Bowie’s behavior continues to mystify.
He hasn’t peed anywhere inappropriate recently
(*knocks furiously on desk and own head*), but he seems to still be more…
anxious? restless? annoying? Than usual.
Like, in the evenings at our old place he used to
just hang out in the living room or wherever we were. He would lie down
on the back of the couch or curl up in a chair and take a snooze. Now
usually starting at about 8PM
he just won’t
settle down. He’ll stalk around the room and go over to the bookshelves
and knock the contents to the floor. He’ll knock papers off the
desk and shred them into tiny pieces. He’ll stand at the front door and
meow. He’s 12 years old, so I sort of thought
he would get LESS active and crazy over the years, but it doesn’t seem
like it. And it seems like it coincides with all the big changes in his
life, but I don’t know how to fix it.
About, oh, a year ago I want to say (?), the vet
(old vet, not new vet) told me that Bowie was too heavy at 26lbs and
needed to go on a diet or else he would get diabetes. The vet
recommended Fancy Feast Tender Beef because it’s high in
protein and doesn’t have fillers or grains. So now he gets one can of
Fancy Feast Tender Beef in the morning and one in the evening, plus a
tiny scoop of dry food when we put him in the garage at bedtime.
As a semi-related side note, have I told you about
my former cat sitter who shamed me about Bowie’s food? He texted me
while I was out of town to tell me that Bowie had eaten HIS ENTIRE BOWL
OF FOOD from the previous day and maybe I should
consider an automatic cat feeder. I was like 1. Call me when the cat
DOESN’T eat his entire bowl of food. Then I’ll be worried. And 2. Are
you trying to talk yourself out of a job?
Anyhow, I digress, but it was just an interested incident of someone worrying about my 26 pound cat being UNDERfed.
On his new diet, Bowie went from 26 pounds to 17
pounds. HE LOST NINE POUNDS. That’s like, a whole normal sized cat. His
bones started to stick out more. And now he's all jittery and anxious. So maybe he DOES need to eat more now?
About a month ago I decided that if it would
make him HAPPIER, I would just give him more food. So I bought this
automatic cat feeder to give him little snackies while I was at work. I had it for a week and a half before Bowie
managed to break it so that the lids won’t close anymore. So then I
started leaving him a little extra food in the morning
before I left for work and he started puking on a daily basis. Because
apparently he will just EAT ALL THE FOOD if you just leave it out.
I’ve started trying to give him more attention when I first get home from work and later in the evenings.
I’ve tried distracting him with the laser pointer when he starts throwing papers on the floor.
I’ve tried squirting him with water when he does his annoying habits.
I’ve tried opening the balcony door and letting him wander out there in the evenings.
I’ve tried sprinkling catnip on his scratch pad.
I’ve tried giving him an extra little snack in the evenings and a bigger one at bedtime.
Nothing has changed.
I think my next step will be one of those anti-anxiety cat collars or diffusers. Anyone have experience with that?
