I don’t think my cat is feeling his best.
Before you ask, I’ve already made him a vet appointment to make sure the chonk is at his chonkiest, but have you ever noticed some pets just don’t seem to tell you if they don’t feel well?
Like, some animals will shrink up or shrivel into sorry versions of themselves, while others turn into rage monsters and make it apparent they’re trying to get your attention. But not my cat, Cairo. The 16 pound black beauty, who is already fairly timid and quite placid, just acts like everything is fine all the time. Oh, the dog is in my face? I’ll just go over here. Thunderstorms? Not even an issue. Strange visitors? Awesome.
I could tell something was amiss though because the dreaded litterbox location smelled significantly more like pee than usual. Litterbox issues are a big flag for cat owners when something is wrong. I tried to clean the space up – cleaned the carpets, switched out the litter and even the box, used some wild odor neutralizing spray – and it kind of worked. And then I caught him, literally watched him, pee right next to his litterbox this morning.
Ok. The alarm bells are really going off now. I think something really is wrong.
There are a few other signs I’ve noticed lately: he’s been letting me sleep in, curled up at my feet, instead of aggressively waking me up for those crunchy kibbles. And there are reports he just sleeps on a dining room chair all day.
PetFinder has some tips on subtle signs your cat isn’t “feline” his best. They say watch for weight changes, icky breath, eating and chewing changes, grooming changes, and signs of stress as well as sleep changes and then my obvious peeing-where-he’s-not-supposed-to symptom.
So what exactly are signs of stress? Petfinder said cats experiencing stress from an illness can develop anxiety and as a result, and create anxious behaviors, like being careless with the litterbox. The Spruce Pets suggests an unwell cat will drink more water, vocalize more, and may have some personality changes.
The Spruce Pets also mentions lethargy, where your cat basically becomes a bump on a log. With Cairo, I am unsure if he is bumpier than usual, but as I mentioned earlier, he has assigned himself to a dining room chair all day.
And maybe two weeks ago he alarmed me by not finishing his meals, though he went back to eating every bite a few days later. And he’s been challenging the dog to get some close contact snuggles with me as I read at night.
Remember those alarm bells?
I think the takeaway here is that no matter how well we know our pets, we don’t always know when they’re not feeling well because it’s not like they can shoot us a text or just tell us in English that they need something. And with pets like Cairo, the strong and silent type, you might not get good clues until farther along in the process.
We’ll head to the vet and I hope to find out everything is fine and he’s just being dramatic. But my kitty-senses are tingling here, so my last word of advice, both to you and to myself, is to be better safe than sorry.
