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Step 1
Many people think that when a cat rubs against them that the cat is showing affection. This is a general misconception. Cats rub against their own owners as a way of marking them with their scent. You will know your cat is showing affection when he butts you with his head.
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Step 2
If your cat seems to excessively scratch behind or inside his ears, he probably has ear mites and/or a build up of ear wax. Look inside your cat’s ears. Do you see dark brown wax or tiny mites? If so, take your cat to the vet. Your vet can clean out your cat’s ear and check for ear mites. Medication can be given to rid your cat of those irritating little pests.
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Step 3
Many cats do not like being held. Introduce your cat to being held by picking him up and scratching his head a couple of times a day. When your cat struggles to get loose, let him go. This will teach him that he is not a “prisoner” and that you are not trying to control him. He will eventually relax and allow you to hold him for longer periods of time.
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Step 4
If your cat will not leave the dirt in the houseplants alone, try burying citrus peels in the plant’s dirt. The smell usually deters cats from the plant. You can also place a moth ball or two in the dirt.
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Step 5
Cats continually groom and lick themselves because it is an instinct. They lick any scent they may have off of their bodies so any prey they may stalk will not smell them approaching. While it is true that today’s cats probably do not stalk anything more than a cat toy, it is part of their makeup and they will continue to lick and groom themselves. If your cat licks himself to the point where his fur starts falling out, take him to the vet. This is not normal and may be a sign that your cat has neurological problems.
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Step 6
If your cat has suddenly started to urinate in places other than his litter box, you should consider taking him to the vet. This is a sign that your cat may have a urinary tract infection. Cats will move away from their litter boxes when they urinate because they may associate it with pain.
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Step 7
If your cat is chasing his tail, growling or hissing at his backside or if he appears to be running away from his own tail, he may have worms. Take him to the vet to be checked for internal parasites.
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Step 8
If your cat has kittens she may move them from place to place. One reason she may do this is because she feels the area has become too dirty. You can help your mother cat to feel more at ease about her nursery area by cleaning the bedding every couple of days.
Comments
wjackson said
on 10/29/2008 jmorrow--You may want to take your cat to the vet for a checkup. This may be a sign that your cat is sick. On the other hand, it may simply mean that she is feeling insecure.
jmorrow said
on 10/27/2008 In conclusion to my comment posted 10/27/2008, I don't know if you didn't receive my entire comment or just didn't put it all out there, but I went on to say that we found our cat laying in her litter box like it was her bed. She is an indoor/outdoor cat so we put her outside and when we returned home we let her come back in and she went immediately to her food to eat & then to her litter box, used it and then proceeded to lay in it again. What do you think this behavior means?
jmorrow said
on 10/27/2008 In conclusion to my comment posted 10/27/2008, I don't know if you didn't receive my entire comment or just didn't put it all out there, but I went on to say that we found our cat laying in her litter box like it was her bed. She is an indoor/outdoor cat so we put her outside and when we returned home we let her come back in and she went immediately to her food to eat & then to her litter box, used it and then proceeded to lay in it again. What do you think this behavior means?
jmorrow said
on 10/27/2008 Our 8 year old female cat has lived most of her life with us in the same home up until Sept. of '07 when we moved, lived somewhere 11 months and 2 months ago moved again. She seemed to be fine in this latest location (we thought) up until about a month ago, when she started licking herself obsessively and actually pulled (or licked) herself bald a good-sized spot on her back right ahead of her tail. Then she started wanting to stay camped in the bathroom, not leaving for days on end, except to use her litter box in another room. We do keep her food & water in the bathroom. She stopped doing that about a week ago, but still acts very peculiar, acting jumpy and skiddish and not wanting to have anything to do with us (like she's off in another world) Not herself at all. Today we couldn't find her in the apt. because we would not have guessed we would find her where we ended up finding her.