[debmcdoodles]

I adopted a kitten I've rescued from work. One of my neutered male cats, Dusty, was his surrogate mom until he was weaned. My other neutered male, Dave, was his guardian and playmate. My female, Sammy, just taught him some manners by a few select bites on the ears or a paw smack on the head. Now the rescued kitten, Teddy, outweighs the original three cats. I waited a bit to get him neutered because of finances.
Right about the time I took him in for neutering, Dave started to act strange. At first, I thought it was due to the severe thunderstorms we'd just started to get, but it happened storm or clear skies. Dave acts like he doesn't recognize any normal scents. He gets real tense, stretches his neck out to sniff from a distance, stalks, and scares easy. He won't walk on the concrete floor of the screened in carport, but climbs over the tables, shelves, etc. I was scared the first time I saw it, so I kept him in the bedroom with me overnight. He curled up with me just like normal. The next morning, after I let him out of the room, he went to the living room and started yowling and passed feces on the rug. I carried him out to the carport and the litter boxes and he immediately passed urine like normal. He couldn't make himself walk through the kitty door to the carport and litter boxes.
I increased the number of litter boxes (added one to the inside) and that problem hasn't happened since. He can walk through the kitty door to the carport without hesitation now. I 've watched Dave since Teddy's operation, and things are getting back to normal, so could this have just been due to Teddy's hormone changes?

 

[countrygrrrl]

!!

Get his thyroid checked. Hyperthyroidism is very common in cats.

I dealt with it once --- they get CRAZY!! My first sign of it was when my cat successfully treed an entire family of raccoons (!! ) and barely let me get him inside because he wanted at them so badly. !!

In any case, hyperthyroidism would be my first guess. If he's also losing weight --- or if he starts to, despite eating like a horse, etc - it's for sure hyperthyroidism. !!

 

[Marcee]

testing the thyroid is a good one, but sometimes they develop allergies to food too. and, it can make them pretty nutty. ever think of a raw food diet? we make the dog and cats' food, and they are much healthier now. no filler, no grains that are unnecessary, etc.

we got onto this in part because of a cat who had horrible allergies and ended up with a ruptured eardrum and is partially deaf. the allergies are gone now thanks to the diet, but he has / had developed some odd things due to his lack of balance and messed up hearing. he is getting better now, but was pretty strange for a while.

 

[Dances In Woods]

Maybe have him tested for Diabetes too, hyper or hypothyroidism(sp?)
Is his vision normal? sometimes diabetes just like in humans can cause the same vision problems. Cats are very good at hiding ailments.

A few things to consider.
Good luck and let us know....
Chris

 

[Gayle in LA]

<<<---------------your friendly neighborhood cat vet here..................I would venture a guess that the intact male with his hormones and stinky urine just freaked your other cat out, so to speak! Not uncommon. If the cat who was acting weird is over about 8 years old, you might want to get a blood panel that includes a T4 (thyroid check), but unless you have seen weight loss hyperthyroidism is HIGHLY unlikely. Diabetes does not present like this, nor does food allergy, contrary to what others are saying. This sounds like a behavioral/emotional upset which has now resolved. I recommend neutering males at 8 months, when they are rarely sexually mature, but you avoid the broken hips and propensity to urinary obstruction which can occur with neutering too young.

 

[james dilley]

Poor cat I feel sorry for him.As I DON"T beleive in spay/nuter I think and feel Its a over rated deal. and we never have a large number of pets as we plan for the breedings we get. I mean why ruin a good animal???? would you want to be spayed or nutered without understanding whats going on???? to spay/nuter is cruel to the animal and puts undue stress on them. they are happier and from what I see more active than the pets that are casterated. and I never have a pet population explosion to deal with, as all my animals offspring are spoke for before breeding ,I have at least 3 people wanting each different pet when weaned ,So there are folks disaponioted that they aren't getting a pet from me. So do NOT spay/nuter as its bad for your pet.

 

[debmcdoodles]

I appreciate the information. One thing you brought to mind regarding weight loss...I'd always had my cats on dry food and they were getting heavy. I started to split a cat of cat food every morning between the three of them and they started getting more active and losing weight. Sammy was belly dragging before, but now she can chase me around the house! Dave had a prescription last year for diazepan for seizures that would have his fur twitching and him running frantic and licking like crazy. He's off the drug, but I do keep it handy. He's also sensitive to bleach, in any form or strength. He's such a loving and vocal personality, that I do try to keep him happy and healthy. His weight loss I think started with the canned food and he toned up when Teddy Cat joined our family as a 3 month old.

Thanks for caring enough to post!

 

[debmcdoodles]

Sorry to disappoint you, but Teddy Cat was neutered within the past month and is still loveable and all boy. He just doesn't wiggle his tail or get offended when another male cat is out in the yard. I've had unaltered cats before and I think their reproductive lives were not missed. I'm also the care giver of a yard of feral cats. The Queen was a member of my outdoor family since kittenage and had litter after litter. The kittens that didn't die due to vehicles, were all altered and adopted. She seems to be content to live her life without male cats harassing her every season. Just my two cents worth on behalf of my family of furries.

 

[debmcdoodles]

Dave seems to be able to follow my fingers in front of his face, pupils normal, and recognizes the other members of the family by sight, but his sense of smell may be off. He did have a cold recently...maybe that's tied in to the problem!

 

[mightybooboo]

I read the title and thought,So whats new?My cat is just a goofball,strange is his norm
BooBoo

 

[mamahen]

Did this happen after you brought him home? I had 3 cats (1 female & 2 males), they all were altered within months of each other, but each time I brought one home from the Vet's office, the others would act goofy. Well, goofier than usual!

The males especially had a very strong odor. The same as cat spray. But they never sprayed before I had them nuetered. So some must've leaked during the operation.

After they were home for a few days, all was well again.

 

[Cyngbaeld]

I'm all for spaying and neutering! There is nothing more miserable than a cat constantly in heat, unless it is a tom who is forever trying to breed every female in sight and fighting with every other male. Moreover, if they are allowed to breed at will, soon you are over run with feral cats with a life span of 2 to 3 years at best. Most don't even grow up. The queens that have litter after litter are poor, sickly looking things, getting weaker with each round. Their lives are much worse without the surgery.

 

[countrygrrrl]

I'll second that, Cyngbaeld.

Not spaying and neutering may make some people feel good, but it's very very very bad for cats and dogs. Lifespan is much decreased, quality of life is much worse. Females have the worst of it, in terms of physical problems stemming immediately from not being spayed (pyometra for female dogs, shortened lifespans from repeated pregnancies, etc), but males have even shorter lifespans because they can't stop roaming, picking fights, etc.

And even worse are all the kittens and puppies they have. :no: VERY few actually get adopted --- the numbers which end up in pounds are staggering --- and likely, many many more than end up in pounds die from being dumped, thrown out, killed by feral dogs or coyotes or whatever, drowned by people who just don't feel like taking care of them anymore, run over by cars while they're trying to find food or comfort or the people who dumped them, dead from tick disease from all their roaming and the failure of people to protect them, etc.

:no:

 

[Gayle in LA]

You do NOT want to hear my response to the "don't spay/neuter" drivvel. It would get me banished.

(but then I am only a veterinarian so I don't know anything at all about animal health)

Sheesh.

 

[Guest]

Another DVM here piping up--You don't want to know how many animals I have had to deal with that were bred/unwanted/abandoned/hit by cars/dead.... I am not registered yet, but would be banished too if I let fly w/ my feelings about not spaying/neutering animals.

Another vet.

 

[debmcdoodles]

Sammy's (Samantha) been with us for 6 or 7 years. Dave's been with us for almost 3. Teddy Cat joined the family in November, looked to be about 3 months old or maybe a little younger, and was neutered last month. Dave's behavior started a couple of days before I took Teddy Cat in to be 'fixed'. I remember that I thought it was getting a bit late because Dave had been trying to mount Teddy and Teddy was finally reversing the roles and trying to mount Dave. Yesterday, Dave picked a fight with Sammy, chasing her around the living room, cornering her, and all that. When I jumped in to separate them, I thought it was done. Then I saw Dave sniffing along the couch where he'd chased my girl off, then raised his tail to the verticals behind them! I've never seen Dave marking before. And to make things even more interesting around here, now I'm treating Teddy Cat for an eye infection. The sight of me armed with a wash cloth and a tube of triple antibiotic sends him out the door!

 

[mightybooboo]

Another DVM here piping up--You don't want to know how many animals I have had to deal with that were bred/unwanted/abandoned/hit by cars/dead.... I am not registered yet, but would be banished too if I let fly w/ my feelings about not spaying/neutering animals.

Another vet.

Vote for the spay and neuter esp. for cats.Certainly better for their health fights wise.A dog,well,you can kind of control their breeding easier,we didnt neuter ours as a kid,but the males would roam,not a good thing.I spay/neuter all now,and they live to ripe old ages.A roamer hit by cars,not for me,thank you.
BooBoo

 

[TedH71]

Trust me male cats that spray are almost impossible to break from that habit even if they're neutered based on my experience and they stink!

Ted

 

[Bink]

!!

Get his thyroid checked. Hyperthyroidism is very common in cats.

I dealt with it once --- they get CRAZY!! My first sign of it was when my cat successfully treed an entire family of raccoons (!! ) and barely let me get him inside because he wanted at them so badly. !!

I'm still chuckling over this. I felt exactly like that when I quit smoking.