Wants nothing to do with me or anyone else lately

[moldymac]

I'm hoping someone here can give me some insight as to what is going on with my cat Nya.  I got him at the beginning of May after he had been living outside my work for about a month.  He's a neutered declawed (front) male (as I found him) American Short hair.  My vet says he's 2-3 years old and in good health.  When he first came home he was very affectionate, especially towards me.  Would come up to me when I got home and sit on my lap and hang out.  After a few weeks he started trying to escape at every attempt he had, but would give up and go about lounging around the house.  He's never afraid of strangers and always wanted to meet anyone new.  After about a month or so he stopped trying to escape and you could even leave the door open and he would stay inside.  In the mornings you would be guaranteed to hear him pawing at the door and once he saw you he would follow you around and be very active the whole morning.  It wasn't my door, he would try any bedroom door looking for attention.  He would occasionally hiss at you if you bothered him at "his" viewing window, and he was never one to play with any toys, especially a wand type.

Over the past month though, he had been acting weird.  He no longer try to wake anyone up in the morning, you would usually find him laying down by the stairs or on a box he claimed his.  Most of the time once you did go to where he was hanging out there is no acknowledgement of you being there.  Now he makes every single attempt possible to escape, and has a number of times.  I caught him a few times, the last few times he did come back on his own though.  Now as of the last week he wants absolutley nothing to do with anyone in my house.  If you approach him he usually will get up and go somewhere else, or enure a few seconds of petting before leaving and going wherever you can't reach him.  Every now and then you can give him a brushing, and when he is eating all the petting you desire.  He constantly paws at the front door and quiet a few times has been hissing at me and my family members.  And now this morning I picked him up only to hear angry meowing, hissing and he swatted at my face a few times.  I put him back down and he took off and hid.

I have reason to believe that this cat was beaten or abused by his previous owners.  If you came in in the morning with the new paper he would often times either run and hide or flatten out on the floor cowering.  Same goes for holding anything similar, even the toys with a wand scare him.  He has never played much with toys, a new one will get some attention for a few minutes but never touched again later.  Whenever he tried to escape I would spray him once with a water bottle and that usually took care of it at the moment.  At night he was usually very jumpy and would run into another room and sometimes hide if you caught him by surprise.

So after all that, does anyone have any suggestions as to what might be going on?  A few weeks ago when he started escaping again I noticed his poop was very wet, pudding like.  That cleared up after a few days.  His diet is the same (meowmix dry available during the day, can of fancy feast later in the evening).  I tried the feliway plugins and the spray, seems to do nothing.  I'm out of ideas!

 

[otto]

You'd better take him to the vet. This sounds like a cat in pain. He may have a urinary tract infection or crystals in the urine.

 

[jennyr]

I do agree that he needs a vet. Any change of behaviour, especially when it involves hiding away, should be taken seriously. The fact that he is now meowing and hissing when touched means he is unhappy.

 

[moldymac]

He seemed slightly better when I got home today (at least meowed and rubbed his head on my feet) but I'm gonna get him to a vet.  I noticed whenever he did get outside it was to eat grass, that was about all he did out there.

 

[ldg]

Oh poor baby! :rub: It does sound like he doesn't feel well at all.

Vibes for your baby.

 

[moldymac]

Well, he had his vet visit today and the problem is fleas!  I never had to deal with them before, but now that I know the small black specs I see from combing are not dirt, I can get him all better.  The vet gave me a couple Capstar tablets and pill pockets.  I gave him the first one tonight and already I see some results.  He had been meowing, scratching and grooming for a good half hour and now seems pretty content.  The vet also recommended and sold me "Revolution" to prevent and treat this further.  He seems in better spirits already, he actually hangs around me now and seems more like himself.

Now that I got that part down, what can someone recommend I do to deal with the fleas and their larvae that are probably all over my house now.  My whole house is carpeted, the cat does not have a particular place he sleeps, more like wherever he lands.  I saw one jumping around by my ceiling light just now so they gotta be hiding.  I really want to get this under control before it turns into an infestation for the well being of my kitty friend and the rest of the family.

Thanks everyone!

 

[otto]

Treat Nya with the Revolution every thirty days for at least four months. Longer if you live in a hot climate. Vacuum vacuum vacuum vacuum. Put cut up pieces of flea collar (do NOT put flea collar on cat) in your vacuum canister. Empty the canister after every vacuum session, into a bag, and take the bag to the outside trash. Wash everything that is washable, especially bedding.

Capstar kills adult fleas for 24 hours, it is an amazing thing to see the dead fleas falling off the cat. Capstar can be used daily, but of course that would get very expensive.

Revolution breaks the flea life cycle by not only killing fleas but killing eggs and larvae too, but the eggs and larvae already in the environment will continue to hatch. As they hatch they will jump on Nya and be killed by the Revolution.

Keep a sharp eye out for signs of tapeworm, which is caused by the cat ingesting a flea. The Revolution will take care of any other parasite he may be carrying due to his outside life before he came forever home with you.

Keep us posted on how he is doing.

 

[jennyr]

Very glad there is nothing serious wrong and that he seems on the road to recovery. Fleas can be very nasty and make them very uncomfortable. If what you are doing does not work the vet can give you a flea bomb to treat each room in the house. But you have to kieep everyone, especislly the cats, out of t he room for three hours afterwards. I have used them in t he past and they are effective. I agree with t he advice NOT to put a flea collar on the cat - such collars can be very dangerous and have caused death to cats in the past.

 

[aeevr]

In addition to the other suggestions. you can set out some flea traps too

http://www.wikihow.com/Make-a-Flea-Trap

 

[detmut]

i recommend spraying your carpet with an insect growth regulator -- either precor (methoprene) which is in frontline plus or nylar (pyriproxyfen) which is in advantage 2.

 

[moldymac]

Thanks for all the suggestions everyone.  The fleas are gone, looks like I caught it early enough where some off the shelf flea killers took care of it.  Nya is doing much better, hangs out in the usual places now.  He still has no interest in play time, but never has for the few months I have had him.  Guess he's really just that lazy

now if I could only figure out why he hisses at everyone that disturbs him when his looking out "his" window....

 

[otto]

But don't stop using the Revolution for at least four months. Some say six. There are still eggs in the environment that will be hatching. When they hatch, they will jump on the cat to feed. As long as he is treated with the Revolution, they will be killed, and even if they live long enough to lay more eggs, the eggs will be sterile.

It's quite possible that he has pain all the time from being declawed. His toes may hurt, or his back or his legs. This will make him feel vulnerable and 'hissy'. He's just keeping up a brave front, and who knows what he suffered while trying to fend for himself as a stray. In time, now that he is forever home and well cared for, he may eventually relax. But not wanting to play could very well be a result of the declaw.

For now, let him call the shots on how much attention he can tolerate. Eventually, when he starts allowing more physical contact, a daily massage all over his body, especially his back and hips may help him tremendously.