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Can cats suffer from separation anxiety like dogs?
I left to walk my dogs a little earlier, and my sister in law told me that my cat Jax began to to cry, pace in a circle, and dig at the carpet. She said that she tried to quiet him, but he wouldn't relax until he heard the doorknob turning with me coming back. I'm just curious to know if this is something I should be worried about... I was never aware of it before because I live alone with my dogs and my cat so when I leave, there are no eyes or ears left behind.
5 Answers
- jujukittyLv 61 decade agoFavourite answer
Yes, cats can develop separation anxiety. What I've read suggests some of the same behavior therapy that's used for dogs to treat this, such as ignoring the cat for some time before you leave and when you get home. One of my cats has this problem to a slight degree. If you do a search for separation anxiety in cats, there's a lot of information out there.
Source(s): vet assistant, cat person - raindreamerLv 51 decade ago
I do not know about the medical terminology or seriousness of this sort of thing, but cats definitely can and do miss people that leave them, and feel myriad other emotions. I have one cat who, for a long time, waited for me at the door every day (as has been witnessed by other people who lived in my house,) when I would leave, and she would cry and not eat until I returned. She would also sleep with me every night, have to be in the bathroom when I would bathe or shower, and was generally over-attached.
She only got over this after she and I had a separation of several months, in which she lived with other people and I wasn't around at all, and I heard that for a few weeks, she was very depressed about it. She's still attached to me, but she doesn't focus on my absence constantly when I'm not around, now.
- 1 decade ago
A similar thing happened to my grandmother's cat. One of her dogs had to have surgery so my uncle was cat sitting at his house for about a week while the dog was wearing the dog was busy recuperating. After my uncle came home from work the cat attacked him as if the cat had never met him before (and attack means claws out and bleeding victim). So I think it is certainly a possibility. Similar to my grandmother's cat. Could easily be separation anxiety.
- Anonymous1 decade ago
Cats get attached to the home but not to humans. Not very much.
If you were to leave for two months, your cat would hardly notice you when you came back.
That is not to say that they are bad, just that they are very independent and can cope without us much better than dogs do.
- 5 years ago
He just loves you and misses you , just give him lots of attention when you can, and leave him with toys when you can't, don't give him away , then he will really miss you!
