Hi all,
I’ve recently adopted an 8 year old ginger tom from the rescue centre. We don’t know much of his history except for that his old owner passed away and no one else in the family was willing to take him.
We’ve have had him about 8 weeks and he does have some strange behaviour issues like being a little bit scratchy and bitey, but this mostly seems to be misdirected play and he has been improving whilst we try to be understanding and accommodating. Apart from that he’s a lovely cat. He’s quite clingy and always wants to know what you’re up to!
Anyways, on to the question. Every know and then, when he is relaxing, not even asleep sometimes. He will launch him self out of his skin! It’s obviously a fear reaction but I have no idea what sets him off. He recovers from this almost immediately and usually just starts relaxing again.
I wondered if anyone had any experience or advice of a cat that does this? I’ve had cats my whole life but I have never seen one do this before.
I would imagine this is similar to PTSD in humans.
Imagine if one time you were sleeping and got suddenly woken up by someone literally trying to kill/eat you, not an uncommon occurence for a cat – it might cause similar symptoms.
This certainly sounds feasible. It’s such a shame for him.
I wonder if there is a way to help him with this or if it’s something that will hopefully get better with time.
My parents adopted a quirky cat that seems to have had some past trauma. She’s finally getting more friendly and less skiddish - AFTER FOUR YEARS.
Sometimes it’s just love and time that helps them get over past trauma.
My cat was not a trauma victim, we got her quite young, but she sometimes still jumped out of her skin while doing nothing - because she got an itch. You’d see her skin twitch in a spot, and then she’d jump out of her skin to dash off to somewhere else just to scratch it. It was just the sudden unexpected unpleasant physical sensation that triggered her, so it’s not always a trauma thing. Admittedly she was a rather flighty cat, despite her leisurely safe flea-free existence.
However, for a new rescue, they’re definitely going to be extra jumpy for a while. I hate his format, but Jackson Galaxy gives solid and practical cat behaviour info. He doesn’t go into trauma and memory anywhere near enough but here’s a perspective on cat memory you might find useful. Maybe your cat remembers a smell from a cleaning chemical at the rescue place?
I took in a cat that had been abused by his mentally ill owner who would take his psych meds, get drunk, then bully and harass his cat…it took 5 years before it really ‘settled down’ another 5 to subside its ticks and this most recent 5 years he seems to be comfortably aging into retirement. He was an outdoor cat that ate rabbits, rats, mice and birds. 20lbs at his peak. he’s down to 14lbs now because he’s not sleeping in the snow like a freak anymore. he still goes out into the garage and just vibes out on the dog bed like a husky in winter. Always have to buy dewormer because of the raw pest animals he devours. so with that all said. Cats Definitely can have PTSD. i’d argue Mammals in general are particularly susceptible to it because of our emotional links.
Thanks for sharing. I’m glad your cat is better now!
Give him nothing to be scared about and he will slowly forget.
I’m trying!
Cats going to cat 🐈⬛
I’m all seriousness my stray that adopted me did/does the same thing and I was being a over cautious new cat dad and was neurological or something bad. Vet just pretty much said “some models just come with different quirks is all”. YMMV
Thanks for the advice
I’ve seen one of my cats do this too. My theory is that he was juuuuust dropping off and dreamed that he was falling.
Mine has farted herself awake, which scared her and she dashed out of the room.
I followed her to make sure she wasn’t having the trots but nope she just farted herself awake.
ive had dozens of cats, to me this is ‘standard issue cat’. most cats exhibit those behaviors to some degree.
That poor baby. I wouldn’t worry too much about it just yet. There’s a good chance he’s still getting used to all the changes and just needs a bit of time to figure out how everything works in his new home.
like sleeping at grandma’s with all the not-normal sounds waking you up at night.
Yh, he has definitely been improving in his short time here.
I’ve had cats my whole life so I kind of feel like I’m already used to him so I have to keep reminding myself that everything here is very new to him.
Man, that sounds like a pain. What do you do with all the skins?
He is cat. Cat do cat things. Hope this helps.
