Please Help Me

[Taylorlayne582]

I am currently pet sitting my bestfriends family's pets. The dog who stays upstairs is fine. But my best friends room is a basement bedroom and that's where her cat stays. They left yesterday so I went down this morning for the second time but something changed. The Cat was rubbing against everything and acting like he wanted to be petted so I did. But he keeps meowing loudly and acting that way, sooooooo i thought he was hungry and gave him food then water. And he wasn't interested he just kept looking up at me and rubbing around and meowing but the thing is he keeps attacking my leg too and trying to bite me...... What do I do!??

 

[KarenKat]

Rubbing his cheek on everything and meowing is a way maybe to reduce stress. Cats have pheromones in their cheeks that calm them. Your friend is gone and the cat probably misses them.

For the biting/leg attacking, does it seem playful? Does that cat run in to “attack” and then run away playfully? The cat may just need you to pay with him. Does your friend have any toys, especially the kind on a stick with a string? If not you can improvise a toy with string, shoelace or something. Try not to use your hands or other limbs to play with him since you don’t want him to think you are a toy.

Any idea how old the cat is?

 

[amethyst]

Did you spend time playing with him? It sounds like he is lonely and bored. Also maybe insecure being left alone, his human left and didn't come back. I would try playing with him until he tires out, for most cats (it depends on age and breed) a good 15 minutes a couple times a day is enough.

 

[Mamanyt1953]

That was my thought, as well, a combination of loneliness and stress. It would account for the rubbing, the meowing, and the biting (he's desperate for any attention). Just try to sit down and spend more time with him.

 

[Taylorlayne582]

Thankyou for the help!! I'll try to spend some time with him and see what happens. He's a little over a year old. I hope some affection will calm him down. I've been around him since he was a kitten so there's no reason for him to think I'm an intruder,at first i thought maybe that was the problem but that wouldn't be very likely. I don't want to be scared of him but right now i am,so hopefully giving him more attention will help with my fear. I love animals especially cats so I'd hate to grow fearful of them.

 

[Mamanyt1953]

Let us know how the little guy is doing. Does he have a wand toy, so that you can play with him without your hands and legs being a target?