Background: My 4-year-old kitty has always spent all her time wherever I am (or my husband or son, when I'm not home), or no one is home, in one of the bedrooms on a bed or in the window sill. On the few times she has ventured outside, she watches anxiously to make sure the door is left open so she can come back in, and never ventures from the porch, deck, or hedge in front of the house. If the door shuts and she is shut out, she panics and meows and scratches until we let her in.
Three months ago I started traveling during the week and coming home on weekends. She is always very clingy when I first get home, but then she seems normal. A few weeks, she discovered a broken window which my other cat uses to go in and out. She has always known about the window but has never ventured through it before. Apparently when she was going in or out, she cut a triangular flap on her back, which caused some problems for a couple of weeks, but appears to have healed, although I did not take her to the vet.
Last weekend when I came home my husband said she had been outside for several days and he could not coax her back in. I found her outside on the deck, and managed to coax her back in to eat. She was very skinny. She had a few bites from her dish and then headed to the broken window and did not come back in. This weekend I have not seen her at all -- she seems to have disappeared completely or is hiding and will not come to me.
Is she sick from an infection, maybe from the wound and being outdoor, that causes personality change and hiding behavior, or could it just be because I'm traveling and she's suddenly not dealing with it? I'll be finished with my out of town assignment next month. Should I just wait it out?
Three months ago I started traveling during the week and coming home on weekends. She is always very clingy when I first get home, but then she seems normal. A few weeks, she discovered a broken window which my other cat uses to go in and out. She has always known about the window but has never ventured through it before. Apparently when she was going in or out, she cut a triangular flap on her back, which caused some problems for a couple of weeks, but appears to have healed, although I did not take her to the vet.
Last weekend when I came home my husband said she had been outside for several days and he could not coax her back in. I found her outside on the deck, and managed to coax her back in to eat. She was very skinny. She had a few bites from her dish and then headed to the broken window and did not come back in. This weekend I have not seen her at all -- she seems to have disappeared completely or is hiding and will not come to me.
Is she sick from an infection, maybe from the wound and being outdoor, that causes personality change and hiding behavior, or could it just be because I'm traveling and she's suddenly not dealing with it? I'll be finished with my out of town assignment next month. Should I just wait it out?
