroom. When we took them to our place, they were very excited.
I'm a young teen with a ten-year-old sister, and I stayed home from school today with the flu. After I threw up, the two kittens were very worried. I decided to go to sleep, and just as I laid my head on my pillow, a paw shot out from under my door. I opened it, and two worried little kitties staring up at me. I put them on my bed, and the two immediately snuggled up with me. This was at 11am. My dad came to check on me at 1pm and the kitties were cuddling with me, but were watching me. They stayed with me until 2! That means they were with me for about three hours. I think they just know when something is wrong, no matter what age they are. And while they may seem independent and even cold at times, they really do worry and care about their owner.
 
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