Pets acting strange?

[noise]

One of our cats adopted us. She's very skiddish and has little love for male (human)'s. Took her to the vet the summer before last, she'd already been fixed. Over the last two weeks she's got up on me 3 times that I can remember while I'm sleeping, something she's never ever done before. Never thought much of it. The last time, two nights ago I believe, she was actually kneading but butt - That claw thing they do when they're getting ultimate lovin's? She loves my wife and daughter but myself and my son, we may as well be a plague, we reach and she slinks back from the hand. She's the eldest and thinks the new kitten is her offspring, while the store mascot cat, she generally only see's as something she'd like to treat as a scratching post. All three are female.

 

[Lorraine]

Hi, Yes our cat has been acting strange on and off for about 4 months now. She follows my husband everywhere in the morning and stays close to me when I'm outside. There are times when I practically fall over her.

There is also something else strange that I have noticed. When she sits near me or at times on my lap, I feel like she is draining my energy or in a watching state :/. Before I found this site I thought I was a bit paranoid feeling this. This can be unnerving to say the least.

 

[maxtree]

Well, yes our cat has been acting strange lately. When she was still living with my ex the last weeks, she did her "kaka and pipi" all over the house, even vomiting on the bed; (she never did that before) That drove my ex mad, a clean if not sterile house is so important.
When I heard of that behavior, I had the impression that the cat wanted to get out.
So I took her with me, as I missed her a lot.
Now after three days in the apartment' (no garden after 15 years) she gives me the impression that she 's glad to be here .
We had a tryout a few months back and then the cat went crazy in this apartment, she "cried" the whole time, hid under the bed and every corner she could find, didn' eat nor drink, nothing. I got worried and thought that maybe she missed "her house and her garden" so I took her back.
This is all different now, she's calm and "tells" me she's ok, does her "thing" where she has to do it and eats, drinks although not too much.
I don't know, but it's so weird that the cat really wants to be around me now at this moment in time.
Anyway, I am really glad she is here.

 

[Third_Density_Resident]

Over the last two weeks she's got up on me 3 times that I can remember while I'm sleeping, something she's never ever done before. Never thought much of it. The last time, two nights ago I believe, she was actually kneading but butt - That claw thing they do when they're getting ultimate lovin's?

When I first saw this thread I couldn't think of any strange behaviour that any of my pets were engaged in (3 cats, all female). However, it then occurred to me that one of my cats actually sat right on my chest last week while I was lying in bed (I was lying on my back, obviously). I cannot recall this particular cat ever doing that to me before. What's more, she did the "paw kneading thing", which was kind of uncomfortable with her claws digging into me!

 

[RedFox]

It may be nothing but I have also noticed a change in the animals the last month or so.
We recently got another cat 6-8 months ago called tigger, and I had put the change in the last month down to that (we've had to keep her in the living room away from the other animals as we'd just had her neutered).
After this the dog has been seeking company more (usually he just likes to camp out in the living room), which I put down to him being locked out of it for a few weeks.
The other cats have all gelled really well, and now tigger can go out they seem to be staying nearer the house instead of roaming off down the street.
I wouldn't say they seemed nervous at all, just more alert and keeping nearer to us all. Paying more attention?
The dog has been alot more vocal than usual (we did wonder if he was a little jellouse of tigger), he also seems to want to play alot more at night.
As I'm not there all week, I will ask my girlfriend if she'd noticed anything different.

I do recall her saying that last week she got home to find all 3 cats just sat at the bottom of the drive waiting for her. I definitely get the feeling that they seem to be 'watching' more?

The other thing is the last couple of nights late when they have to go out for a potty run - usually around 1:00 am to 3:00 am, I have been hearing birds singing. Little song birds, like a whole flock of them. At night! Just singing their little hearts out.

Thats seems weird. I've heard birds sing at night a few times (usually around areas with street lights), way too early for dawn chorus mind. Was it a large/loud flock singing? For some reason the idea gives me chills.

 

[Color]

I just want to ask if anyone has noticed any unusual behavior in their pets lately - like over the past three weeks or so? Changes of habit; a little more nervous; clinging or staying very close; appetite changes; that sort of thing.

fwiw, first thing I've noticed, about a month ago, is much more aggressive dog's behavior in our neighborhood.
There's been few ugly fights under our window, and my puppy was attacked few times from much bigger dogs, while taking a walk, out of the blue.
We have two dogs and the big one is sleeping in his place, in the kitchen. But not lately! Now he's climbing on our beds during the night,
he even pushed my daughter out of her bed few nights ago, while desperately trying to fit somehow. This is really strange for him, cause
it's not cold and he can not stand sleeping near someone, it's just too warm for him.

We have a cat also and lately he became impossible, my daughter can not write her homework - he's jumping on her lap
and on her books, all the time, jumping on my PC desk while I work, constantly seeking attention.
Two days ago I held him in my arms for more than an hour, while doing lil housework, like a child - cause he wouldn't leave me alone...
It was ridiculous and even got me scared, wondering if something's wrong with him and he's trying to tell me that? Really strange feeling.

Then, last week, I went to a near store and left animals in the apartment. After only 15 minutes, while returning,
I could hear both of my dogs howling like crazy, from a distant. It freaked me out and I started running,
assured something bad had happened :( But nothing was wrong! They were just 'protesting' cause were left alone.
Never, ever happened before. And now they are doing it constantly, we have to arrange our
schedules not to leave them alone, afraid neighbors could call the police or something :/

It is strange, and it's evolving, cause now my dogs and a cat are all sticking together, all the time.
For 4 years a cat and a big dog were simply coexisting peacefully, avoiding eachother and respected
other's little territories in the house. For the last 3 days they are sleeping all together, one close bunch.
Although it's 'cute' - it is so unusual and 'out of a place' behavior...

 

[Z...]

Dogs sleeping in the same bed with humans?! Dogs carried like babies?! Never, unless you want to raise a psycho pup.

To me , what you described sounds like a typical behavior of the dog that doesn't have proper pack structure i.e proper leadership.
Dogs are not supposed to be treated like humans. Dog is firstly the animal - the dog, then the breed, and only then the member of family. Even then this last category should come with a lot of reservations.
Biggest mistake many dog owners make is to attribute dogs human emotions and human characteristics.

To thrive, dogs need rules, boundaries and limitations as this is how they live in nature. If they don't get RBL in their relationships with humans they will try to establish the balance by striving to become leaders themselves. This is often very difficult as most of the dogs are not cut out to become leaders and it usually results in all sorts of neuroses and pathological behaviors ( aggressiveness, attention seeking, compulsive behavior etc) . It can even result in physical illness.
You as a human that has taken in the dog have responsibility of being a perfect pack leader.
Also never forget that dogs need to work for their meal, this is very important for every breed and especially for working breeds.

Dogs very often become one with their master in the sense that they are very good in picking up our moods, our fears and our own neuroses. I found when I am asked to correct the unwanted psychological behaviour the source of the problem in 99,9 % of the cases is the owner himself.

I wholeheartedly recommend TV show called Dog whisperer with Cesar Milan. (season 1 and 2 should be enough as it becomes repetitive afterward)
Dog psychology is not taught anywhere not even in veterinary schools and most of the dog owners are clueless as to what their dog really needs.
Cesar Milan is a great educator (regardless of South Park poking fun at him) and whoever takes seriously responsibility of having a dog should see this show.

 

[Color]

Dogs sleeping in the same bed with humans?!

If you were referring to my post then please re-read and understand how our dog is NOT sleeping in our bed,
what I described was his strange attempts to get into our beds, during the night, lately.
Not his usual behavior and not his usual place to sleep. And even if we would make an exception- couldn't happen,
cause he's too big to fit, that's why my daughter ended up on the floor ;)

Dogs carried like babies?! Never, unless you want to raise a psycho pup.

If you were referring to my post then no, that was about a cat, not a dog. And also NOT a usual thing ;)

 

[anart]

Sheesh, 'stormyknight' - pontificate much?

Dogs sleeping in the same bed with humans?! Dogs carried like babies?! Never, unless you want to raise a psycho  pup.

Just as there is not one type of dog, there is not one answer and I happen to know many dogs, including my own, who sleep on the bed and are carried and loved and are not, in any way, shape, or form, 'psycho pups'  (granted, they are all small dogs - carrying around a large dog might indicate a 'psycho-human'.  ;) )

Dogs are pack animals and have very full and active emotional lives.

To thrive, dogs need rules, boundaries and limitations as this is how they live in nature.

Of course - I see no one mentioning a lack of rules and boundaries - they are very important.  Perhaps this is some sort of personal attack on Alice (though I can't imagine why...)?

I wholeheartedly recommend TV  show called Dog whisperer with Cesar Milan.

Yeah, I had a feeling that's where you were coming from.  Again - some dogs are 'different' - just like some humans are 'different'.  Did you think that dogs automatically just move from 'dog' to 'human' without intermediate developmental steps?  I have no proof of this, however, close observation would certainly suggest that some animals interact on a different level than others.

It's obvious that you have very strong opinions about this, but it might serve you and your clients well to realize that 'one size fits all' answers very rarely work.  Even more importantly than that, posting absolutes usually indicates that more is going on behind the surface than is 'written'.  fwiw.

 

[1984]

Dogs sleeping in the same bed with humans?! Dogs carried like babies?! Never, unless you want to raise a psycho pup.

To me , what you described sounds like a typical behavior of the dog that doesn't have proper pack structure i.e proper leadership.
Dogs are not supposed to be treated like humans. Dog is firstly the animal - the dog, then the breed, and only then the member of family. Even then this last category should come with a lot of reservations.
Biggest mistake many dog owners make is to attribute dogs human emotions and human characteristics.

To thrive, dogs need rules, boundaries and limitations as this is how they live in nature. If they don't get RBL in their relationships with humans they will try to establish the balance by striving to become leaders themselves. This is often very difficult as most of the dogs are not cut out to become leaders and it usually results in all sorts of neuroses and pathological behaviors ( aggressiveness, attention seeking, compulsive behavior etc) . It can even result in physical illness.
You as a human that has taken in the dog have responsibility of being a perfect pack leader.
Also never forget that dogs need to work for their meal, this is very important for every breed and especially for working breeds.

Dogs very often become one with their master in the sense that they are very good in picking up our moods, our fears and our own neuroses. I found when I am asked to correct the unwanted psychological behaviour the source of the problem in 99,9 % of the cases is the owner himself.

I wholeheartedly recommend TV show called Dog whisperer with Cesar Milan. (season 1 and 2 should be enough as it becomes repetitive afterward)
Dog psychology is not taught anywhere not even in veterinary schools and most of the dog owners are clueless as to what their dog really needs.
Cesar Milan is a great educator (regardless of South Park poking fun at him) and whoever takes seriously responsibility of having a dog should see this show.

You seem rather like a commercial for Cesar here. Granted he has some great advice for folks, but I've never heard him say that allowing pets in your bed causes dog psychosis.

Since your remark about psycho pups is a rather assumptive statement - do you have viable proof of such psychosis, or is that more your opinion? As well, you appear to be generalizing for all pets. Frankly, the pets I've known over the years have been much like most people - all varying in certain degrees of awareness.

 

[Jacques]

Frankly, the pets I've known over the years have been much like most people - all varying in certain degrees of awareness.

Well do not we say that dogs are like their masters!!!

 

[christx11]

Sheesh, 'stormyknight' - pontificate much?

Well it is one way to vector a topic, even if unconsciously!!

 

[the_hammer]

The animals attempt to be near human beings at all times could be an other sign that the wave is approaching and that they too would like to make the jump. Of course only from 2D to 3D. And by being near humans they might pick up some lessons that will help them graduate? Weather this is a conscious act on their behalf is an other question.

 

[Nienna]

I wholeheartedly recommend TV show called Dog whisperer with Cesar Milan. (season 1 and 2 should be enough as it becomes repetitive afterward)
Dog psychology is not taught anywhere not even in veterinary schools and most of the dog owners are clueless as to what their dog really needs.
Cesar Milan is a great educator (regardless of South Park poking fun at him) and whoever takes seriously responsibility of having a dog should see this show.

I thought that this is where you were going. :/

I, too, have watched Cesar Milan. And was caught up in all of his "teachings" for a while. But one must remember that he works with dogs on his show that have extreme behavior problems.

Also, after much thinking on his "leader of the pack" scenario, I decided that, yes, dogs need boundries and limitations. But it also occurred to me, and this is strictly my own analysis, that this type of thinking, being dominant all of the time, is a very controlling, STS type thing. Being the one in control, being the leader. I'm sorry, but this just doesn't fly with me.

Yes, with some dogs you need to take an aggressive stand. But not all of the time, osit.

Also, I keep in mind that only through human interaction can 2d beings graduate to being 3d beings, if you want to think this way. So how in keeping pets in a constant state of 2d beingness does this help them to graduate.

And yes, I know that this is theoretical. But what if this is the case? My 2 dogs do sleep with me in my bed if they choose. This is not always the case, but they do sleep with me a lot of the time. And they are corrected when they get out of line. And in my estimation, they are doing just fine.

Sorry if this insults your beliefs, but this is just how I see it. There are many ways and they are not always the same.

 

[Alana]

Though i don't live with pets at the moment (some ants, who behave as usual ) the other day when i visited my friend who has an elderly collie, all her family wanted to tell me about Oscar's (the collie) new unusual friend: a cat. Of what i understand, Oscar has always been aggressive towards cats, but with this specific one, they became inseparable! The family is so surprised that they took tons of pictures of the unusual couple