Cat Chat Feline Forum

I've owned my cat for 8 months, it's around 1.5 years old and is female and neutered. I've never had a cat before so not experienced.
In the last couple of weeks, its behaviour has changed. It's spending most of its time outside and is only coming inside to eat. It's even happy to just stay in the garden and in front of the door rather than coming inside. It used to spend most nights inside but this is not the case anymore. At the end of January, its weight was 3.7 kg and it's now 3.4 kg.

Is this normal? Perhaps because it was warm these last few days? Or winter is coming to an end so it doesn't need to put on weight? Or is this an indication of something more serious? It's still looking alert, active, catching mice but is interacting a little less with me.

In human terms she's a teenager (and we all know how humans behave during those years) They get more independent, some times even antisocial, and less reliant on those who look afer them.

Do cats even have the equivalent?

Being a teenager is a transition between compliant child doing as they're told and becoming an adult with a status in society and making their own decisions and judgements. It's about rebellion against the establish societal rules, testing boundaries, figuring out who we are and our place among others. All animals including us go through it to some degree in some form. For many animals it's a dangerous time when rebelling against the rules can be a matter of life and death. If you've ever had dogs they do the same, there is a phase between compliant puppy and obedient dog where they push you to the limit, and if handled badly this can be where many problem dogs go wrong.

First springtime as a teenager or young adult - a heady combination! I got used to my cats going walkabout in Spring - Tilly would routinely vanish for 24 hours when the days got longer, touring her wider territory. I would not worry too much, but keep a little tempting food around several times during the day and evening to encourage her to keep coming back, and play some outdoor games to keep up your bond with her.

I suspect the weight loss is simply down to taking more exercise, but if she is hunting it would be wise to worm her regularly if you are not already doing so - ask your vet for recommendations. If it continues to drop to below her optimal then definitely talk to your vet about it, but it doesn't sound like anything worrying at he moment.

You will probably find that she eventually falls into a pattern of hunting mostly around dawn and dusk, snoozing in the sun during the day, and arriving on your bed full of interesting information about life in the great outdoors around 2am - especially when it is raining! If you are in a busy urban area it would be wise to try to keep her in at night, although that is often easier said than done.

Try to train her to come home before nightfall. Do this by calling her, rattling her favourite treats, then give her her main meal when she returns. Always feed her when she comes home for the night, then keep her in till dawn.

It's perfectly normal for cats to spend more time outside during the warm weather; the world is more fun for them out there. Is she microchipped? If not, this would be a good thing to do; also put a snap-release collar on her, but bewarned that you might be buying these at regular intervals because they're easy for pusscat to remove! Write your mobile number on the collar, or in a barrel hanging from it.