C.W. asks from Lutherville Timonium, MD on March 07, 2011
Crazy Cat and Pregnancy
I have an 11 yo cat who has been acting strangely lately. He follows me all over the house, getting underfoot, and whenever my parents come over, he stalks them, tail twitching madly, meowing, and attacking their feet (actually sinks his teeth into their shoes). For the past 11 yrs he has loved my parents, so we can't figure out what is going on. We haven't had any other visitors so I don't know if it is specific to them, He is normally a very loving cat, will sit there and let the kids tug at him and not move. He is very over weight, so I don't know if he thinks my parents should be feeding him. I am in my first trimester, so I wondered if he might somehow sense that and is somehow protecting me (he didn't do this with my other pregnancies). We took him to the vet and he sat there and purred and acted loving to her. Other than being obese, she couldn't find anything wrong with him and was mystified by his behavior. She just switched his diet around. My mom said she is afraid to come over because he won't leave her alone. Has anyone else had their pets go crazy when they were pregnant?
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S.H. answers from Richmond on March 08, 2011
My cat became super attached to me. She would wait for me to wake up in the morning and immediately come and lay on my belly. Once the baby was born, she wanted to lay on his changing table whenever he was in the room. It freaked me out at 1st but I soon realized she had no intentions of getting in the crib, she just wanted to perch and watch him. He is 2 1/2 and she still goes in his room each night and sleeps on his changing table across from the crib.
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L.M. answers from Norfolk on March 07, 2011
My husband's cat had issues when he was deployed. I got Feliway pheremone treatment and it helped a great deal. Worth a shot.
R.M. answers from Cumberland on March 07, 2011
No-but they are very intuitive-as are most pets. Please tell me this is a house cat and never goes outside and kills rodents.
A.V. answers from Washington DC on March 07, 2011
You might try getting feliway from the vet to make him settle down. Our cat wanted to lay on my belly from very early on, and he still loves to be close to our now-toddler.
The other thing to ask is have your parents gone anywhere new, bought anything new, etc?
R.. answers from Chattanooga on March 07, 2011
It could be. I haven't had this happen with me, but my mom said her cat went psyco when she was pregnant with us... That same cat was also our guard-kitty. If we were asleep in the crib, she would lay in there with us, and NO ONE but my mom or dad was allowed to pick us up... if they wanted to keep their hand. lol.
J.P. answers from Chicago on March 08, 2011
My sister's cat tore his fur off when she went into labor with the first child. The same cat is going crazy now that she's been having contractions and some problems with the second baby. It's so bad that they've had to bandage the cat and use a neck funnel thing so she can't reach anything to rip off. Last time, there was no medical problem with the cat either- just intuitive, I guess! It stopped when she brought the newborn home, so I'm guessing it will this time too! Can you confine the cat to a few rooms when your mom visits?
K.E. answers from Spokane on March 07, 2011
Yes. My mom's cat took a sudden liking to me, and he is normally very elusive, and avoids any kind of interaction with anyone! He would sleep on the bed with me. It was very strange.
S.H. answers from Richmond on March 08, 2011
My cat became super attached to me. She would wait for me to wake up in the morning and immediately come and lay on my belly. Once the baby was born, she wanted to lay on his changing table whenever he was in the room. It freaked me out at 1st but I soon realized she had no intentions of getting in the crib, she just wanted to perch and watch him. He is 2 1/2 and she still goes in his room each night and sleeps on his changing table across from the crib.
M.R. answers from Rochester on March 07, 2011
My cat has been super-lovey-dovey-on-mommy with each pregnancy, starting sometimes just before I found out for sure I was pregnant. This is my third pregnancy and now that I'm finally due (in less than 3 hours--of course "due dates" are hardly accurate) he is even more all over me. He has been more aggressively playful with adults and is spending more time around the kids, even though they are just as rough with him at times as ever. He is the most tolerant cat in general, but seems to just want more family time rather than waiting to love on us when the kids are asleep.
With my first pregnancy, he woke me up around 4:30 in the morning, every morning, and insisted I come downstairs with him. If I didn't go all the way, he would run ahead, realize I had snuck back up to bed, race back upstairs tripping me or scratching our door whining until I walked him all the way downstairs again. It drove me nuts, but my vet said cats know when we're pregnant and he probably just wants to love on me more. This time he had his annual visit a month ago and he had gained just enough weight that they mentioned he should not be gaining any more. He is still healthy, but they do not want to see any more gain. They also said it might be pregnancy-related stress eating on his part since he is only six and a half years old, so hopefully it will come right off him. Many animals react to pregnancy--I've even heard of pet iguanas (males) attacking their female owners during certain times of the month or pregnancy. Animals are very in-tune with their human families. =)
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