What a nice, considerate table, to be there in exactly the right place when the cat needed a pillow! 
Cats and Kittens
- Thread starter Azem.Ocram
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Zardnaar
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Look what you're responsible for!!!
Azem.Ocram
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thetrooper
Misanthrope
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- May 24, 2004
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Beautiful cat!
Beautiful cat!
Zardnaar
Deity
SIL and family have gone hiking. That means I get to help look after their cat.
Beautiful cat. But I wouldn't let a cat play with a spool of thread. That's a choking hazard if it gets unraveled.
I went out for a run last night after work. My cat decided to see me off, so came out the front door with me then watched as I set off. About half an hour later, I return. I do some cooling off exercises at a gate about 50 metres or so from my house. And I hear this plaintiff cry. It is, of course, my cat. Who comes running up to me and is evidently thrilled that I have returned. He rolls around on the floor for a bit. Has a bit of a stroke. And then he is desperate for me to walk back to the house with him. I oblige and he follows me the rest of the way home, mewing as he goes, occasionally rolling on the floor, and almost like he is escorting back. I have had cats in the past and they often wait for me when I come home. But this one actually seems to search for me when I have left – as when he “found” me, I was not in the same place as when I left him. Its also slightly odd that he seems to want to escort me home when he does “find” me. Any budding cat psychologist care to explain this behavior?
How long have you had this cat? How old is he?
Some cats suffer from separation anxiety, and sometimes they pick up on their humans' emotional state (if you're worried or stressed, for example). This is why I try to remain calm when there's a wind storm going on, as those are noisy and my cat gets scared when she sees twigs and leaves and other stuff blowing past the window (such things are supposed to stay on the ground, not go flying through the air).
Sometimes my cat will be in another room and start to cry because she's momentarily unsure of where I am.
I spent 2 weeks in the hospital in 2019 - the longest period of time that Maddy and I were ever apart. I did have someone looking in on her daily, for feeding and litter box cleaning. But that person wasn't me. When I finally got home, I was greeted with a half-hour of nonstop meows, mews, and a very long speech that I can only assume consisted of "Where were you, why did you leave me all alone with nobody feeding me except that human who uses the Noisy Monster (the vacuum cleaner) and smells like dogs, and you weren't here for me to sleep with, you weren't here to pet and scratch and cuddle me, you weren't here to talk to me and tell me what a good cat I am and that you love me and I had nobody to purr for, and DON'T YOU DARE EVER LEAVE ME AGAIN!!!"
It took something like 3-4 months before she stopped getting anxious if I so much as left the suite to go get the mail or do a little shopping. Even now I get greeted at the door when I get back from the lobby (the pandemic has meant I'm home, in the suite, for 99.9% of the time and my leaving is an Unusual Thing).
So maybe your cat is having anxiety issues, or maybe you were gone for an extended period of time and he's worried that when you leave you might not come back. After my return from the hospital Maddy clung to me like glue; she followed me everywhere, scared that I was going to leave her alone again even if I was just in the next room.
I do think he is liable to a bit of separation anxiety. I am his 100% human - no one else. I live with my parents and although they dote on him he is completely and utterly uninterested in them. Me on the other hand, when he wakes up he comes to get me to go downstairs with him, he doesnt like going down on his own. And when i was away for a few days on holiday and came back he almost meowed the house down in joy when he saw i had returned. And whenever he sees me outside in the garden or when i have been out for a run or whatever he is over the moon when i have returned.
I suspect that if i did that test they do on kids to see what kind of attachment a toddler has (but you can also do it on cats) my cat would be insecurely attached (ambivalent). So after i have left him alone in a strange room for 5 minutes and come back he would stay very close to me. Not do what a securely attached cat would do and once you are back go off and start to explore again.
https://www.sciencenews.org/article/cats-attachment-styles-people
From what i have read you are supposed to try and get them to bond with other humans a bit more, so if im not around he wont get depressed. Not sure how that works though when he seems to only have eyes for me. Not that i terribly mind however. Im quite happy being his one and only human. Im just not entirely sure thats in his best interests.
I suspect that if i did that test they do on kids to see what kind of attachment a toddler has (but you can also do it on cats) my cat would be insecurely attached (ambivalent). So after i have left him alone in a strange room for 5 minutes and come back he would stay very close to me. Not do what a securely attached cat would do and once you are back go off and start to explore again.
https://www.sciencenews.org/article/cats-attachment-styles-people
From what i have read you are supposed to try and get them to bond with other humans a bit more, so if im not around he wont get depressed. Not sure how that works though when he seems to only have eyes for me. Not that i terribly mind however. Im quite happy being his one and only human. Im just not entirely sure thats in his best interests.
It can be a problem for elderly cats whose humans die. The cat has bonded with them, or even imprinted if they had the cat from kittenhood (I've had Maddy since she was 7 weeks old and she turned 14 in June), and therefore can have difficulty adjusting to a new home with new people - or even people they're acquainted with but haven't bonded with.
Zardnaar
Deity
Cats often have a favorite human. Dexter is usually a reliable greeting when we get home. We have two cats and each one has their favorite human.
My other cat has his favorite too (which is not me). But when they are not around he is quite happy to sit and be stroked by anyone else in the house. My cat, though, is 100% transfixed on me. He has never even sat on another persons lap other than mine. My mum jokes that he has cat autism 
Zardnaar
Deity
You bought a new cushion hooman?
There have been a couple of other people over the years who have grumbled that their cat was more friendly and affectionate toward me than they were toward their own humans: "She never lets ME do that!" (scratch them a certain way) or "She never does that with ME!" (jumps up to get some attention).My other cat has his favorite too (which is not me). But when they are not around he is quite happy to sit and be stroked by anyone else in the house. My cat, though, is 100% transfixed on me. He has never even sat on another persons lap other than mine. My mum jokes that he has cat autism
I've had a lot of cats over the years and have known a lot of other cats. The number of them that I couldn't get along with can be counted on one hand.
My dad was that way with dogs. Dogs instinctively liked and trusted him, even if they'd never met before.
Zardnaar
Deity
They can detect a softie. Cars seem to like me but I tend to adopt the friendly ones from SPCA.
Or in Stoney's case find a stray a good home with the recommendation "he's friendly".
Zardnaar
Deity
Got a Dexter greeting today.
Dexter Z'ardnaar First of His Name. King of the Garden, Neighbors yard and his Cat Tree. Bow down before him mortals!!
Dexter Z'ardnaar First of His Name. King of the Garden, Neighbors yard and his Cat Tree. Bow down before him mortals!!
tjs282
Stone \ Cold / Fish
Zardnaar
Deity
Stoney did come home last night
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