My cat is acting weird

I just got back from a vacation, and one of my cats is now acting strange. We were gone for three weeks, but had a cat sitter coming in twice a day to play with them, feed them etc. We went away for a few weeks at Christmas and the cat sitter came. When we got back the cats were fine.

But this time, one of them - Gayden, seems really nervous. He is easily startled and is not very interested in his food. He's eating it, but slowly. Normally he devours his food. He has had some health issues in the past, so it's possible he is getting sick again.

I was just wondering if anyone had ever noticed their cats not eating as well, or having difficulty re-adjusting to their owners coming back after being away for a long time. My other cat is acting like I never left, he's totally normal.

How long has it been since you've returned home? Did the sitter report anything unusual?

It's possible that being away has brought on some stress for Gayden, and stress can aggravate an illness. Or something may have happened while you were away...

The sitter said he was fine, she keeps a close eye on him due to his illnesses. We got back yesterday late afternoon.

I'm sure he just stressed out more. He may have seen something outside or something happened to really scare him and he hasn't adjusted yet. I think if something bad had happened inside your house, BOTH cats would be traumatized. You might get some calming treats to keep around and be sure to call your vet if anything gets worse. In the meantime, give him lots of love and attention, he missed you!

I would give him a couple days to re-adjust to your return, and as @Di and Bob suggested, give him lots of love.  A Feliway diffuser might help put him at ease.

If his illness and appetite still remain a concern, it would probably best to phone the vet.

Thanks everyone. My boyfriend thinks that maybe the cat sitter was changing his diet a bit and that he's gotten used to eating more dry (Taste of the Wild). She gave them an enormous amount of it while we were away. I give them 90% wet (he's had crystals in the past) and use the dry food for games. I also give some T/D because it's good for teeth and urinary.

I just gave some wet and he wasn't very interested. But my boyfriend gave him some Taste of the Wild and apparently he ate that. So I don't know.

We have a feliway diffuser plugged in, though sadly it literally just ran out. So now I have to order more. he also takes an evening calming pill.

I've given him lot's of love, play time, treats, a walk outside on his leash twice. He's in good spirits.

It could also be that he's tired of the wet food flavour. Unfortunately they had to make do with only two flavours of wet food for three weeks. Normally we have 4 or 5 flavours.

Hopefully tomorrow will be better. If not, it's off to the vet.

Hopefully he'll come around and that it's nothing serious! 

Well I got the first part of the blood test results. He's not anemic at the moment. So I'm waiting for the more complete results to rule out any serious things. But for now I gave him some Hill's A/D which is a very palatable wet food for cats that won't eat, and I also bought a new flavour of Taste of the Wild dry. He devoured both.

I'm hoping that he's just gotten tired of the same food (I left the cat sitter with only two flavours of wet food for 3 weeks.) and/or has just been stressed from us being away and then coming home and all the changes in routine because of that.

Oh, so you ended up taking him to the vet today, then? I'm glad that he ate.

Yes, I was so paranoid about the recurrence of anemia that I didn't want to wait. I'm still waiting for the final results of the blood test. He's clear for anemia but I'm waiting to hear if he might have something more serious.

That's great for you to be so proactive. Do let us know how the rest of the blood results come out. Sending lots of vibes for Gayden... 

Got the final blood test results. Apparently he's borderline for something related to kidneys. She said it could be an early sign of kidney problems. I will probably start another thread asking about kidney issues, as the vet recommended putting him on a low protein diet. I have no clue what would be a good diet at this point, he's been on Wellness for a long time and we like the quality. Of course, she immediately suggested a Hill's prescription diet, G/D. I will have to research that too.

I don't know if he developed an addiction to dry food while I was away, I know the cat sitter was giving them way more dry than I would ever give them. He's definitely not as interested in food as he usually is. I filled up two bowls and am letting the cats free feed for the next day or so. My other cat understands restraint and will eat a little at a time when he's hungry. But Gayden will usually just bury his head in the bowl and eat until there isn't any food left. He's not doing that.

I wish I knew what the problem is. I mean, can anxiety and stress lead to issues with eating?

Being picky about food and not having as much of an appetite is pretty common with kidney cats. Here's a good site for chronic kidney cat info. Www.felinecrf.org. From what you're saying, the numbers are saying that Gayden may be in the early stages of kidney disease. How old is he? If he is in the early stages, I would not recommend a low protein diet, rather a quality protein, low phosphorus diet. Low protein diets are somewhat old school thinking generally now reserved until last stages of kidney disease.

vball91 said:

Being picky about food and not having as much of an appetite is pretty common with kidney cats. Here's a good site for chronic kidney cat info. Www.felinecrf.org. From what you're saying, the numbers are saying that Gayden may be in the early stages of kidney disease. How old is he? If he is in the early stages, I would not recommend a low protein diet, rather a quality protein, low phosphorus diet. Low protein diets are somewhat old school thinking generally now reserved until last stages of kidney disease.

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It's just weird that this would come on so suddenly. When I left for holiday three weeks ago he was fine. Then, three weeks later, I come back and find he's lost interest in wet food almost completely - doesn't even want A/D.

He's 6 years old.

I got to say, it's so incredibly frustrating that vets all just want to push the prescription diets all the time. They have little else to suggest in terms of preventative medicine! It's also so tiring to now begin a new quest of research! I've already spent hundreds of hours researching FeLV, anemia, struvite crystals, and nutrition...to now have to research nutrition for kidneys all over again is just so exhausting! I wish there was a tried and true, definite, healthy way to make sure my darling just stays healthy! If it means keeping him on Wellness canned food, then great, or what ever other food that I knew was going to be super good quality, great. But it seems to me that NO commercial brand of cat food is perfect, and raw would be a bit risky for him due to the FeLV. Ugh.

Could he have gotten into anything (a toxin or plant) that would have thrown him into early kidney failure? Did she find protein in his urine? Vets will recommend a low protein diet for feline glomerular disease (or glomerulonephritis), which is a specific type of inflammatory kidney disease where there is protein infiltration in the urine (BUN and creatinine could be normal until advanced stages). Glomerular disease can be secondary to diseases of the immune system.

It is strange that this would come on so suddenly. I know you said he has had health issues in the past, and with anemia. Does he have a prior diagnosis?

I've started a new thread, as I'm getting really worried about him! He's now having spasms in his legs and running around scratching himself I don't think he has gotten into anything, my other cat is fine. They are indoor cats, I take them out on leashes only. No prior diagnosis