Luna crying whenever I leave

Hey everyone,

She's been doing it for about 2 months now. Luna never used to be vocal and would never meow, but now she talks quite a bit and since that started, her crying has increased whenever I leave.

Whenever I go out the front door, she wails and cries and cries so loud. Even if I've just stepped out to put the garbage out, she freaks out and cries. It's not an alone thing, if I go to work and my boyfriend is still home, she still cries and he can't do anything to console her.

Also if she hears my keys jingle, she knows I'm getting ready to leave and starts wailing as if in pain to get my attention and distract me from leaving.

How do I help comfort her when I leave? She doesn't seem to be getting used to it (and it's not a change at all from when I first got her) - she seems to be crying more and louder.

Can I do anything to console her? Other than never leave the house...

TIA

Poor kitty! That's so sad, yet kind of sweet at the same time.
Does she have a companion kitty to keep her company? I wonder if that might help. I know that most cats are independent but we have one that would probably go crazy if he was alone.

Mine does the same thing but he also hides under the bed even if someones home. I leave a shirt that smells like me and I make sure he has a ton of toys. We might be getting him a little friend after he's fixed but we might not as we're not sure how he'll interact with others.

Originally posted by lunalover:
She's been doing it for about 2 months now.

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Can you think of anything that happened around the time this started?
Think hard, real hard. For example. Did you take a vacation? Did you start
spending more time away from home than before? Do you have an irregular schedule now instead of a very regular one? Any change at all in your schedule or lifestyle you might be able to think of?

What you describe sounds very much like separation anxiety.

Comforting her when you leave is the last thing you want to do. That would only make things worse. You'll find some ideas in these articles, hopefully they'll be helpful to you.

http://www.peteducation.com/article....+2174&aid=2372

http://www.manhattancats.com/Article...n_anxiety.html

http://cat-care.suite101.com/article...ration_anxiety

http://www.associatedcontent.com/art...ts.html?cat=53

thanks for the links, i'll check them out.

nothing changed, work's the same, haven't been on holidays, haven't done anything different which is why i can't figure it out why it started.

the only thing different is she never used to meow at all then about 2 months ago she found her voice and started meowing more and more and now she cries.

she has access to all my stuff when i'm gone, i usually come home to find she's spent quite a bit of time rummaging through my clothes or she's been sleeping in my bed. and also now everytime i come home, even if i've only been outside for a minute, she tries to knead and suckle on my hair - which she's always done but she used to only do it before she went to sleep and only for a few minutes, now she does it for about 10 minutes.

i was thinking about another kitty for a while but she doesn't seem to have any interest in them. whenever she's around other cats she doesn't react to them. the last time i tried to get her to interact with a cat she stared at it for about 5 seconds then went back to trying to get my attention, and the other cat got fed up and walked off.

ahhh i don't know what to do, it's heart wrenching leaving for work and hearing her howl! i love her very much i just dont want her to be sad!

She's trying to manipulate you. You'll just have to harden your heart. In time she'll learn that you will always come back.

but see i dont give in, i never have yet - i'm usually so rushed to get to work i don't have time to go back and console her, but she's still getting upset everytime

Originally Posted by lunalover

but see i dont give in, i never have yet - i'm usually so rushed to get to work i don't have time to go back and console her, but she's still getting upset everytime

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I know it is distressing, but she will not die from it, and she has to learn sooner or later.