My cat has a crush on me.

[MaggieTheCat]

So, we're moving! We closed on our house last week and have been packing and boxing stuff up for the last week. We've already taken several loads of books, DVDs, and random other stuff over to the new house. Our apartment is kind of a mess since there are boxes and more junk everywhere. It's been kind of chaotic.

Our two cats that live with us, Ash and Yume, have been pretty interested in what's going on. Ash especially. Actually, I think "worried" is a better word than interested to describe how he's feeling. The last few days, he's taken to following me all around the apartment anywhere I go, and crawling/stomping/kneading on me when I'm sitting or laying down. It was especially amusing last night when I was making dinner. He was wandering around my feet in the kitchen while I was making dinner. I made a grilled cheese and roast beef sandwich for my husband. Usually Ash LOVES roast beef, so my husband was trying to entice Ash to come over to the table so he could give him some. Meanwhile, I was making another sandwich for myself (without roast beef, so I couldn't give Ash any.) Even when I picked Ash up and brought him over to the table and he got to smell the roast beef, he came right back over by me! I had to go into the living room a couple of times while I was making dinner too, and he followed me back and forth each time!

He's also been keeping me up at night by stomping all over me while I'm in bed. He normally likes to sleep in the bedroom with us, and sometimes he'll sleep on or next to one of us. But if he's sleeping on one of us and we toss him off the bed, he usually doesn't come back for a while. Not the last couple of days. He's been crawling all over me all night the last few nights. Last night I couldn't get to sleep right away, so I got back up and came into the living room and was sitting on the couch. Ash followed me and started crawling all over me. I cuddled with him for a while, and then he settled down next to me on the couch, on a blanket that my mom made for him. He loves that blanket and fell asleep. After a little while, I decided to go back to bed and hoped Ash would stay on the blanket so I could get some sleep. No such luck! I hadn't been back in bed for 2 minutes when he followed me and laid down on me!

I think he's worried that I'm going to disappear. My husband had a female roommate for a while a few years back (before he and I started dating) and Ash liked her a lot. He was really sad when she moved out, and I think he's associating all the boxes with her leaving and is afraid that I'm going to leave next!

[r2cagle]

Probably just anxiety from the change in normal routine. If the boxes weren't moved for several weeks, he'd probably settle back down.

My cats spend two days vomiting anytime I change anything major in the house, like furniture, or guests in the home. It's a pain, especially when they get the rug instead of the bare floor.

Congratulations on the house!

[protege]

It does sound like the kitty is freaking out over change.

For example, when I first brought Baxter and Sally home, they were literally freaking out. Sally wasn't too bad, but she was rather skittish. Baxter, on the other hand, was scared out of his mind. He spent most of the first night hiding under the couch. A couch, that has about 2 inches of clearance, yet being a very fluffy, and somewhat large Maine Coon...he somehow got under there to hide.

It can be a simple change, like a new car in the driveway, or something major...like moving. All of that adds stress, and not all pets cope well with it.

That was why when I brought Kitty home from the farm, I tried to keep as many "familiar" things around--his blankie, toys, the green "Kitty chair," etc--to minimize stress for him. I mean, he was going from being outside, on an 80-acre farm...to being an inside cat, in a 2-bedroom house.

Oh, and congrats on the house

[Food Lady]

Dogs do it, too. My former roomie had an American bull who would vomit anytime suitcases were brought out.