Does my cat have mental problems ?

[jackthehat]

I have a 12 year old cat who has started to behave out of character.
She has always had breakfast in the morning and her dinner at 6pm; sharp!
She is, and always has been, an indoor cat.

She has recently started behaving as if she is starving......I have to feed her before I go to bed otherwise she stamps all over me, in the small hours, shouting and licking any part of me not covered by the duvet; every time I go into the kitchen she weaves herself around my legs calling, calling, calling.......she skips from foot to foot, scratching at the kitchen cabinets, when I am preparing a meal. If I sit in front of the TV to eat she sits on the arms or back of the sofa and attempts to steal whatever it is I am eating...........if I sit at the table she goes mad trying to find ways to jump up to get close to my food.
She's also started to ignore her grit-tray which, naturally, leaves some pretty unpleasant surprises for me when I get up in the morning...............

I can't see that she can have picked up any sort of bug/worms, etc. and she seems in all other respects to be perfectly well and perky.........her eyes are clear, her coat is silky and she is content for most of the time.

Any ideas ?

[afcjan]

hi Jack, just read yr post and it so reminds me of my old cat who we lost last year at 16 yrs. He was continually hungry and sometimes left us a little smelly package in the bath.

the vet said its a kind of dementia, they cant remember if they have eaten and get a little bit confused.

I dont know if this will help u in any way but just give her lots of love and cuddles and if its true cat years are equal to 7 of ours then she is a grand 84 year old lady.

my best wishes Jan xx

[kira000]

At twelve she may be starting to have a physical problem which makes her hungry. Maybe a thyroid problem, or maybe something which is causing her to not absorb the protein in her food, which would also make her hungrier than usual.

Worth taking her to the vets so they can do some blood tests.

[sqad617]

Jack ...she has the cat equivalent of Altzheimer's Disease.

As far as I know, it is not catching........LOL

[woofgang]

it sounds like age related diabetes might also be a possibility. That would cause continenece probs and constant hunger. It cn be managed, so maybe a trip to the vet?

[pastafreak]

All of the above can be the cause...tho I immediately thought of age-related dementia.

I must say you have been very lucky ,if for 12 years your cat has been happy with such a tight feeding schedule. She now seems to be behaving like a 'normal' cat!!
It would seem she has finally learned to treat YOU as her servant..lol

[wolf63]

My tom cat Frankie is like this al the time and he is is just four. He is like a labrador - and he even sits and watch me eating on the off chance that he might get something.

Cats are furry alarms - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w0ffwDYo00Q

[knobbynonut5]

Have you been letting click on your porn links?

[knobbynonut5]

Or even letting her

[jackthehat]

Thankyou to everyone (except kn0bhead) for your answers.
And I hope that everyone else had a look at Wolf63's link.......so that's how she gets me up in a morning ! :o)

[wolf63]

I looked under my bed for the bat - it must be hidden during the day. It is quite a shock to open your eyes in the morning to find a cat staring back at you.