normal cat behavior

[mare]

My daughter visited a former roommate. They lived in an apartment complex that had half-starving college kids or druggies. She and roomie were the in the half-starved club.

Anyway, people who lived across the hall were druggies and got busted (YAY!) while daughter was visiting her friend. One of the dopers yelled back as he was being hauled away, "Someone take the cat!" So softie daughter does.

Question is: Cat has been hiding at the top of the stairs for three days now. Meows between 2 and 4 a.m. only. Is inconsistent with use of litter box. And, twice that I have observed, has started hissing and spatting into empty air in front of it; no one or nothing is there.

The cat will go to the vet tomorrow for a checkup. We'll let the vet know that she has been most likely exposed to pot at minimum and what else, who knows. The dopers got busted for pot, crack and meth (again -- Yipee!).

I am not familiar with having a cat indoors. Our barn cats have always been confident and outgoing. Just wanted to know if this behavior falls on the spectrum of normal, or not.

Thanks for info.

[cheval]

Maybe they gave the cats drugs. A lot of idiots out there think it's funny to do that to cats and dogs. :(

[mare]

Maybe they gave the cats drugs. A lot of idiots out there think it's funny to do that to cats and dogs. :(

That's what I'm thinking. As selfish as dopers are I hoped they were too tight to share with the cat! I figured, though, that there are some cats who are more timid that what I'm used to. But this does seem excessive.

[cheval]

I had friends in college that always got their dog high on pot. I don't think sharing was an issue when they were too high to care. It's sad. Maybe the cat is hallucinating. It could be there might have been some abuse of the cat and he's just gonna need some time to get settled and realize he's in a good home where no one is going to hurt him.

Poor guy! Good that your daughter grabbed him!

[ProvenPaint]

I wouldn't know about abused cats & although when I first seen your title I sarcastically thought "what IS normal for a cat?" I will say that behavour is quite odd & I wouldn't be surprised if he is somehow affected by the drugs (could he be going through a withdrawl?)....:mad: Hope he snaps out of it & although probably won't ever really "normal", I hope he gets better.

[zoel_222]

Maybe they gave the cats drugs. A lot of idiots out there think it's funny to do that to cats and dogs. :(

That was my first guess.

[mare]

Crud. Didn't think about detox. She's not twitching... She sure seems to have pothead paranoia, though. Stupid tweekers.

[Gypsy Rose]

It would almost have to be either that, or natural paranoia. Poor kitty- who knows what life was like there, even if they didn't give her drugs!

Glad your dughter took her.

[TheRedHayflinger]

even if they didn't directly give the cat drugs....the secondhand smoke from pot could have been getting the cat high...especially if they were in a fairly airtight room with a lot of smoking going on. Cat could have been getting constant contact buzzes.

It's sad...I had a former roomie that was giving her cat anything she was taking. I didn't know about it at the time, but the same day I caught her giving the cat drugs and forcing alcohol down it's throat before she went to work and I found a few pounds of coke in our kitchen cabinet, the first thing I did was take the cat to a friends house and start packing my stuff. It was the middle of finals week and I moved back home at 2am(thankfully my college was only an hour and a half away and I was able to easily drive back and forth to take finals and some teachers gave me my finals early so I wouldn't have to drive back and forth). I called into work(she worked at the same data entry place I did) and notified them and then contacted animal control. But, since the cat was no longer at our apartment, they said they could do nothing ...ugh. But the cat ended up getting a great home with the person I dropped her off with. They fell in love with her instantly and asked if they could have her when I went to pick her up later that week. They did say she acted weird the first few weeks and took her to the vet...not sure what the vet had them do though.

Hope this kitty gets a clean bill of health

[mare]

Friend vet checked the cat out. Said she's about 8 months old and some kind of actual breed, but he couldn't recall what (now if she was a cow...).

Anyway, said he didn't see signs of coke or meth, because she would be physically in worse shape and acting like a tweeker. He figures she's been exposed to plenty of pot smoke and weird behavior. Thinks she'll come out of it on her own. Didn't want to spay her until she's had a week of food and water. I knew she had signs of dehydration, but not dangerously so, and she's also used the litter box, so I know she's getting food and fluids. I figured sedation for IVs wasn't worth the risk. Vet thinks she'll learn to count on food, water, and the litter box when they are available every time she looks for them.

Thanks for the info.

[Gypsy Rose]

Glad to hear there's a chance for a positive outcome for the kitty!

[cheval]

Some critters develop a taste for alcohol. We had a mule that would go out of her way to see my Grandpa's beer. :eek:

[ProvenPaint]

oh glad to hear that update! Too bad for the experience, but at least she can get past it

[gabhainn]

Maybe they gave the cats drugs. A lot of idiots out there think it's funny to do that to cats and dogs. :(
A$$holes like that ought to be shot, those kind of selfish ignorant people piss me off, and i dont even really like cats........Kevin