# Post cattery behaviour??



## Sh N (Dec 2, 2015)

Hello! I'm sure many of you remember Maya's long 3 week stay at the cattery, but after a couple of days of acclimatising, I'm having a bit of a worry. 
Since she has been back from the cattery a couple of days back, she has been extremely shouty and needy (to the point of kicking me from bed to occupy it with the OH) and she has been following the OH around everywhere, which was cute and amusing at first, but now it is a little worrying.
Her meal portions have gradually lessened and she's eating less- and today, she is completely off her food. She seems to want to be around the OH all the time and wont go anywhere without him. I'm just concerned she is worrying herself after the cattery experience- and being a rescue cat, her feelings of being abandoned are kicking into overdrive.
I'm unable to read her as she seems to ask for food, and then approach it, give it a sniff and walk off. She came back to it later on occasion, but now she isn't having any of it. She hasn't touched her new HKC food, or her old food since morning. She's now in the garden and munching on grass.
Is there any way I can alleviate that stress that causes her to panic so much? What can I do to make her start eating again- should I leave her be and indulge her a little longer?
I'm going to attempt to put some cooked chicken in front of her in a bit- after she feels a little relaxed, and if she turns up her nose at it as well, it is the vets the first thing tomorrow morning. 
Is it the stress of the whole acclimatising process, or is it a screwed up tummy as her routine was broken? I'm not so sure. 
I have a Beaphar calming spot on ampoule and i'm tempted to use it on her so that her stress is a little alleviated. Thoughts, anyone?

Here's hoping everyone is having a good easter break.


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## Lilylass (Sep 13, 2012)

Did anything happen at the cattery to make her particularly stressed? 

TBH I'd stick on the spot-on if you have it - it does seem to work wonders for Mia 

Others to try would be Pet Remedy (personally had much more success with this than Feliway) 

Other than that, just reassurance and lots of talking to her - will she come for cuddles / has she never been cuddly 

How long was she in rescue? 

I guess if it was a while & she's had the company of other cats again for a bit, she's maybe a bit unsettled again not having anyone to 'chat' to iykwim 

Did she eat her usual food at the cattery or did they feed something else?

(sorry that's loads of questions!)


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## Sh N (Dec 2, 2015)

More than the stress of the cattery- it is just her stress at her routine being changed- she is always rubbish with car rides. Nothing happened at the cattery out of the ordinary. If something happened, we would have been informed straightaway. We rang the owner once in three days to ask- she wasn't eating initially to begin with, but then formed up a routine quite easily. When we picked her up, she was quite confused as to where did we appear from (maybe she'd written us off by then) as she had bonded to the cattery owner quite strongly. Maybe she misses her- I don't know! 
We're indulging her every whim now- I'm short of sleep and sanity because of the constant meowing and the following around, but I'm not giving up. I'm talking quite a lot to her- and so is my OH and we aren't leaving her side (there's a load of errands we had planned for today but didnt do). She has never been a lap cat or too much for cuddles, but is quite cuddly when she wants it. 
She was a rescue when we got her- which was a while back (almost 10 months now) and has been in the cattery for 3 weeks. She was in the rescue place for about 5 months after her owner became homeless. 
She ate her usual food at the cattery- the cattery owner tried to stick to her mealtimes and portions. I left her a LONG set of Maya-isms, and she seems to have followed it to a T. 
I'm going to stick the spot on now, at least that will relax her a little bit and if she has an upset tum, it should allow her to sleep it off and get well.
In an update now, she sat in the garden for a good few hours, and vomitted- and now she has eaten a little bit. I will get her some chicken anyway, and see if she is coping- otherwise it is still to the vets first thing tomorrow.


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## chillminx (Nov 22, 2010)

Hi, I am sorry to hear Maya is upset. Perhaps her anxiety is caused partly because she doesn't feel well right now. Eating grass is probably what made her vomit. If she has eaten very little an empty tummy can result in over-production of stomach acid and vomiting. All my cats are terrors for this, and when they are occasionally off their food I give them a couple of warmed up dessert spoonfuls of goats milk as it seems to absorb the acid quite well. 

If you can tempt Maya to eat, a little poached white fish is good for settling the tum too. (or cooked chicken )

I agree with Lilylass, I would use the calming spot-on on Maya. 

If it is possible to take an hour or so to sit with Maya, or maybe lie on the bed with her, it might help her feel calmer. The fact she is following you and your OH about suggests she is fearful you are going to depart any minute and this is making her anxious. The crying is her begging you not to leave I think. x


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## Sh N (Dec 2, 2015)

Thank you all so much. 
We've done just that for the past two days- never left her side, and just stayed with her. In fact, OH has spent yesterday and today just beside her. As I said, everything we planned to do today is put on hold because we want our little girl to feel confident again. We keep talking to her and stroking her and generally not leaving her side. 
I'll get some goats milk now from the supermarket, but she has previously never shown affinity to goats milk. Maybe some of the milk for cats will help to soothe her belly down? I'll get some chicken too, as it is good to have some handy. We're vegetarian so its just for Maya! 
The bizzare thing is even though she's puked, I don't seem to find any sick on the lawn, but she did retch and heave quite a bit. She came in about half hour afterwards and ate her usual food portion. We gave her two spoonfuls of food to begin with, and she asked for more and ate that too.
She's now had the calming spot on, and has run away to her usual spot under the bed and has been curled up for a good hour or so now, without us being present- which tells me she is slowly getting confident again.


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## moggie14 (Sep 11, 2013)

Bless Maya, I wonder if she has a furball brewing? xx


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## Sh N (Dec 2, 2015)

@moggie14- now that you say it, it may be the case too.  
She's still curled up, fast asleep. I'm a little relieved that she feels relaxed enough to sleep.

Update: watched youtube videos of cats puking up hairballs, and this is exactly what Maya did (explains why i cant find sick). now i'm at a little peace that it isn't a tummy upset. She is shedding her winter coat quite quickly and it all must have been a bit too much to handle.
It freaked me out when I first saw it, honest!


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## Sh N (Dec 2, 2015)

Update time again!! 
Maya has had a bit of sleep. She woke up, asked for food and raced straight for it and scoffed it down. She seems quite confident and calm now- and she and the male human are playing with a wand toy now.


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## TallulahCat (Dec 31, 2015)

Awww bless, sounds like she is settling back home well now. Welcome back home little Maya x


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## moggie14 (Sep 11, 2013)

Glad she is doing OK. Hopefully if it was a furball she should be just fine. Lovely photo! xx


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## Sh N (Dec 2, 2015)

Come morning, she is back to her usual self- she hasn't been overly shouty and attention seeking. She seems to come around for the odd cuddle now and then, but its a definite improvement.
I think I'll have to up the coat brushing to twice a day- she is clearly shedding and I just want it to be a little easy on her belly.
I also read somewhere that a small spoonful of coconut oil once a week should be able to lubricate any stuck furballs and she should be able to pass them easily?


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## Allicat5 (Dec 5, 2018)

Sh N said:


> More than the stress of the cattery- it is just her stress at her routine being changed- she is always rubbish with car rides. Nothing happened at the cattery out of the ordinary. If something happened, we would have been informed straightaway. We rang the owner once in three days to ask- she wasn't eating initially to begin with, but then formed up a routine quite easily. When we picked her up, she was quite confused as to where did we appear from (maybe she'd written us off by then) as she had bonded to the cattery owner quite strongly. Maybe she misses her- I don't know!
> We're indulging her every whim now- I'm short of sleep and sanity because of the constant meowing and the following around, but I'm not giving up. I'm talking quite a lot to her- and so is my OH and we aren't leaving her side (there's a load of errands we had planned for today but didnt do). She has never been a lap cat or too much for cuddles, but is quite cuddly when she wants it.
> She was a rescue when we got her- which was a while back (almost 10 months now) and has been in the cattery for 3 weeks. She was in the rescue place for about 5 months after her owner became homeless.
> She ate her usual food at the cattery- the cattery owner tried to stick to her mealtimes and portions. I left her a LONG set of Maya-isms, and she seems to have followed it to a T.
> ...


Hi there. I know you posted a long time ago but wondering if your cat eventually settled? I have the same problem a stray cat we had since October last year went in the cattery for 9 days apparently she ate and was fine. She was very fussy when first came home but an hour later she has been crying and howling constantly for the last 7 hours. She must be worn out as she normally sleeps so much. I feel so bad. Any help greatly appreciated


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## Ottery (Jun 14, 2019)

If you have a read of the rest of the posts you will see Maya did settle down.

I had a similar problem with one of my cats, he was very needy and shouty when he returned from the cattery. It lasted about 24 hours then he was back to his normal self.


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## Allicat5 (Dec 5, 2018)

Ottery said:


> If you have a read of the rest of the posts you will see Maya did settle down.
> 
> I had a similar problem with one of my cats, he was very needy and shouty when he returned from the cattery. It lasted about 24 hours then he was back to his normal self.


Oh right thanks sorry didn't get to the end obviously


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## Allicat5 (Dec 5, 2018)

Allicat5 said:


> Oh right thanks sorry didn't get to the end obviously


Read them now thanks. Hopefully tonight he will sleep well and be back to normal toMorrow. Poor boy feel so guilty


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