Sudden behaviour change

[Bee]

Thanks to everyone for their responses, Drum seems to have returned to her normal curious self and spent last night asleep at my feet so it must a have been a wobble or something I haven't thought of that freaked her a bit.. thanks for all your help

[Bee]

Good reading, thanks Sam 

[Sam (Fussy_Furball)]

Bee ... this link may be of interest to you.  http://www.purrsinourhearts.co.uk/index.php/topic,4784.0.html

[Bee]

Good point Jiji

They are my first deaf cats so it'll be a learning curve for us all, thanks for all the helpful responses everyone and we'll definitely get a diffuser!

B x

 

[Jiji]

Perhaps she was spooked by something that caused a vibration, something that we would not give a second thought to as we just 'hear' the sound (and assume as she is deaf it will not have an impact on her) but that she may sense as vibration. Not sure I explained that very well, but hopefully you get the gist of it.

[Sam (Fussy_Furball)]

Hi,

The feliway diffuser is really worth it, I don't use mine that often but it really does help when one of my two decide they is going to be scared of their own shadow for some unknown reason.  After sniffing at the plug it for a few minutes they always end up upside down purring.

Glad Drum is getting over her fright, sometimes cats are scared of the weirdest things, My Izzy developed a hatred of one of my Mum's cardigans and after being terrified of it at first she now smacks it every time Mum wears it... no idea why she hates it, is beyond bizarre... that's cats for you!

Jo

LOL ... that sounds a bit like my Foxy .... she is terrified of one of my belts.  She won't walk near it if it's on the floor, gives it a really wide berth and practically wets herself if I pick it up and try to show her that it's not scary.  She is fine with all the other belts but some reason this particular ones terrifies her. (Funny creature).

[maddercow]

Hi,

The feliway diffuser is really worth it, I don't use mine that often but it really does help when one of my two decide they is going to be scared of their own shadow for some unknown reason.  After sniffing at the plug it for a few minutes they always end up upside down purring.

Glad Drum is getting over her fright, sometimes cats are scared of the weirdest things, My Izzy developed a hatred of one of my Mum's cardigans and after being terrified of it at first she now smacks it every time Mum wears it... no idea why she hates it, is beyond bizarre... that's cats for you!

Jo

[Bee]

Cheers Jezebel... It was Bass that was the more cautious, but not in a way that cause to unduly worry, they just seem to have swapped roles! Still we are all learning each other still and I think I'll invest in a diffuser anyway, it can only help.

[Bee]

Thanks Dawn, I was hoping to get a reassurance like that, it's not even been a week and I'm mostly chalking it up to early days.. she does spend a lot of time at the window. I wonderd if the fact that her sister has become much more relaxed was anything to do with it, it seemed odd that she seemed to getting more friendly with us as her sister got more scared... 
Hopefully she will return to her old self over the weekend...

[jezebel]

Interestingly, your Drum and Bass sound a lot like ours, except it's Bass we've had a problem with.

We had ours (also two sisters but they're coming up for 11 years!) for a few days when a neighbourhood cat came into the garden and right up to the patio door. It really upset them and they were both spitting and yelling at him but Bass seemed far more upset and took to hiding away and being scared of her own shadow for a long time. She's slowly coming out of herself now, in fact she's almost unrecognisable these days!

Obviously your Drum has had a similar fright, but being the ballsy one hopefully she'll be over it quickly.

I can recommend Feliway diffusers though - they really helped.

[Dawn F]

its early days for all of you, maybe it was something very innocent outside - one of my cats is a bengal who are rather notorious for being highly strung and she actually scares herself sometimes!

[Bee]

Oh yes, and the easily caught unware issue cause of their deafness was something we considered and discussed wit the RSPCA but to be honest they've been very chilled out cats and seem to have a telepathic sense of your approach!

[Bee]

Thanks Helen, I saw about those diffusers when googling about a bit, I've never had one before but am definitely up for trying it if she doesn't improve.
Liam's now checked the wiring and it all seemed in tact. Also he says she seems a little better today and he's been having a play with her this morning... it was just so odd because she was the one with brass balls when she arrived, it broke my heart to see her looking so freaked out...  I will keep an eye on her over the weekend but she still has a healthy appetite on her!

B

[Tiggy's Mum]

Obviously being deaf you can rule out that she has been scared by a strange/sudden noise. I wonder if her disability (that sounds very PC!) means that she is more easily frightened as unlike other cats she won't get a warning of people approaching her.

The behaviour you are describing does make it sound like she's had a fright, if it continues you might want to consider a Feliway plug in diffuser. It's an odourless plug in that releases 'happy' cat phermones. One of my cats can be over sensitive and nervy of loud noises etc but with a Feliway plugged in he is like a different cat - cheeky, confident and totally relaxed.

You can get it from the vets but it is much cheaper online - it's on offer at the moment £19.90 inc free delivery from VetUK:

http://www.vetuk.co.uk/feliway-products-c-1/feliway-diffuser-pack-incl-feliway-diffuser-and-feliway-vial-p-334

I've recently heard of this site where the diffuser is £16 + £2 p&p (or free p&p if you spend over £25) but I've not used them before so can't vouch for them. http://www.medicines4pets.co.uk/shop/feliway-diffuser.html

[Bee]

Hi Lesley
Apologies for the typos in that post, that's using a phone on a train for you!
Thanks for replying. I haven't checked wires, good thinking I'll get Liam to look now. Nothing has moved at all, i meant to say that but think it ended up a typo! I've been very careful to keep the place the same so they feel secure until they are fully settled...

[LesleyW]

Have you checked all your electrical wires to make sure she hasn't bitten through one and got a shock.


Obviously no loud noise has scared her.  Has anything been moved in the house over the last day that would have surprised her when she was running around playing?

[Bee]

Hello
I'm hoping someone might be able to help me with my problem.
Myself and my partner adopted two 11 month old kittens Sunday just gone from RSPCA. We could not have asked for a smoother transition to our home they both adjusted really well, no issues with litter, eating well playing lots and very affectionate and comfortable with us. They both have distinct personalities, they are sisters but Drum is the more ballsy of the two like to climb high and is quick to approach people and Bass is quieter was less keen to explore and first and tends to stay low preferring her cubby holes and under tables.
I work all day in the city but my partner works from home and is about all day with them so they always have company and clean litter trays (they are indoor cats due to their deafness)
Anyway yesterday was a normal day, I got up fed them went to work they had a play etc then washed each other and had a sleep but then around the afternoon time, the next time Liam took a break from work and approached Drum she seemed like a totally different cat. She had suddenly become scared and nervous. It was almost like she had done something wring and was scared of being found out. This behaviour has continued through the night and untothis morning, she is very wide eyed and nervy, if I sit on the floor she comes over and lets me pet her but when I stand up she backs away almost like a cat that's been hit before ( as far as we and the RSPCA are aware this is not the case, they were given up due to allergies but were very loved) two nights ago she was sleeping in the bed and investigating everything and today she peeping round corners and running away. By comparison, her sister seems to have come in leaps and bounds purring constantly and getting braver everyday, but always going back
to check on Drum. I have looked at eveything I can think of, change of clothes, nothing has noes in the house, she's going to the toilet fine... It's like she just woke up a new cat! Any suggestions, am I worrying too much because there are bound to be stops and starts at the beginning? Maybe she's just settling and I was just lulled into a false sense of perfection! Any thoughts? Thanks for any help everyone

Bee