Pregnant cat massive change in behavior.

[Ravenmailey]

She is getting close to having her babies now but it has been since even before we could tell she was pregnant. I should preface this with I've never personally owned a female cat I've always had male cats so I've never had to deal with this. She became incredibly reclusive and started acting genuinely a little feral, running away from us, food aggression, she is constantly trying to leave our house. Like all the sudden she can't stand to be inside anymore. She has become aggressive and mean to our other cat who is male but has genuinely only ever been kind and is still trying to be. She will sleep with me in bed again now. But for the most part is still avoiding everyone else. She has been lashing out at my daughter whom she used to play with. I love her a lot and she never gets aggressive with me but everyone else she is. And it's getting hard to keep her in the house, and that's not good as she will have her kittens really soon. I am also pregnant but her attitude never changed until she got pregnant. Will she bounce back after the babies are born or maybe gone? I am more then capable of helping her I've fostered lots of mama cats just never delt with this part. I just miss my cat and so does the rest of the family. I don't want to have to give her up after the kittens have homes because she is putting herself in danger running away all the time and has removed herself form the family. Will she come back around?

 

[Furballsmom]

Hi, hang in there with her, and give her lots of space. Don't approach her, including your daughter . She's thinking about where to nest, super distracted about it and is finding everyone else to be "in the way", and she appears to even be a little panicked about that.

Do you have a part of the house that you can create as really quiet where nobody goes for a while, with an additional closet you can clear the floor. Hopefully she discovers it and can calm down there. Also you might consider feeding her extra, even kitten food to help nutritionally.

 

[Ravenmailey]

Hi, hang in there with her, and give her lots of space. Don't approach her, including your daughter . She's thinking about where to nest, super distracted about it and is finding everyone else to be "in the way", and she appears to even be a little panicked about that.

Do you have a part of the house that you can create as really quiet where nobody goes for a while, with an additional closet you can clear the floor. Hopefully she discovers it and can calm down there. Also you might consider feeding her extra, even kitten food to help nutritionally.

Sadly I really have a smaller two bedroom trailer and cannot give her a space that is completely separate from the rest of the household. I have a decent sized dog crate that after her kittens come so she has a safe place for them and I know first time Mom cats don't do very well so she can be kept with them so she doesn't leave them. I won't trap her in there by any means. But no spare closests or rooms. She spends most of her days in my room on my bed completely alone. And we leave her be. My 3 year old really just doesn't understand why she can't even walk past the cat without getting scratched and hissed at so she is mostly leaving her alone since it's become so unpleasant. The other cat even mostly leaves her be now. I have also tripled her food intake and the other cat let's her eat first and won't finish the bowl anymore so she can come back later wich is new behavior for him and him clearly trying to help her. She just is aggressive with him around food when he is just walking past her not even trying to eat. Sometimes she won't be eating and will just come over kinda out of left feild and get him for eating even though he let her eat, and waited like 30 min after food was down to go to the bowl. They are also feed freeze dried raw grain free cat food with supplements and raw chicken several times a week. She is far from starving just simply being aggressive. I really do hope she comes back around she has become completely unbearable to literally everyone else in the house. Like genuinely mean. It's not like my kid is even comfortable being around her anymore and she is really mean to my husband now too.... It just makes me sad. And we had one room. Have some issues so it was left empty pretty much for a month (my daughters room) early in the pregnancy before we noticed she completely isolated herself in there even stopped using the litter box so I don't really feel comfortable letting her barricade herself in a closet I can't have her just hangout totally isolated and in unlitterbox training herself.

 

[Ravenmailey]

Sadly I really have a smaller two bedroom trailer and cannot give her a space that is completely separate from the rest of the household. I have a decent sized dog crate that after her kittens come so she has a safe place for them and I know first time Mom cats don't do very well so she can be kept with them so she doesn't leave them. I won't trap her in there by any means. But no spare closests or rooms. She spends most of her days in my room on my bed completely alone. And we leave her be. My 3 year old really just doesn't understand why she can't even walk past the cat without getting scratched and hissed at so she is mostly leaving her alone since it's become so unpleasant. The other cat even mostly leaves her be now. I have also tripled her food intake and the other cat let's her eat first and won't finish the bowl anymore so she can come back later wich is new behavior for him and him clearly trying to help her. She just is aggressive with him around food when he is just walking past her not even trying to eat. Sometimes she won't be eating and will just come over kinda out of left feild and get him for eating even though he let her eat, and waited like 30 min after food was down to go to the bowl. They are also feed freeze dried raw grain free cat food with supplements and raw chicken several times a week. She is far from starving just simply being aggressive. I really do hope she comes back around she has become completely unbearable to literally everyone else in the house. Like genuinely mean. It's not like my kid is even comfortable being around her anymore and she is really mean to my husband now too.... It just makes me sad. And we had one room. Have some issues so it was left empty pretty much for a month (my daughters room) early in the pregnancy before we noticed she completely isolated herself in there even stopped using the litter box so I don't really feel comfortable letting her barricade herself in a closet I can't have her just hangout totally isolated and in unlitterbox training herself.

It's just like this behavior has been this way and only getting progressively worse probably since she got pregnant. I have room in my closet I could probably clear out for her but I can't have her start defecating in my closet.

 

[StefanZ]

It's just like this behavior has been this way and only getting progressively worse probably since she got pregnant. I have room in my closet I could probably clear out for her but I can't have her start defecating in my closet.

Still its prob the best chance... Are you sure she will defecate, if she has a smallish litter box in there?

You can possibly also try with a big dog type crate... With a cloth over it. This should make her feel more safe and protected...

You can also try with a Feliway diffuser. Helps sometimes. And or calm music. On youtube there are lots of clips with cat calming music. Or even human calming music.

You can try parallelly with two or three of these her suggestions...

ps. As she seems happy to sleep with you, let her continue with this. Otherwise let her take her place in this cage / closet.


ps2. Re possible defecating, I hope you do have such a biologic enzymatic anti smell spray? These are quite efficient as extra after cleaning.

 

[Furballsmom]

Have some issues so it was left empty pretty much for a month (my daughters room) early in the pregnancy before we noticed she completely isolated herself in there even stopped using the litter box so I don't really feel comfortable letting her barricade herself in a closet I can't have her just hangout totally isolated and in unlitterbox training herself.

I really do hope she comes back around she has become completely unbearable to literally everyone else in the house.

Along with StefanZ's excellent comments above, if by chance the closet or a crate doesn't work, try this (your daughters room) again, and as mentioned with a second litterbox she can have just for herself. Feed her in there as well. Everyone will be more calm if she isolates herself from you-all, and that's important as well.

It won't be long now, and you need to do this anyway for the actual birth and afterwards to keep mama more content and the kittens away from everyone until they grow big enough to be safe.

 

[Ravenmailey]

Still its prob the best chance... Are you sure she will defecate, if she has a smallish litter box in there?

You can possibly also try with a big dog type crate... With a cloth over it. This should make her feel more safe and protected...

You can also try with a Feliway diffuser. Helps sometimes. And or calm music. On youtube there are lots of clips with cat calming music. Or even human calming music.

You can try parallelly with two or three of these her suggestions...

ps. As she seems happy to sleep with you, let her continue with this. Otherwise let her take her place in this cage / closet.


ps2. Re possible defecating, I hope you do have such a biologic enzymatic anti smell spray? These are quite efficient as extra after cleaning.

I'm definitely going to countinue letting her sleep with me. And she might use a box if I put it in there. But I need my closet so i can't put a little box in there or risk her not using one and going in there I'm 3 weeks until my own due date I can't be pulling a little box out of the back corner of my closet everyday. The dog crate is also already set up with padding and covered by a blanket in the living room she has never once gone inside. And honestly I can't let her set up were she won't use the box I've had a cat go through a phase we're he didn't use his box and I tried for 3 years to get him back to it every type of littler and box placement and in the end he stopped using it all together and cost me a ton in flooring damages. So by not letting her fully isolate she is using the box again like normal it's really the only saving grace in this situation so of all the things I will do and have tried I'm not risking it. Mostly just looking to figure out if she will be even kind of back to normal after the kittens and what I can do then. Im pretty sure getting her to come around right now is severely out of the question. I just want to know if there is any chance that when the kittens are gone if we'll have our family pet back. Or if this kind of an extreme flip stays permanent. Because she had become a completely different cat. And my husband is ready to get rid of her when the kittens are homed but I want to give her a chance so just like is there things for afterwards when the babies are gone I can do if she is is still aggressive and self isolating? I've done what I really can for her now. I'll countinue to let her sleep with me and give her love because I'm the only person who can pet her anymore, and I've already set her up a safe nest, and try to keep her inside for her own safety. But when it's all over if she is still like this what do I do. Or do they normally bounce back?

 

[Furballsmom]

But when it's all over if she is still like this what do I do. Or do they normally bounce back?

Yes, especially if you get her spayed.

 

[Ravenmailey]

Along with StefanZ's excellent comments above, if by chance the closet or a crate doesn't work, try this (your daughters room) again, and as mentioned with a second litterbox she can have just for herself. Feed her in there as well. Everyone will be more calm if she isolates herself from you-all, and that's important as well.

It won't be long now, and you need to do this anyway for the actual birth and afterwards to keep mama more content and the kittens away from everyone until they grow big enough to be safe.

So I fixed the issue. In my daughters room and I can't take my daughter's bedroom from her so my cat can have a private space that's wildly unfair to my daughter. She just got her room back.

And for when the kittens come I've fostered over 20 mama cats and their kittens I already have a large dog crate set up and padded and covered with a blanket. She will be safest in there. She will of course get to come out and stuff. But she is a year old and cats often make neglectful first time mothers so the crate method is really for her and the kittens. I cannot give her my daughters bedroom. I've really done all I can by allowing her to spend 12 plus hours a day alone in my room and setting her up a space. I'm really looking for answers on the question of after the kittens have been homed if I'll have my cat back. Or what I can do then if the behavior continues. I'll have to re-home her if even after the kittens are gone she is still aggressive, littler box avoident, food aggressive, running away and not a part of the household any longer. I understand she is pregnant and having a hard time and short of literally giving her a bedroom all to herself I've done everything I'm supposed to. But when this is over after such an extreme behavior change do they normally bounce back?

 

[Furballsmom]

But when this is over after such an extreme behavior change do they normally bounce back?

Yes, plan to get her spayed, and hopefully your husband will find that an agreeable solution as well.

 

[Ravenmailey]

Yes, plan to get her spayed, and hopefully your husband will find that an agreeable solution as well.

He wants to keep her as long as she comes back around that's all that really matters is that she goes back to being the wonderful cat she was.

 

[Furballsmom]

I've been thinking about you and the situation you've found yourself in, and I think it needs to be said that you are doing a rather incredible job of walking the line between a frustrated cat and everyone else. Your daughter won't realize it for some time of course, but you are providing her with a stellar example of treating a cat with as much respect as possible in a really difficult situation.

My hat is off to you in a very big way!!

 

[Ravenmailey]

I've been thinking about you and the situation you've found yourself in, and I think it needs to be said that you are doing a rather incredible job of walking the line between a frustrated cat and everyone else. Your daughter won't realize it for some time of course, but you are providing her with a stellar example of treating a cat with as much respect as possible in a really difficult situation.

My hat is off to you in a very big way!!

Thank you I really appreciate that..

 

[Sarthur2]

I think you said your cat is only around a year old. Has she been checked by a vet since you’ve had her and since she became pregnant? Do you know how far along she is in her pregnancy? A vet check would rule out any health issues, plus give you an idea when she is due.

If she was formerly an indoor/outdoor cat she may be missing going out, which would affect her behavior. Of course do not let her out now or until she is spayed when the kittens are 8 weeks old. You do plan to spay her, right? Spayed cats calm down immeasurably, plus can no longer get pregnant.

If there is nothing else wrong with her health, she may need some extra calcium. This can be provided by giving her a dish or two a day of kitten formula. Powdered is best mixed with water. She’ll need it for nursing as well.

She may also need B vitamins, which come from red meat, such as hamburger or steak.

Additionally, pregnant cats go into uber-protective mode to protect even their unborn kittens. This is a natural instinct that can cause them to lash out while pregnant and when the kittens are newborn.

I would keep her in your room only, with her food, water, and litter box there, as well as put the crate in there. It seems she has no interest in being around your other cat or your daughter. They currently cause her to feel uncomfortable.

She’ll have plenty of time to re-join the household once she is spayed and after her kittens are re-homed. I think, to answer your main question, that she will likely return to her old self down the road, but that’s potentially a few months away.

You’ve got your hands full with a three-year-old and a new baby on the way, so you may be feeling overwhelmed yourself. Exercise patience and tell your daughter to avoid mama kitty until she feels better after she has her babies and they go to new homes around 10-12 weeks old. It sounds like mama kitty trusts you and you are her “person.” You’re handling it well! Hang in there!

Do keep us posted!

 

[cataholic07]

I would bring her to the vet to ensure everything is ok with her health-wise. Honestly, if she's not too far along (as in not as far along as you thought) I would just get her spayed. I would keep her in your room for sure. Is the male cat neutered?

 

[Ravenmailey]

She had her kittens this Evening and did pretty good. The first one freaked her out a little but she did good. They are all cleaned up and with her in the crate. She went into labor on my lap and I didn't leave her. So we are onto the next part.

 

[Ravenmailey]

I think you said your cat is only around a year old. Has she been checked by a vet since you’ve had her and since she became pregnant? Do you know how far along she is in her pregnancy? A vet check would rule out any health issues, plus give you an idea when she is due.

If she was formerly an indoor/outdoor cat she may be missing going out, which would affect her behavior. Of course do not let her out now or until she is spayed when the kittens are 8 weeks old. You do plan to spay her, right? Spayed cats calm down immeasurably, plus can no longer get pregnant.

If there is nothing else wrong with her health, she may need some extra calcium. This can be provided by giving her a dish or two a day of kitten formula. Powdered is best mixed with water. She’ll need it for nursing as well.

She may also need B vitamins, which come from red meat, such as hamburger or steak.

Additionally, pregnant cats go into uber-protective mode to protect even their unborn kittens. This is a natural instinct that can cause them to lash out while pregnant and when the kittens are newborn.

I would keep her in your room only, with her food, water, and litter box there, as well as put the crate in there. It seems she has no interest in being around your other cat or your daughter. They currently cause her to feel uncomfortable.

She’ll have plenty of time to re-join the household once she is spayed and after her kittens are re-homed. I think, to answer your main question, that she will likely return to her old self down the road, but that’s potentially a few months away.

You’ve got your hands full with a three-year-old and a new baby on the way, so you may be feeling overwhelmed yourself. Exercise patience and tell your daughter to avoid mama kitty until she feels better after she has her babies and they go to new homes around 10-12 weeks old. It sounds like mama kitty trusts you and you are her “person.” You’re handling it well! Hang in there!

Do keep us posted!

She just had her kittens tonight. She actually is being fully tolerant of my 3 year old petting her and being around and went into labor in my lap and I stayed with her the whole time and helped some. The crate is in my living room being as I keep it 60° in my bedroom and that's to cold for the babies but she is doing great and is staying with them. She has even let the other cat come check them out and never made a peep.
She has also been an indoor cat since she was very very young. I found her at less then 3 months old. She has let me help her and handle her babies no fuss.

 

[Furballsmom]

Wow!

I'm pretty much thrilled speechless (well, almost speechless lol)

 

[Ravenmailey]

Wow!

I'm pretty much thrilled speechless (well, almost speechless lol)

Yeah I'm glad it's gone well. And she isn't freaking out or trying to get away from them I was little worried about her maybe rejecting them but she got right on it. I'm very proud of her. She had five babies. The picture is from about right after she had finished.

 

[Furballsmom]

I'm very proud of her.

Exactly oh my word, you hung in there with her and here's the payoff. You're fantastic!!