Constant Meowing/Behaviour Change

retrored

TCS Member
Thread starter
Young Cat
Joined
Aug 1, 2012
Messages
24
Purraise
8
Hi all,

My name is Erin and I am a cat owner from Australia. My cat's name is Henry.

To introduce the issue I'm having with Henry, it might be best if I include a bit of a backstory- I apologise if this is too long.

In 2010, I bought my own house- however, there was a catch- it came with a free cat. My neighbour informed me that she'd been feeding the cat as it had been neglected by my house's last owners. Despite being fed by her, the cat tended to spend more time in my yard. I decided to take him in. It took a lot to coax him around initially as it appeared as well as being physically scrawny and hungry, he'd also been abused too- he was wary about approaching me...despite looking like he wanted to and then if I did pat him he'd cower or fall low to the ground.

Fast forward to now, and Henry is a typically happy cat. He lives indoors (but has had a recent diagnosis of FIV), eats well and is extremely relaxed.

One of my concerns is that Henry is very clingy and this relates to my current problem. Henry has to be with me all the time- he follows me from room to room (even the bathroom) and before his diagnosis of FIV he'd even follow me as I walked to gym. Most evenings/nights, Henry wants to sleep on my lap or even sit near or on my shoulder. He loves cuddles. It's very cute but I've often wondered whether it's normal.

Anyway, that's the backstory. The main problem is this- just recently my boyfriend moved into my house. This for some reason, seems to have turned Henry's world upside down.

Henry has always got on with my boyfriend- he likes to sit on his lap- but will never headbutt him or be extremely affectionate like he is with me. However, he does seem to be showing jealousy...I have no idea if cats exhibit this- I've never really seen it before anyway.

Henry urinated on some of my boyfriend's clothes recently and also steals  the seat where my boyfriend sits- which is kind of funny- even if he's out of the room for a matter of seconds.

The seat thing doesn't seem much, I know- but it's the little things like that that make me wonder.

The most problematic issue though is the constant meowing at night. Henry will wander around the house and meow. Mainly outside our bedroom which is also near the front door. I'm not sure if Henry is anxious to go out or wants us.

The solution so far is having Henry sleep on the bed with us- something I've never done in the past as Henry has his own seperate bed somewhere else- before my boyfriend moved in he used to sleep there all night fine.

I know he doesn't need to toilet or that he's hungry as he has plenty of dry food/water and a litter tray accessible at all hours. The only other possibility is that it's catting season where I live and Henry wants to go out and breed. (As he's a tom with FIV, aged about two- I've been waiting til he's well enough before getting him desexed)

My boyfriend and I are struggling to sleep at night and I'm very much at a loss for a solution (aside from seeing if desexing solves anything)

Also, as a sidenote/experiment I'm doing- my boyfriend is out of town at the moment- so I'm seeing if him being gone will have any effect on his behaviour....I have no idea though.

Please, any comments or suggestions would be great.

Erin
 

emilymaywilcha

TCS Member
Top Cat
Joined
May 15, 2012
Messages
1,338
Purraise
29
Location
Gainesville, Florida
Welcome to TCS!


Thank you for your questions. Your post was not too long.

It is normal for cats to exhibit behavior changes when a boyfriend moves in. That is a big life change for the cat. There is nothing wrong with him. He is just stressed about your boyfriend living with you now, a common cause of urinating outside the litterbox. The best thing to start with is Feliway to calm Henry and not make him want to pee on your boyfriend's clothes anymore. There are two products: a diffuser and a spray.



Seat stealing is not something I would worry about. It may just mean your boyfriend has warm legs. I used to have a cat who did that to my mom when she refilled her coffee.

Unfortunately, FIV is not curable. Waiting for Henry to get better would mean never getting him neutered. Another member, LDG, has a cat with FIV. It did not prevent him from getting neutered.
 
Top