- Joined
- Nov 9, 2013
- Messages
- 12
- Purraise
- 13
Hi all, I think last time I was on here we still had my old lady Snowball but she passed away in November 2013. We adopted two kittens - male litter mates - from a lady who had hand reared them as their mum was disturbed moving them and they were abandoned. They're pretty much 1 year and a month old now (both neutered). Ben is the smaller of the two; Jerry is a big tabby.Since day one they have been in each others pockets, very cuddly with each other and us, to the point where one of them (Ben) would freak out if his brother wasn't in the room with him. They slept together and even a week ago were grooming and cuddling up to each other without even a hint of aggression. They do occasionally play fight but it's all very light, no growling or meowing and they back off each other fairly quick.
However. That's all changed since... Sunday?
Jerry no longer wants to be touched, looks visibly quite stressed (no happy eyes
) and he's been hiding under the kitchen table pretty much all day. When I got home he was in the garden and as soon as he saw me he ran and sat under our BBQ. When I backed away from the open doorway he came running in all low postured and hid under the table. He comes out for his food and then goes back again.
Last night Ben tried to start what I think was a play fight with him and it ended up with us having to break it up as Ben leapt onto Jerry and Jerry rolled over and started yowling. He's normally happy to at least scrap back a little!
Some pertinent facts that may/may not make a difference:
- He's not off his food at all (they eat next to each other without issue but today we have started separating each other just in case it's that) and is peeing/using the litterbox fine as far as we can tell
- Next door have just had the ok to let their kitten out for the first time, his first day out was early last week but he's recently started poking his nose under our fence (Ben sits and growls at him)
- We had my sister and brother in law down last weekend so I was sleeping downstairs rather than in my normal bedroom
- He's licking himself all over quite a lot, especially if you can touch him.
- He's not lashing out at us, or Ben at all
- He's recently started eating our bean plant leaves (?!)
- Ben is the primary hunter, he brings frogs in, Jerry tends to stop at twigs...!
Any ideas? We're going to call the vets tomorrow, but my parents are fairly convinced he's just stressed about territory or it's Ben stressing him out. Or that because Ben is the hunter, he's bullying Jerry. They're not keen on the idea of taking him to the vet as they feel it's behavioural but it seems off to me. Ben has special food as he's been diagnosed as being pre-disposed to kidney crystals (?); caught when he started peeing everywhere. Jerry is not doing this at the moment but could it be presenting in a different way?
However. That's all changed since... Sunday?
Jerry no longer wants to be touched, looks visibly quite stressed (no happy eyes
) and he's been hiding under the kitchen table pretty much all day. When I got home he was in the garden and as soon as he saw me he ran and sat under our BBQ. When I backed away from the open doorway he came running in all low postured and hid under the table. He comes out for his food and then goes back again. Last night Ben tried to start what I think was a play fight with him and it ended up with us having to break it up as Ben leapt onto Jerry and Jerry rolled over and started yowling. He's normally happy to at least scrap back a little!
Some pertinent facts that may/may not make a difference:
- He's not off his food at all (they eat next to each other without issue but today we have started separating each other just in case it's that) and is peeing/using the litterbox fine as far as we can tell
- Next door have just had the ok to let their kitten out for the first time, his first day out was early last week but he's recently started poking his nose under our fence (Ben sits and growls at him)
- We had my sister and brother in law down last weekend so I was sleeping downstairs rather than in my normal bedroom
- He's licking himself all over quite a lot, especially if you can touch him.
- He's not lashing out at us, or Ben at all
- He's recently started eating our bean plant leaves (?!)
- Ben is the primary hunter, he brings frogs in, Jerry tends to stop at twigs...!
Any ideas? We're going to call the vets tomorrow, but my parents are fairly convinced he's just stressed about territory or it's Ben stressing him out. Or that because Ben is the hunter, he's bullying Jerry. They're not keen on the idea of taking him to the vet as they feel it's behavioural but it seems off to me. Ben has special food as he's been diagnosed as being pre-disposed to kidney crystals (?); caught when he started peeing everywhere. Jerry is not doing this at the moment but could it be presenting in a different way?
