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Stinky's weird behavior history (long)
Stinky is one of two cats at work (bookstore). Stinky & harriet were
adopted together in February 1999. Stinky was 3 months, Harriet 1 1.2 years. Stinky was a typical kitten, loved to play and meet new people and try new things. When she was around a year old, she started getting scared by any new thing/person. She'd spend lots of time hiding and whenever we hired new people it took her awhile to get used to them. We sell textbooks, which means the store gets very busy several times a year. Stinky would stay in hiding all day for the duration. Over the years she would sometimes come out of her shell for awhile, and then she'd go back to hiding and freaking out over every little thing. Recently, she seemed to be terrified of me. I was heartbroken. I think she was always afraid I'd want to trim her claws, something that taht has caused her to go into extreme panic mode for the past couple of years. Before, she was fine with it. I know that I have never hurt her while doing it and I never trim too close. So, all this year she'll come into my office, but hide under a computer cart if I even look at her. If I tried to pet her she looked terrified. Sometimes she would come over and rub against my legs but bolt if I leaned down to pet her. I'd offer her treats and she'd hide under the computer cart looking pathetic until I finally placed the treat on the floor by her hiding spot. Once in awhile she'd come in my office and stand up with her front paws on my leg and meow at me, then run out of the office. If I ignored her, she'd come back in and do it again. I finally figured out that she wanted me to follow her to the back of the basement where her safe zone is set up. She'd go into her nook and basically just want me to stay there and talk to her. If I went back to my office, sometimes she'd come back in and start the whole thing over again. So this year, even though she's been hiding from me she was actually very calm when classes started back in February, and the store was full of students buying books and lots of temporary staff we had hired. She was actually letting the temps pet her, but she'd run from me. Things continued like this up until last week, when she decided to become normal again (for now). She's been hanging out in my office on my desk, demanding that I share my lunch with her, jumping in my lap, playing with toys, and always asking for food. I was glad she was back to her sane self, but she went one step farther. She's been going upstairs into the actual store every day. Normally, she spends all of her time in the basement when the store is open. The only customers that come down there are students during textbook season, but most of the time it's just staff. Last week I had to run out to the drugstore across the street to get something, and it was right around their dinnertime. I guess Stinky was worried that I was leaving without feeding her, and she followed me upstairs and waited there until I got back. Since last week every time I go upstairs, I call her and she follows me up. She even wanders all over the store and this week has gone close to the door and looked at people passing by on the street. She does retreat to the back if anyone comes in. Twice she has even gone upstairs on her own. We're all amazed. Harriet hates this, as upstairs is *her* domain. I'm sure that this is all temporary, and she'll be back to being freaky again. My question is: Is is unusual for cats to go through behavior cycles like this? Scared of their own shadow one week, acting normal & friendly with strangers the next? She's even let some customers upstairs pet her, which she had NEVER done in the past when we were able to coax her upstairs (with the promise of treats, usually). Her behavior this week is completely opposite of how she was 2 weeks ago. -- Liz |
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