Advice ref: Crying cat

[Oats]

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Okay, I have 2 2 1/2 year old cats. One of them has begun crying pretty regularly in the past week. It's usually when I'm trying to sleep or on the computer, and it's driving me nuts. She's never been starved for attention and she quits as soon as I pet her. She is eating and drinking fine, sleeping normally, plays with her sister, etc., so I don't have a clue as to why she's doing this all of a sudden. Is this just normal behavior for cats at times? She doesn't appear to be in any pain whatsoever, and her bathroom habits appear normal. She purrs loudly as soon as I pet her. Could it be that I'm not giving her as much attention as she wants? 😱 I've been on vacation all week due to the birth of my niece so I wonder if it's this slight change in my schedule that causing this. Obviously if it continues, I'll take her to the vet. I just wanted to see if any of you guys have some reasonable explanation for her behavior since you guys know more about animal behavior than I do. Any advice will be appreciated. Momma needs her sleep!!!

P.S. She is spayed, as is her sister.

 

[MicheleVet]

Could it be that I'm not giving her as much attention as she wants? I've been on vacation all week due to the birth of my niece so I wonder if it's this slight change in my schedule that causing this.

That's the most likely cause, but if you think there could be something medically wrong, I'd take her to the vet. Many pets pick up on little stressors in thier comapnion's life, like exams and such and become more "needy" or they will even revert to infantile behaviors such as peeing on the floor or outside of the litterbox just to get the attention.

 

[VeganSoprano]

It sounds to me as if she is asking for more attention. As long as she is eating normally and otherwise acting like her normal self, I would just plan some extra time to spend with her and just keep an eye out to make sure she doesn't show any signs of illness.

 

[Oats]

It sounds to me as if she is asking for more attention. As long as she is eating normally and otherwise acting like her normal self, I would just plan some extra time to spend with her and just keep an eye out to make sure she doesn't show any signs of illness.

MORE ATTENTION!!!??? 😱

Yeah, she's still eating normally (she's 15 lbs + ...course 5 lbs of that may be fur ). Also still into terrorizing her sister.

But, she's my baby, and I'll always watch out for both of my cats and make sure they're healthy and happy. 😍

Thanks for all the advice guys! I appreciate it! 🙂

 

[sunnyjohn]

Question?

Whay can't cats eat choclate? What is the enzymatic deficency?

thxs

 

[bern]

Question?

Whay can't cats eat choclate? What is the enzymatic deficency?

thxs

It's not because of an enzyme deficiency. Chocolate contains theobromine, which is toxic to dogs and cats and can kill them if they eat enough.

 

[sunnyjohn]

It's not because of an enzyme deficiency. Chocolate contains theobromine, which is toxic to dogs and cats and can kill them if they eat enough.

Thanks...

 

[verbal_kint]

lactose intolerance is due to an enzyme deficiency of lactase. even if we chugged and chugged milk, i don't think it would kill us or would it?

are there examples of ezyme deficiencies that could kill someone or something?

 

[bern]

lactose intolerance is due to an enzyme deficiency of lactase. even if we chugged and chugged milk, i don't think it would kill us or would it?

are there examples of ezyme deficiencies that could kill someone or something?

Probably quite a few! Just about every vital reaction that takes place in the body is catalyzed by enzymes. The only one that I can think of off the top of my head is a genetic disease that affects Quarter horses (though I think there is a similar disease that affect humans): foals are born lacking the necessary enzymes to store glycogen and they die within a few months of birth. But I am sure there have got to be plenty more.

 

[verbal_kint]

Probably quite a few! Just about every vital reaction that takes place in the body is catalyzed by enzymes. The only one that I can think of off the top of my head is a genetic disease that affects Quarter horses (though I think there is a similar disease that affect humans): foals are born lacking the necessary enzymes to store glycogen and they die within a few months of birth. But I am sure there have got to be plenty more.

haha, sorry. i wasn't very clear. i know if you're lacking key enzymes then you'll die, but i'm more curious i guess about digestive enzymes where if you ate too much of something, it can kill you.

 

[chris03333]

haha, sorry. i wasn't very clear. i know if you're lacking key enzymes then you'll die, but i'm more curious i guess about digestive enzymes where if you ate too much of something, it can kill you.

I do not know about people, but cats lack the ability to conjugate phenols with glucuronic acid (they lack the enzyme to produce the reaction). This makes any drug that is metabolized in this matter have a longer half life in cats and produces toxic effects with much smaller doses.

 

[bern]

haha, sorry. i wasn't very clear. i know if you're lacking key enzymes then you'll die, but i'm more curious i guess about digestive enzymes where if you ate too much of something, it can kill you.

Heh heh - I suppose I should have figured that out, but I'd recently been reading about that horse disease and I got excited.

As far as eating things that you don't have the enzymes to digest that you don't actually need - it would generally just pass right through, wouldn't it? For example, humans lack the enzymes required to digest cellulose, so it just exits the other end relatively intact ("roughage," my mother would call it). And our pets eat all sorts of weird indigestable things and as long as they don't cause intestinal obstruction or damage, they're fine.

There are animals that are able to eat foods that are toxic to other species, but I don't think the reason is usually digestive enzymes - the problems generally occur after the substance has made it to the bloodstream. I dunno - interesting topic.

We have totally and completely hijacked this thread, however.

 

[sunnyjohn]

Another question....

Is it okay to used shredded newspaper in my cat's litter box?

I was given this cat litter called "Yesterday' News." I saw that it was just old newspaper, so I decided to make my own. I take out the staples, plastic and the shiny see-through windows on the bill envelopes.

I take my shreaded newspaper and other shredded documents and use it as cat litter. It is nice because every day instead of scooping, I dump it all and put in a new pile of shredded paper!

Frankly I get a kick out of knowing my cat is 'doing her thing' on old bills, tax documents and the junk mail.

Last week I shredded a bunch of extra 1040's!! Take that IRS...

So is this okay? It won't give her a UTI or anything?

 

[verbal_kint]

should be fine. many clinics do the same thing i believe.

 

[bern]

Yes - I volunteered at a clinic that used their shredded documents as litter for all the cats there.