My friend got a cat with his girlfriend a few years ago. The cat was social and chill when I first met him. Idk what the day-to-day life of this cat is, but my friend on occasion asks me to stop by their apartment to refill the automatic feeder for the cat, clean the litterbox, and fill up the water bowl, while my friend and his gf are out of town. They keep the cat locked up in a small bedroom. The litterbox, water bowl, and food bowl are kept in the room. Apparently the room is exclusively for the cat, and I think they lock him in there every night because they mention they don't trust him to not fuck with the wires/cords.
Anyway, I stopped by yesterday to do the cat duties, when I opened the bedroom door, the car meowing incessantly, and he stayed absolutely glued between my legs as I walked. He would freak out when I change directions and be all panicky as he switched directions with me. If I stand still in any room long enough he'll stray a few feet from me to scrounge for food. But the moment I move, he would abandon anything he's doing to stick to me again.
Also his most memorable trait were his really deep blue colored eyes, that's what stuck with me when I met him a few yrs ago. But honestly -- I had to look away when I made eye contact yesterday because he has a manic look to them now.
Also his tail was sticking straight up but vibrating excessively nearly the whole time. Idk much about cats or cat behavior, but this looked more like severe anxiety than anything.
It was also hard to get him back in the room (my friend instructed me to do this, I felt so bad for the cat tho), and lock him back in there. The cat knows to stick by my legs so we're always in the same room together. He's afraid of being locked in again. So I had to sort of dance between the room and hallway until I had enough of a gap go close the door on him.
I was instructed to only stop by yesterday. My friend and his gf are out of town for a week. The automatic feeder lasts 3 days and the two bowls of water "should be enough for 3 days". They topped them off before they left, and I refilled the night they emptied out. He calculated that they should be back just as they're emptied out again.
But idk man, the servings look so small, and I'm more concerned about the mental health of the cat being cooped up in a room for nearly 6 days with only 5-10mins of freedom.
Is this normal or ethical to do?
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from Pets https://www.reddit.com/r/Pets/comments/ov16a4/is_my_friend_unintentionally_abusing_his_cat/
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