Is my cat seeking attention or jealous?

by Dee
(Bahamas)

Is he seeking attention or jealous? He is meowing and going around to certain places in the house and knocking over papers onto the floor.


What does he want? He has food.

Comments for Is my cat seeking attention or jealous?

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starstarstarstarstar 		Those are big changes
by: Kurt (Admin)

Hi Sandra,

So I take it that you and your cat moved to a new location (in with your boyfriend), meaning that your cat has gone through some very traumatic changes in his life.

For one thing, he's been removed from the territory that he spent all of that time scoping out and defending. He probably just got the pillows the way he liked them, and now he's been moved. How rude!

For another thing, he's now got to deal with different routines and schedules and noises and smells and so on. Cats hate change!

So, you're really the only constant here. He's probably clinging to the only thing that's been stable for him in his life recently. You!

He may be addicted to the treats, or he may just want your attention, or both.

If he's waking you up and you respond by placing him in his crate and taking him into another room, he's gotten a reaction from you. He now has you trained and this is your routine.

The only way to make him stop is to not respond. Teddie used to wake me up in the middle of the night to play ball. For a while, I was trained.

The way I made it stop was to give her extra attention during the day. I then played ball with her every night before bed time to burn off her stress, and then totally ignored her cries at night.

It took a while and a lot of restraint on my part, but she eventually stopped when her efforts failed.

What I would do with him is first, stop reacting to him.

Second, place treats around the house that he can "hunt down." You can get a treat dispenser that rings a bell and shoots out the treats inside a little ball.

To get the treats to come out of the ball, he has to play with it, giving him exercise. Just reload it daily and set the timer.

Third, pay extra attention to him, praise him a lot, and increase his exercise level. Get an interactive cat toy like Da Bird and play with him twice a day for 10-15 minutes each time. This will give him attention and burn off excess energy.

I hope that helps! Please keep us posted.
-Kurt
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starstarstarstar 		Jealous and addicted
by: Sandra

I understand what you are going through. I think my cat has an addiction to his treats. He constantly meows and stays under my feet.

He almost knocks me off my feet when I go to the kitchen because he is expecting something. This addiction is beginning to interfere with my sleep.

I am woke up every morning around 4 o'clock because he is making noise by scratching at blinds or scratching on the bed. On top of that I recently moved in with my boyfriend and I think the cat is jealous. He still gets attention but evidently he is used to getting all of the attention.

I have started getting up and placing him in his carry crate and put him in another room. I don't like doing this but I have no other option. If anyone has a suggestion for this problem please let me know.
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starstarstarstarstar 		Have you made any recent changes?
by: Kurt (Admin)

Maybe he isn't feeling good. I've seen cats get cranky or act odd when they're sick. Only your vet can tell you for sure.

If you've made changes to his life or yours (schedule, furniture, people, living arrangements, and so on) he may be a bit out of sorts about it. Maybe he just needs some playtime. Assuming he's healthy, I'd give him some attention and probably try to have some play sessions with him to burn off some steam.

Can anyone else answer Dee's question?

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