We welcomed our baby into our home about 3 months ago, and immediately noticed El Gato was having problems. He visited his litter box about every five minutes, and we eventually even noticed blood in his urine and took him to the vet. He was treated for a urinary infection, but the vet mentioned that it could possibly be related to anxiety with us having been away from home for a few days (at the hospital), and with the subsequent arrival of the unfamiliar baby. Gato seemed to respond well to the antibiotics he was given for infection, although he still seemed to visit his box more frequently than before baby came along...
Today Jamie baby sat her cousin's child (1 1/2 yr old) here at our place. I guess that the cat immediately began acting very "crazy" as soon as the new kid was here. He ran throughout our apartment and hissed and basically would not let anyone near without threat of attack. He basically had Jamie scared to the point that she left the apartment and called me stating that she wants him out and is scared for our baby and will always wonder if he is going to just snap and attack us. I, on the other hand, am not overly worried and told Jamie that I thought her freaking out certainly does not help things since animals can sense this and it will only further send them into a frenzy. Jamie's cousin's kid is gone now and we are all home and Gato seems OK again, although a little uneasy and acting nervous.
I should say that Gato is VERY personable and close to us, he is not at all a cat that stays out of sight or likes to be left alone. We actually think of him as a little dog since he is normally so personable, but we don't want our little cat/dog to turn out to be Cujo! Part of me even thinks that he could have been acting like somewhat of a watchdog and possibly thought the new kid was some type of threat to us or himself. Maybe he didn't like the thought of a human that is about his size but is too unpredictable for him to trust...
My question is has anyone ever experienced similar behavior from their cat? Would you think that perhaps this is the same anxiety that also caused the urinary problems previously? If in fact this is related to anxiety, what is the treatment that a veterinarian is likely to use (and would it completely change his normal personality)?
Today Jamie baby sat her cousin's child (1 1/2 yr old) here at our place. I guess that the cat immediately began acting very "crazy" as soon as the new kid was here. He ran throughout our apartment and hissed and basically would not let anyone near without threat of attack. He basically had Jamie scared to the point that she left the apartment and called me stating that she wants him out and is scared for our baby and will always wonder if he is going to just snap and attack us. I, on the other hand, am not overly worried and told Jamie that I thought her freaking out certainly does not help things since animals can sense this and it will only further send them into a frenzy. Jamie's cousin's kid is gone now and we are all home and Gato seems OK again, although a little uneasy and acting nervous.
I should say that Gato is VERY personable and close to us, he is not at all a cat that stays out of sight or likes to be left alone. We actually think of him as a little dog since he is normally so personable, but we don't want our little cat/dog to turn out to be Cujo! Part of me even thinks that he could have been acting like somewhat of a watchdog and possibly thought the new kid was some type of threat to us or himself. Maybe he didn't like the thought of a human that is about his size but is too unpredictable for him to trust...
My question is has anyone ever experienced similar behavior from their cat? Would you think that perhaps this is the same anxiety that also caused the urinary problems previously? If in fact this is related to anxiety, what is the treatment that a veterinarian is likely to use (and would it completely change his normal personality)?
