Tuxedo is Restless

This is a situation in which I need help. Tuxedo has always been a normal, happy cat. But lately, she has been acting a little wild. She is doing things she has never done before.


She is jumping on my bedroom furniture several times a day and night and pushing things off to the floor. Whatever she can jump on, she does, and paws through whatever she can move, and shoves it to the floor. She pays no attention to my commands for her to not jump on the chest of drawers. I have to approach her and raise my voice before she will get down.


She also walks around the house crying a little. I wonder if she is bored, or needs some stimulation besides toy mice, dolls, and a scratch pole. She constantly goes from one window to the next from room to room to look outside.


I have no idea where this is coming from or what I can do about it. Any suggestions or insights you can provide would be greatly appreciated.

Tuxedo's First Bed - Christmas 2011

My sister bought a small dog bed for Christmas that was too small for her dog. She gave it to me for Tuxedo. I wasn’t too sure if she would use a small bed because I had never bought her one. I wasn’t sure she would sleep in a small area. I was wrong.

I put it on the bed near me. She sniffed it out for a while, then sat in it for awhile cleaning herself, then lay down. Soon she was sleeping in it. She loves it! She’s in it all the time now. I am happy for her comfort.

Tuxedo's Spay Weight #47

Since her operation Tuxedo has put on “spay weight.” That’s the slowing down of her metabolism after her spay operation. I see it. I feed her the same amount of food as before, yet she has spread out. She runs around probably more than before, but her shape is changing. She’s starting to have the same fullness as Angel, especially her head. I guess it’s the same kind of change as a woman who goes through menopause. I will have to feed her less so she doesn’t turn into a butterball cat.

She’s very active. Still, I have to laugh when she walks around with a waddle. It’s from the small stomach pouch she carries around her waist. She has a walk like a full-figured Marilyn Monroe, with a wiggle from behind. As long as I can still feel her ribs when I rub her, I guess it’s okay.

Tuxedo is Affctionate #46

Tuxedo loves to sleep in my arms, or near me. Those with cats are familiar with their habit of sleeping near their owners’ heads all night. She snuggles against me while she sleeps, but hates to be covered up with anything. If I put a towel or blanket on her she’ll run away every time.

She has been especially clingy lately. I wonder if it’s because the weather has changed, and she likes the extra heat. She wants to sleep near me, wanting affection. She especially likes to be kissed on her head, ears, and eyes. She has a soft, low purr that can only be heard when close to her, or when she is touched.

I have been a little uncomfortable because Tuxedo usually doesn’t seek out affection on such a regular basis. Maybe as she grows older, she now notices and wants things that make her happy. Like the times she wants me to play with her toy mice at night. She sleeps all day and wants to play at night.

Off Topic - I let her out the front hallway one day. She ran downstairs because sometimes I allow her to follow me when I visit my sister. My sister called to say Tuxedo was in the hallway watching my mother sort the mail. I called and she came home immediately. After I closed the door, she laid down on the floor in front of the closed door. She wagged her tail ferociously for about five minutes, indicating she was happy. I guess she had a nice visit with grandma.

Tuxedo News #45

It’s difficult to take pictures of Tuxedo. When she’s awake, she keeps walking directly into the camera, right in front of the lens. When she’s asleep, because she’s a black cat, you can’t see that she has eyes. I guess I’ll have to sneak up on her while she’s awake.

Tuxedo has begun a new strange habit. Overnight, she finds sponges, my comb, anything small, and puts them in the bathroom sink. The sink is filled with water every night for her to drink. I don’t know why she does this.

I was going through some old photographs to organize the when I almost sucked up my tongue. I saw a picture of the last cat I had over 17 years ago, singing on the kitchen floor. Tuxedo looks exactly like her ! I feel like her spirit is in Tuxedo now. It’s why we get along so well.

Tuxedo's Territory #44

Last night Tuxedo accidently pushed my writing notebook behind my bed. When I went to get it, she ran underneath the bed and started hitting me with her paw. Every time I reached for my notebook, she pawed me. I couldn’t believe it. She was fighting me for being under the bed. She sleeps there all night when we go to bed. I guess she resented me being in her territory. Eventually I was able to get the notebook. I made a mental note to be more careful next time.

The other day I went into my bedroom closet. Just as I opened the door, Tuxedo jumped on the dresser next to it and proceeded to whip me with her paws. Again, she fought me, jumping up on my arm. I took out what I needed and left. The back of the closet is where she takes her long naps. I guess I entered her new territory.

She’s looking for a winter nesting place. Somewhere hidden around the house that’s warm where she can take naps without being disturbed. She’s taken to my various bookcases. She tries to pull out the books so she can sleep behind the rest of them. I have tried removing books on bottom shelves so she doesn’t have to destroy them looking for a place to stretch out with her suddenly big body.

I know cats are territorial, but this is ridiculous!

Cats Need Stability #43

Tuxedo is like a little child in that she needs stability. Or, call it a habit that cats like to maintain without interruption. Anything that changes in her immediate environment has an impact on her psyche.

If I move my blankets to a different area, she whines until I put them back where she is familiar. I leave her water bowl in the bathroom where she has access to it at any time of the day. In fact, when her cousin Angel visits, she also knows where the water bowl is, and uses it.

Give her different food and she gets panicky if she doesn’t like it. If I were to move her litter box I might find a mess where the box used to be. Tuxedo responds to a stable environment. What about your cat?

Does Your Cat Like Water?

http://homesteadbound.hubpages.com/_2xqq6mr86s3p/hub/Cats-and-Water-Some-Like-It-And-Some-Dont

This is a really funny article about cats and water. Tuxedo is a water cat for sure!

Tuxedo's Possessiveness #42

I am lying on my bed watching television. I look out of the corner of my eye to see two black and white paws appearing at the far side of the bed. Soon a little cat head peeps up. Then Tuxedo jumps on the bed and walks toward me. This is the funniest thing she does yet.

Sometimes I feel like I am on lock down. She seems to be everywhere. She sleeps next to me, and if I move she’ll complain.

She follows me from room to room, sometimes walking between my legs. She lies across my computer keyboard when I’m trying to work. I put her on the floor, but she keeps jumping back on the desk.

When I try to leave the house, she runs out the front door. Boy is she fast! Then I have to wait until she decides to come back in from the upstairs or downstairs. She will follow me downstairs when I go to visit.

I don’t know if this is appropriate behavior or not. I am home every day. When I go out to run errands, she gets frantic. She jumps on the bed and claws at me whenever I pass by. She starts to scream loud, and follows me everywhere while I am trying to get dressed. I have to pick her up as I go out the door. Then put her down as I close it.

At the same time she is smart and sneaky. If I leave the back hallway door open, she stays in the house. But as soon as I go to sleep, she runs upstairs to visit with Angel. It’s as if she says to herself. “Well, she’s asleep. I know where she is, so I can go upstairs now.” LOL

My HubPages Profile Site

http://carolyn2008.hubpages.com/_2xqq6mr86s3p/

Where I write articles

Tuxedo After the Spay #41

Since her spay operation, Tuxedo has become a different cat. Her personality is full of energy and amusement and curiosity, much more than before. She even produced the ratty toy mouse from whatever depths she had hid it for me to play with her. She now likes to share.

She is so affectionate, it sometimes overwhelms me. She follows me everywhere, every room in the house. She sleeps directly under my part of the bed, so if I move an inch, she’s comes from under and waits for me to make a move. When she sleeps on the bed, she likes to be as close as possible to me. She never did that before her operation.

I want to get her a harness and leash so I can take her with me whenever I leave the house. I hate to leave her home alone. She is so sad, and tries to follow me out the house. She cries when she hears me in the hallway coming upstairs.

How close should a cat and human be? I’m home every day, and there is the potential for serious co-dependence. Is that wrong? She talks to me much more. I can tell the difference between her meows. One day she got caught behind some boxes and cried out for me. I knew immediately she was in trouble and moved a box so she could get out.

She loves sniffing whatever I have in my hand. Water, food, potato chips, it doesn’t matter. She wants to sniff it before I have it. Most of the time, she doesn’t like what she smells. I think she thinks it’s her job as the official food sniffer to protect her mommy.

She looks and acts so happy; it fills my heart with joy. People say it is because she was spayed. I think that is part of it. But I believe that clearing up her gum infection that I didn’t know she had is also a big chunk of her happiness. A healthy cat is a happy cat, and I know Tuxedo is very happy these days.

Tuxedo After the Spay #41

Since her spay operation, Tuxedo has become a different cat. Her personality is full of energy and amusement and curiosity, much more than before. She even produced the ratty toy mouse from whatever depths she had hid it for me to play with her. She now likes to share.

She is so affectionate, it sometimes overwhelms me. She follows me everywhere, every room in the house. She sleeps directly under my part of the bed, so if I move an inch, she’s comes from under and waits for me to make a move. When she sleeps on the bed, she likes to be as close as possible to me. She never did that before her operation.

I want to get her a harness and leash so I can take her with me whenever I leave the house. I hate to leave her home alone. She is so sad, and tries to follow me out the house. She cries when she hears me in the hallway coming upstairs.

How close should a cat and human be? I’m home every day, and there is the potential for serious co-dependence. Is that wrong? She talks to me much more. I can tell the difference between her meows. One day she got caught behind some boxes and cried out for me. I knew immediately she was in trouble and moved a box so she could get out.

She loves sniffing whatever I have in my hand. Water, food, potato chips, it doesn’t matter. She wants to sniff it before I have it. Most of the time, she doesn’t like what she smells. I think she thinks it’s her job as the official food sniffer to protect her mommy.

She looks and acts so happy; it fills my heart with joy. People say it is because she was spayed. I think that is part of it. But I believe that clearing up her gum infection that I didn’t know she had is also a big chunk of her happiness. A healthy cat is a happy cat, and I know Tuxedo is very happy these days.

Tuxedo Recuperates #40

Tuxedo took three days of sleeping heavily after her spay operation. She was a little lethargic, and probably in pain. The hospital gave her 3 days worth of pain medicine internally. Since she returned from her overnight stay, she sleeps next to me, a new habit. She still wants her kisses on the head and face again. I’m happy about that.

After a few days, she was back to her happy energetic self. She began playing with her toys again. She didn’t need a cone head. I still had to try to keep her from licking her wound. She’s affectionate again, and wants me to hold and hug and kiss her face.

One thing – she fights me from trying to give her gingivitis medicine twice a day. I have to put an eye drop down her throat, which is traumatic for both of us.

The first time I gave her medicine, she stared at me with a look of ultimate betrayal as I held her neck. I tried to talk to her and explain why it was so important to give her this medicine. She just kept looking at me with her wide black eyes as if to say “Why are you doing this to me?” I forced as much as I could before she bolted to the far side of the bed. She licked her mouth and cleaned herself as if to get my stench and that of the medicine off of her.

I felt like a big asshole. Happily, it has gotten easier to give her the medicine. She doesn’t fight as much as the first few times. I think she’s just resolved to herself that it’s futile to resist.

When I see her all spread out across my bed, sleeping silently, I feel happy.

The World's Longest Cat!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gc5M0aGc_EI&feature=colike

Tuxedo Gets Spayed #39

I just called the hospital. Tuxedo’s operation was a success. I agreed with the doctor to keep her there overnight to supervise her coming out of anesthesia, and to monitor her eating and drinking pattern. I like that better than sending her home right after the operation.

It’s so quiet here at my house. I miss her so much. She’s not here to follow me from room to room. No one lightly meowing to make sure I am in the house. No Tuxedo trying to zoom out the front door when it’s opened and running upstairs to visit her buddy Angel.

I picked her up early the next day. I was glad to see her because I barely slept the night before. I can’t believe how Tuxedo affects my sleeping pattern. I was expecting her to jump on the bed with some toy, or interrupt my writing, or try to put me to bed.

She now has a microchip. The doctor told me she has severe gingivitis. They gave me some medicine drops to give her twice a day for the next 10 days. They gave her pain medication that will last for 3 days in her system.

When I picked her up in her carrier, she meowed for a while until I got her in the car. Then she squatted down and never made another peep until we got home. The minute I let her out she ran for her litter box. I didn’t see her for hours. When I awoke from taking a nap, she came out from under the bed.

She drank water from the other room. Soon after, I saw her sitting at the foot of my bed. She looked like she wanted to jump on, but was tentative about it. I gently picked her up and put her on the bed so she could lie down on her favorite spot.

I’m glad I had the spay operation. She is a house cat, so having a litter wasn’t the issue. Now I won’t have to see her struggle in heat every few weeks. The operation wasn’t cheap. Still, I have satisfaction that she is safe from breeding and trying to breed.