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How to help our cat adjust

AuroraBorealis

AuuuuuDHD
Our elderly cat (going to be 16 this year) is obviously not happy with my partner and me now working full-time. We moved to another city a few months ago and expected her to struggle, but, to our surprise, she handled the move quite well, with a few obviously stressed days in the beginning, but she seems to have settled in well. But last week, my partner started to work full-time as well, so that during the week, she now is home alone for most of the day, until usually I come home around 5PM. We do our best to pet and play with her when we're home and on the weekends, but, of course, she still is alone quite a lot. She is obviously not happy about it, seems grumpy and peed in front of her litter box the past 2 nights, even though her litter box was clean. She doesn't have any health or kidney problems that we know of, and, considering the overall situation, we are fairly certain that the peeing is for emotional reasons.
After the move, we let her sleep in our bed at night, but for a few weeks now we started putting her out during the night because she disturbs both of our sleeps. This probably also upset her. We already considered letting her back to sleep with us at least on the weekends, when it doesn't matter so much if she wakes us up a few times.

We try our best to give her as much love and attention as we can while we're home, but we just both work full-time now.

Any advice from fellow cat-owners? We have no family living nearby who could drop by during the day. Maybe she also needs some time to adjust to the change. There have been phases in the past where she was alone for a big part of the day, due to internships and such, and while of course she was a bit grumpy with us when we came home, she seemed fine. Maybe it's just too much change for her right now.
 
Have you taken the cat for a vet check up? She may have a bladder infection and peeing causes discomfort. They don't understand that it's the bladder itself causing pain and associate the pain with the litter box.

Or it's possible that she may have some arthritis and just moving around causes her pain.

Either way, a vet check may be in order just to rule out some issues.
 
@AuroraBorealis - I wish I had some suggestions but it sounds like the cat needs time to adjust to the new place and routine. My two cats are really old and so jealous of each other that they'd pee on each other if possible. One sleeps on top of the clothes dryer during the day; the other one sleeps on a shelf in the corner of a closet. Maybe make sure your cat has a secure place to sleep when you're not there?

We have a pet door that enters the fenced backyard so they can come and go at will but we live in a rural area so the cats are fairly safe outside and can come back in the house whenever they want to. Is a pet door feasible where you live?
 
Cats are very sensitive creatures, especially elderly cats like yours. Your cat has just gone through 2 major stressors...Moving to a new house, and changes in the routine of people in the house. This can especially be true if the cat's feeding or play times are different now.

Any change in the environment is stressful to any/ all cats. Stress can often (and easily) cause a urinary tract infection, and UTI can lead to peeing outside of the litterbox. I think it is a good idea to get the cat checked out at the vet ASAP if this continues. Most of the time what we think is a behavioral problem or a fluke, is not, it is illness caused by stressors. Stress causes systemic inflammation in cats, and this can cause UTIs, vomiting, diarrhea, moodiness, inappetance, pancreatitis, asthma attacks and other problems. When cats are older or already have health issues, they are more likely to have these issues arise from stress because they may already have inflammation present and the stress exacerbates the problem.

My cat lived to be 17, and as he got older he was more easily affected by stress leading to illness. For example: every time my cat peed outside of the catbox it was because he had a UTI.

Here is a google search on the topic with links to articles
Google Search

One thing that may help your cat adjust is to get some of that Feliway cat pheremone spray. It really does help them to feel more safe. Also, I would make sure that the cat has at least a few places to hang out/ beds that are out of the way of foot traffic and are up off of the ground. Cats feel safer in high up places. You may need to put steps or a box (I used plastic storage bins in a stepwise fashion) so that your senior kitty can get up to cozy places that are off of the ground. I would also place chairs next to the bed or dressers and put blankets on top for the cat to have access to more safe hang outs. You also will want to be sure that your cat has places to get cozy where it is warm and away from drafts. Its a cold winter and older cats get cold easier than young ones do. It is going to take awhile for your cat to adjust to the new home, especially if you lived in the old place for a long time. Also, you may want to consider that cats can have vision loss as they age. My guy was almost completely blind by 17yrs and we didn't know about it until he was almost 16. We noticed he was gradually jumping up on things less, but thought it was just his arthritis getting worse. Then the vet checked him and said he had vision loss. We just didn't know because we were living in the same place most of his life and didn't move the furniture much. So, the cat was fine getting around because he was used to the layout of the house.
 
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When his cat would do something strange, my friend Jack would always look at it very sternly and say "YOU can be replaced by a MACHINE!" It helped Jack feel better.
Seriously, cats are more feral than domestic, and many human habitations are not really suitable. Maybe invite the cat to shop around and consider things as they are for an old cat.
 

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