Is she excited or stressed?

[Chat Noir]

Hi All

I have my two new 11 y/o cats for 2 months now. Suffice to say I love them both huge amounts.

They are settling in OK. The bigger of the two - nicknamed "Booler" on account of her size & the fact that she just barges her way through life - appears very animated. She talks as soon as she sees us, circles the floor, shakes her tail, purrs like a tractor and constantly headbutts our hands.

So far, so lovely. Except I am wondering if she is exhibiting signs of stress? I have notices that she pre-empts strokes and almost noses our hands away. In addition, if we are near to her although she headbutts our hands (and cheek, nose, whichever is in her way) she paces constantly. If she settles in for strokes, her tails swishes as if scared/angry/

I went to see her for a little while and it was only when I stopped stroking her that she seemed settled. She was about to roll on her back but stopped and looked at me with some fear I think? I am starting to wonder if there has been a history of abuse.

If this sounds like she is stressed to you, apart from Feliway is there anything I can do to help her? I am spending less time checking on her and when I do I get to floor level so as not to intimidate. Just wondering if any of you have similar experiences?

[Lilith]

LOL - she sounds great!

Having had cats like this myself, I'd judge her excited/exuberant; she sounds so full of herself!

My middle cat Mouse, who's now 13 but joined me when she was a 6 month old unsocialised feral, in later life used to jump on the bed in the middle of the night and POUND my stomach with great roaring purrs; she was just greedy for attention and to get any sleep I'm afraid I had to lie as still as possible after the initial greeting, because any movement brought on a new attack of 'ohhh Lil, isn't this cool! POUND POUND...isn't life GRRREAT????' And the loud purrs and nosey and toothy kisses and headbutts...could have gone on till dawn and beyond...She now lies in wait for me if I get up to go to the loo in the night (as my horrible youngest, Molly, an insecure 'kitten', has annexed the bed) and we have several Mousey love-ins overnight. She hates to be handled but loves kisses and fuss. Daytime too.

Sorry - edit - tail swishes/wags seem almost conversational and joyful with Mouse and my other ex-feral Emily (who is known as 'Miss Wag' lol.) I think sometimes also they get so carried away they forget where your hand is then they're at a loss; they do sort of bulldoze and go into a kind of trance, especially Mouse.

Booler sounds to me to be greedy for your love - and also I feel you've given her enough security to make her feel she can demand it. Good on you. Enjoy!

[Chat Noir]

Hahahahaaa! Lilith you've just made me belly laugh! The POUNDing is sooooo familiar. Feels like I am being punched in the stomach.

It could be excitement for attention as their previous owner had them for 6 yrs and wasn't a cat person so I don't think they had much attention. Both are quite needy in different ways.

Dusty is definitely the Booler and Darla the Drooler (she dribbles when purring/sleeping due to her wonky mouth).

Thanks for making me laugh, Lilith. It helps to hear from cat people with similar experiences xx

[Crewella]

Tail swishing can definitely also be a sign of excitement and enjoyment. My Daz has a great big, fat heavy tail (which looks like it belongs to another cat as it's black and he's white!) which he thumps the ground enthusistically with when you talk to him. He's an ex-stray and he does have a history of abuse, but he's a complete mummy's boy and I know he's definitely not scared of me as he runs to me when something scares him and hides his head under my arm!

smalldaz.jpg (61.23 KiB) Viewed 1485 times

[bobbys girl]

Tommy is just the same Helen. I love the kitty kisses he is sending your way!

Lilith - the pounding and the roaring purrs are familiar too!

I wouldn't worry Chat noir, she sounds like she is just making up for lost 'loveys'.