So I have a 1 year old cat that I adopted at about 5 weeks old. We used to live in an apartment by ourselves and then I moved in with a coworker who has an 80lb dog (about 7 months ago was when we moved in with them) and the dog and cat are on separate levels of the housing.
I’m a night shift nurse, working 12-14 hour shifts/3-4 days a week and sleeping a good chunk of the time I’m home (except on my off days of course). My cat has always greeted me at the door upon getting home even as a baby and now in the house she stands on the top step to the basement (we’re in the basement which was converted into a studio style apartment) and cries and cries until I come downstairs. Even if I just went up to start laundry.
He’s acted the same as he always has up until this past month. My parents recently moved states to the state I’m living in and so I’ve been making a lot more trips to see them and help them settle in. They’re in a small house with two kittens and my brother so I can’t really bring my cat with me. I’m never there more than 2 nights though and I always make sure he has a clean box, lots of food, and lots of fresh water before I go and my roommate always checks on him once a day. But this past month he’s taken to peeing on my dirty clothes basket or (more annoyingly) my clean clothes pile when I leave him alone more than 24hrs. Today, I got home from work and I found out he ate part of his ribbon wand and threw it back up 🤦♀️ I feel so guilty as a pet parent that I’m not giving him enough attention.,
When I talked to my mom on the phone this morning she mentioned maybe finding him a better home because he’s getting stressed and I’ve been considering travel nursing (and taking him with me of course, I’ve only been searching for pet-friendly agencies). We had a family cat that we had for 21 years before it passed from renal failure, my parents have had multiple cats in the past that they’ve kept from time of adoption to death. They aren’t ones to suggest giving up a cat at all. My dad was in the navy for a while so when we moved the cats came too and everything. It was never a thought getting rid of them, they’re family. That being said, I can’t imagine giving up my cat but I also don’t want him to be so anxious and stressed all the time either. I don’t know how to help him. When I’m home and awake I play with him as much as possible, he’s not a big snuggler but when he wants to I’ll give him my full attention and snuggle him as long as he wants.
Any advice is greatly appreciated!
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from Pets https://www.reddit.com/r/Pets/comments/fbtzze/anxiety_in_cats/
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