Cat Chat Feline Forum

Hello! I have a rescue bluepoint siamese for a year and a half now. She and I were so bonded. She would fall asleep at my feet for hours if I was doing work. If she got my lap, she would sleep there for hours, twitching at all, which she never did with my partner. If I slept on the couch, she would automatically ask to be little spoon or sit where my knees fold; some days, after 6 hours of sleep, she would still be there. She was my cat.

All of a sudden, she ignores me for days, or insists on sitting on my stomach one time a day just to bound off, and I mean full force into your gut with a 5 foot leap across the room type bound, after only minutes. I have stomach issues and it hurts like crazy. As in for hours after she left. She used to gently step off. I spent hours searching for how to make this stop, but kept finding things on how to make your cat not jump on counters. I found a small tidbit that said your cat associates your pain with the sounds of her pain. So whenever she did it, I would yowl then hiss at her. I did this maybe twice and several days later she was TERRIFIED of me. I had to coax her back into ease around me, but she's still doing the 180. The only difference in our house is that we REALLY are ignoring her yowls for food. She used to be obese and now she's a regular weight, but food obsessed. Two hours before feeding time she nudges and yowls (not her meow), and to discourage the behavior we don't feed her until she stops.

Any ideas? On any of it. The bounding, the food obsession, etc.

One of the problems with rescues is you never know their past, to me it sounds like when you first got her she was very insecure and latched on to you for confidence. Now she is settled in your home and she is trying to find out how far she can push you and if she can train you to do what she wants. If she was badly treated or neglected it could explain both the food addiction and the terror when you told her off.

A couple of things come to mind to try and help the situation.

Instead of encouraging her to sit on your knee could you put a cloth or something beside you on the sofa so she could sit on that, she could then have all the fuss and attention and you wouldn't be getting worked up that she was going to hurt you when she jumped off. Maybe occasionally giving her some low calorie treat when she does sit there, either some low calorie dried food you can give her piece by piece or a piece of cooked or dried meat, you just have to remember that it is part of her daily allowance. About the only other option I can think of is if she gives you warning she is about to jump of to pick her up and put her on the floor or on the sofa beside you quietly first.

As far as feeding goes then little and often is probably best. There are various balls and dishes available that slow down a cat's eating, the feed balls have small holes in them so the cat has to knock the ball around until a piece of food fall out, not only does it slow the eating but it also encourages the cat to exercise a bit. I don't quite know about the bowls they seem to have small nodules or soft spikes at the bottom so the cat has to eat the food around these, i have seen them, but never tried them. I would say, try very hard to never give in when she is yowling for food, only give her any treats or rewards when she is quiet, otherwise you won't get a moment's peace afterwards.

I do hope she settles down soon, she might not be quite as attentive to you as she once was but once she learns what the rules are I think she will come around again.

Hi there and welcome

I'm assuming your girl's spayed? This is probably a silly question, but some girls, especially Siamese, can get very moody if left unspayed and unmated; they can be like Jekyll and Hyde.

Also, how old is she? If she's elderly, some age-related illnesses can cause a change in mood and also appetite, and I wonder if a vet checkup anyway (regardless of her age) might shed some light on her problems.

It does seem unusual, this sort of change in temperament for no apparent reason; Siamese are so possessive and loving - as she used to be. I do hope you find a reason for her problems and please give her a love from me - I once had a bluepoint girl; she was known as my 'familiar' lol.

All the very very best; please tell us how she goes on