back from travel and cat is behaving differently

[sdkitty]

We went away for four days and the pet sitter came (as she has been doing for years) and fed Sammy, took care of his litter box, etc.
Since we've returned, he's displaying a new behavior. He's laying under a table with a tablecloth that goes to the floor - kind of hiding or wanting to be alone. He never did this before.
He is eating and he's cuddling with me in bed in the morning as usual. But the new behavior has DH worried that maybe the pet sitter did something to upset him. Maybe brought someone else into the house?
It's our third day back and he's done this each evening. He eventually comes out but will spend hours under there.
Any thoughts? Would you be worried?
Pet sitter said all was fine while we were gone.

 

[vinbenphon1]

It does take a few days for them to settle back into routine. Cats dislike change, so your leaving, then a stranger in your house (and possibly their guests), followed by your return, is extremely upsetting for your cat. We put our cats in a cattery when we go away, and they take a few days to settle and return to normal when we get them home.

 

[sdkitty]

It does take a few days for them to settle back into routine. Cats dislike change, so your leaving, then a stranger in your house (and possibly their guests), followed by your return, is extremely upsetting for your cat. We put our cats in a cattery when we go away, and they take a few days to settle and return to normal when we get them home.

he's back to his old self....thanks....but we've gone away lots of times and this didn't happen...as long as he's ok

 

[ccbaggirl89]

dogs do this too. when i leave them for long vacations and come back they have strange new behaviors, like hiding under the bed, not eating, sleeping in different areas than normal, etc. it could also be the age of your cat... i've always gone on long vacays away from my pets, but as my dog has aged i notice he suffers more than he used to. pets get stressed out when we're gone and their routine is upset. it's amazing, really. it shows how dependent and devoted animals really are to the owner.

 

[sdkitty]

dogs do this too. when i leave them for long vacations and come back they have strange new behaviors, like hiding under the bed, not eating, sleeping in different areas than normal, etc. it could also be the age of your cat... i've always gone on long vacays away from my pets, but as my dog has aged i notice he suffers more than he used to. pets get stressed out when we're gone and their routine is upset. it's amazing, really. it shows how dependent and devoted animals really are to the owner.

yes, my kitty is getting older and also he's the only cat now. He was one of two for a long time. The two of them didn't really get along but it was still someone there when we were gone. He does seem to have gotten more needy lately.

 

[madamefifi]

My cat hide whenever we have any "strangers" in our house and will continue to hide for sometimes a whole day after the "strangers" have left. I put "strangers" in quotation marks because it's usually one or more of my husband's sons, whom they should recognize by now. Cats are weird, man.

 

[sdkitty]

My cat hide whenever we have any "strangers" in our house and will continue to hide for sometimes a whole day after the "strangers" have left. I put "strangers" in quotation marks because it's usually one or more of my husband's sons, whom they should recognize by now. Cats are weird, man.

yes, my neighbor has a cat that no one (except her and her DH) sees
I saw it once darting under the bed
They have a pet sitter who stays there when they're gone and he doesn't see the cat

 

[HandbagDiva354]

Not to scare anyone but my friend's 18 year old cat died when she went on her honeymoon. The vet said it was likely stress. Her kitty thought she was never coming back.

 

[sdkitty]

Not to scare anyone but my friend's 18 year old cat died when she went on her honeymoon. The vet said it was likely stress. Her kitty thought she was never coming back.

that's terrible......we usually just go for three or four days but we're going to be moving to a different house and I know they don't like change......will confine him to one room with his litter and food initially....although he doesn't like being locked up. I've moved with cats before and they didn't like it. But none of them was ever elderly at the time.