cat won't come to me anymore

I have two male cats. They are brothers and have been raised together all their lives. One of the male cats, Sunshine has always been my little boy. The second male, Doolittle, was the runt of the litter, and always split his affection equally between my hubby and I.

Over the last week, Doolittle has started hanging on me all the time, and my baby Sunshine won't come to me for affection. He used to always run up to be petted and for attention. At times he even "shrinks back" when I try to pet him and looks around scared.

Sunshine appears depressed and has been sleeping on the heated kitty bed, that Doolittle used to sleep on all the time. Doo now wants to sleep ontop of me every night.

I am freaking out. I so miss Sunshine's affection. Any ideas what has happened? What can I do? Could there be a health problem with Sunshine?

Yes that's a good possibility when their behavior changes. Maybe you should have him checked out to rule out anything medical for the changes.

Look for other changes as well, food intake, water, litter use, sleeping, energy, loss of interest.......

It sounds as if Doolittle has taken a chance to become the dominant one, the behaviour you describe sounds as if Sunshine is being a bit nervous about coming to you, looking around and making sure that Doolittle isn't watching and then going off by himself. This is how my Radar acts when he wants to get on my lap, but if Sonic is nearby he knows Sonic will smack him, Radar always looks round to check and will go away if Sonic is watching.

This change could be because Sunshine isn't feeling well, so do make sure to get him checked out by a vet. If there is no health problem, it could be that the heirarchy between them has changed because Doolittle is getting bigger and bolder and no longer wants to be submissive to Sunshine. If that is the case, make some one to one time with Sunshine where he can't see Doolittle.

But do have a vet check first, illness is the number one cause of sudden behaviour changes.

I've had the exact same thing happen - the younger ones seem almost automatically to be treated like #1's by the older ones and it can be really frustrating. BUT - if you continue to give the older one attention - with the door closed between cats, gradually the older ones will come back around, plus stop treating the little one like he's special just because he's young and cute. just be equal with both of them, but in separate places (even a few minutes with toys, etc. a few times a day makes a difference).

While there may be behavioral issues causing this, whenever there's a noticeable change in behavior, it's time for a trip to the vet. We learned this the hard way. We didn't lose our kitty, thankfully, but had we gotten him to the vet earlier, it might not have taken two years to get him back to healthy. The behavior changes occured only over about two months, and all it was Tuxedo started turning his back to us when we were in the same room. That was it. At the end, he'd leave the room if we came in. Everything else was the same - eating, drinking, playing on his own.

So I always say, better safe than sorry. Once you've ruled out the medical, then worry about what steps to take.

Laurie

Tomorrow morning we will take Sunshine to the vet. Him and Doo are biological brothers. Actually, Sunshine has always been the eye of my heart. It is Doolittle who suddenly decided that he is Napoleon and he is the ruler. ( he is the runt of the litter and little man syndrome I think). I hope this is all just temporary cat dominance play and hopefully Sunshine will stand up for himself. He is not much of a fighter. He is extremely gentle. He has never scratched or bit or hissed at anyone. In fact, when he fights he soft paws. Kind of goes with his soft fluffy adorable look. He looks like an orange and white ragdoll and acts like it too, even though I know he is not.