Did your cat’s behavior change recently? How concerned should you be and what should you do next? The details affect the specifics, , but you can get a good idea of how to start by evaluating the cat’s behavior change. There are also a few easy things you can changing try get started.
What Behavior Changed?
Depending on which behavior changed in your cat, it might be something totally normal or a big red flag. Cat behavior isn’t static (kittens behave differently than senior cats, for example) so change is expected through their lives, but that doesn’t mean all change is normal.
Normal Changes
Some behavior changes in cats that are usually not a concern include:
- Lounging or sleeping in different locations. For example, cats may shift to napping in warmer locations during the winter or prefer sleeping on a comfy senior cat bed as they age.
- Enjoying a toy briefly then losing interest in it
- Slight changes in their sleeping schedule (especially if your schedule also changed)
- Sudden interest in something they previously ignored such as spending time on a special chair
- Spending more time near you
If the behavior change isn’t dangerous, is relatively minor, or is only a change in preference, it probably isn’t something to worry about. In these cases, you might not need to do anything unless the behavior continues to change.
Potentially Concerning Changes
Other behavior changes should almost always give you pause such as:
- Changes in basic bodily functions such as peeing, pooping, drinking, or eating
- Significant changes in sleep patterns or amount of sleep your cat needs
- Difficulty using limbs, vomiting, difficulty breathing, or other signs of a potential medical emergency
- Sudden changes to their relationship with you or other cats
- Unexplained aggressive behaviors such as scratching or biting
- Drastic increase in fearful behavior
- Significant increases in vocalizing, especially accompanied by confusion or right after using the litter box
This list is far from exhaustive (I had to limit what I included!), but many of those behaviors could indicate your cat needs to be assessed by a veterinarian. They may also indicate there’s a larger problem that is affecting your cat’s behavior that could get worse if something doesn’t change.
Did Other Behaviors Change?
Multiple behaviors changing at once may indicate something is really bothering your cat. It could also signal there’s a common cause for all of them. For example, your cat may stop using the litter box, start biting you, and start meowing a lot more than normal. In these situations, see if you can figure out what changed right before the first behavior change. There could still be multiple problems, but figuring out what started things will give you a good starting point.
How Quickly Did The Behavior Change Happen?
A sudden, abrupt behavior change is often a sign that either something happened to your cat (such as a traumatic event) or that there’s a medical concern going on. Depending on what the change is, your cat may need veterinary evaluation. You can call your regular veterinarian, talk to a veterinarian through an online service like Just Answer to get more specific direction on next steps, or take your cat to an emergency veterinarian if the change is really concerning.
Gradual Changes
Slower onset changes can still be a concern, but they’re less likely to indicate an emergency situation. In these cases, you should consider the trend of the behavior in addition to the speed of onset. If the behavior is improving consistently, it may be transient. If it’s unclear or worsening, you should begin tracking the behavior. This can be done by keeping a journal, taking notes, using a spreadsheet, or whatever method you’ll stick with. For unpredictable behaviors or so you can evaluate the situation later, a security camera is a great tool to passively record what happens without you actively intervening.
The onset is particularly important because it can help you figure out what’s causing the behavior change. As an example, a cat suddenly not using the litter box or a male cat suddenly not urinating could be a medical emergency. A cat that’s intermittently not using the litter box could indicate you’re using a litter box the cat hates, they’re showing signs of pain as they age, or they may be getting stressed out about something that doesn’t happen regularly.
Figuring out the timing will also help with the next question you should ask yourself which is…
What Happened Before Your Cat’s Behavior Changed?
While the specifics of the behavior change matter, so does what happened leading up to the change. Sometimes the problem and solution will become really obvious once you identify what happened before the behavior started.
Stressful Events
Stress is a very common cause of unwanted behaviors in cats. Even if it isn’t the only cause, it can exacerbate other problems. When evaluating your cat’s behavior, the most important consideration is your cat’s perspective: Something may not seem like it should cause your cat stress from your viewpoint, but that doesn’t matter. If it bothers your cat, it needs to change.
Common stressors in cats include changes to their schedule, new cats or people joining the home, loud noises, and lack of mental stimulation.
Changes To Your Home
The environment a cat lives in has a massive impact on their behavior. If you had any significant changes to the environment, even if it doesn’t directly involve your cat’s things, that may be the problem.
As a common example, let’s pretend your cat stopped using the litter box. When thinking about what happened leading up to it, you changed your cat’s litter to a pelleted litter right around the time it happened. Pelleted litters are not something we recommend because they’re like walking on rocks for your cat so there’s a high chance that was the problem. By changing back to their regular litter (or something like grass seed litter), you may get your cat using the litter box again!
Potential Solutions
If you’ve at least narrowed down what could be causing the behavior change in your cat, you have a starting point for what to change. The solution depends on what the problem is so if you want some specific ideas, I may have resources on my blog or YouTube channel to get you started. Even if you can’t identify a cause or aren’t sure what specifically to do, there are a few general things you can try.
When Was Their Last Veterinarian Visit?
Especially if you have a sudden behavior change in your cat, a veterinarian visit is a good idea if they haven’t been seen in a while. A lot of people hesitate to take their cats to the vet because of the stress involved so consider an in home veterinarian or, if appropriate and not an emergency, starting by talking with a veterinarian for a triage evaluation of what might be happening. Even if it doesn’t seem like a medical problem, your veterinarian may spot something you wouldn’t notice so it’s worth getting them checked!
I hope this is obvious, but just in case it’s not: If you have any concern there may be something serious or a medical emergency happening, don’t risk waiting too long. Get your cat to an emergency veterinarian right away.
General Strategies To Reduce Stress
Because stress is such a problem in so many behavior changes in cats, removing potential stressors is unlikely to worsen the behavior. Some common mistakes people make with their cats include:
- Not having enough cat things. Your cat needs places to climb, scratch, and be a cat. A lot of cat parents think they have enough cat things, but they really don’t. Multiple scratching objects, places to climb in different rooms, and spreading out your cat’s things so they’re not all concentrated in one spots can be huge at improving their behavior.
- Feeding their cats twice a day. Cats have small stomachs and don’t naturally eat two larger meals daily. Many people feed their cats twice a day because it’s convenient for us, but it creates a lot of stress for cats. Splitting their meals into smaller meals that you spread out during the day is best. They don’t need to be evenly spaced and, if this is tough with your schedule, you can try an automatic feeder.
- Not playing with your cat daily. Play is a behavioral need of cats. Many people misinterpret their cat, for example, staring at a toy as being a lack of interest in playing when that’s actually a very interested cat. If you’re struggling to get your cat engaged, spend some time learning about cat play or grab a copy of Play With Your Cat.
- Skipping scooping the litter box. Grabbing a Litter Genie can make scooping easier and, unlike self cleaning litter boxes, is unlikely to cause your cat more stress.
- Using spray bottles, spike mats, yelling at your cat, or other aversives. These can create all kinds of behavior issues due to stress (or, in the case of yelling and spray bottles, accidentally train your cat to keep doing the behavior). There are better ways to address your cat’s behavior.
- Missing the obvious solution. If you changed litters or are trying a new litter box, go back to the old one you were using before. Same with any reasonably reversible change that occurred right as the behavior started.
Work With A Professional
If you’re not sure what to do, can’t figure out what’s causing the behavior change in your cat, or just want to make it easier on yourself, consider working with a cat behavior professional. Cats can be confusing and the exact causes of their behavior changes may not be immediately apparent to you. That makes sense because you’re not a cat yourself! Rather than guessing, have a professional give you an individualized plan to get your cat back on track.
