can cats have a mid-life crisis?

[Chalmers_Cats]

can cats have a mid-life crisis?
im convinced our rescued siamese, anthony, is having one now. he was found by our charity roaming the streets, terified. he did have an owner but he didnt want him, so we took him into care. It took a long long time for anthony to settle in. after nearly 4 yrs in care, he seems to be settling down. but he isnt the 'normal' siamese. he gets very upset at the least thing. vaccuming is a major upset and causes a lot of distrubance. also changing the curtains is upsetting too - he must have lots of notice if something as major as that is happening. but recently, he has been a lot better - or so we thought.
he has taken to having mad turns. racing around the house for no apparent reason. he even lies on the middle of the floor and rolls around-showing his tummy!(which is totally unheard of in anthony terms) we also found him the other night, on top of the kitchen worksurface, doing his 'toilet buisness'!! he is acting totally out of charactor - like he is having a mid-life crisis.
has anyone else had a similar experience? is it just siamese who have funny turns? something i feel needs inverstigating........

[Ann]

I wonder if it's got anything to do with with the death of his girlfriend Big Rosie a few weeks ago?

The mad turns are classic Siamese. Our first Siamese, Sin used to have one every evening at 10 pm. He'd have a bite to eat, then use his litter tray at which point my Mum who was in the kitchen doing supper and could see him would shout a warning. My Dad, would put down his paper, remove his cup and saucer from the arm of the chair and prepare for action. Sin would race out of the kitchen run into the living room, jump onto the sideboard go over my Mum's armchair, along the mantelpiece, straight over my Dad and, using his shoulders as a springboard, end up at the top of the curtains. This was all done at about 100 mph! (Jayne's pictures brought back a few memories.)

Spock especially likes to do a few top speed laps of the house once in a while too, usually launching himself from the litter tray, although neither of the boys are curtain climbers.

I wonder if Sylvia, one of our members who's been breeding Siamese for many years could throw any light on this?

Ann

[Vicki]

According to my veterinarian, absolutely yes.

When my Bridgekid meezer Amanda was about 7 she began pulling out her fur for no apparent reason. She also got the kitty crazies every night big time.

My vet said he sees this quite often in cats that age, he thinks the females go through a type of menapause (menoPAWS?) around that age and males just get crazy.

[Chalmers_Cats]

Well we have had experience of the female cat menoPAWS with our Dixon. She is one of our own cats and a fews years ago now, when she was about 5/6 she lost a lot of her fur&it was very patchy. she also have a few mad turns aswell but that wasnt anything unusual as she is as mad as a hatter most of hte time anyway. she was put on hormone tablets and shes fine now.
anthony is certainly acting strange thought. we are currently re-painting our living room, so you can imagine the upset this is cusing. that will probably add a few more extra weeks of madness!!

[tutsmom]

Streaking cats is rather normal behavior, especially for Siamese. As for the rolling around on the floor, two thoughts: one, something has been tracked into the carpeting that has a scent he finds fascinating and he is "wallowing" in it. Tut used to have a "shoe fetish"--he loved to smell my shoes and dig his nose as deeply into them as he could, then he would roll all over them--in a manner similar to what you describe for Anthony. He was also fascinated by lavendar and would take possession of a small pillow I had that had a lavendar sachet in it. He would lick it--slobber on it actually--and roll all over it.

The second thought, given that he recently lost a beloved companion, is that he is either finding her scent still in the carpet and getting it on himself as much as he can. Or, he is trying to get his scent on as many things as possible and is rolling around as one way to do it. This might also tie in with the inappropriate elimination. Sometimes cats will stop using their litter boxes or urinate in the wrong places to help their "lost people or companion animals" find their way home. I've know cats who would urinate by the door or a window and on the bed just so their owners would find their way home--inevitably when the owner had gone out of town.

Other reasons for the litter box problems include a change in the household (such as the passing of his friend), change of litter, things like that, but also physical. If it keeps up or if he seems to be straining or in pain, please check with your veterinarian.

Purrs for Anthony from the cuddle,
Tut's Mom aka Sharon

[topaz]

We had a cat with a mid-life crisis at Manchester Airport recently. It strayed onto the runway just as a Ryanair 737 was touching down, missing it by inches. The poor thing was immobilised by terror until saved. It has since recovered and is now at home with his rescuer. ;D