has anyone's cat completely changed personality?

[muddymary]

Bit of a long one but we got our cat as a rescue about 6 years ago. From the outset she was anti-social at best and downright vicious a lot of the time.

We tried various different things to help her but eventually accepted that she wanted to keep out of our way except for brief interludes where she came down to eat or attack us. When I became pregnant we were worried we would have to rehome her but she didn't attack me once when I was pregnant so we decided to wait and see.

Once ds was born she was completely disinterested in him for a good 6 months. However now for the first time, she seems to actively come and find us in the house, she sits on my lap while I'm giving ds his bottle and purr away quite happily and she keeps head butting ds and trying to put her scent on him.

She's like a completely different cat. I could understand this change if it occurred when we first brought ds home from hospital but it only really started when he was about 8 months old. I can't think what else may have prompted it so now I'm starting to worry that she might be ill! Has anyone else experienced this??

[cozietoesie]

So she's actually become nicer ?

Maybe she likes DS better than anyone as she's seeing him grow up from a standing start? Cats do take to some people and there's no gainsaying their choice.

I'm assuming that you have her MOT'd at the vets on a regular basis anyway? (How old is she now?) If she's eating/drinking well, using her tray OK, and showing no other 'symptoms', I really wouldn't worry too much. Cats can change quite late in life - even my own old boy has become almost sociable with strangers since he came to live with me at 13/14.

[Keeptrudging]

My previously quite stand-offish/grumpy older cat has become really affectionate/cuddly since we got kittens. I think he's just staking his claim. If he's on my knee, the kittens can't be - he bloody hates them ! Thankfully they're all outdoor cats so manage to avoid each other mostly.

[cozietoesie]

[muddymary]

Thanks for the advice! She's just over six now and has regular check ups and is totally fine according to the vet so I prob should stop worrying.

It's just the weirdest thing she looks the same but she's like a new person- although she still hates dh!

[GeorgeHerbert]

Our (very bad tempered) rescue cat also became much nicer after a house move- no idea why! Would mellowing with age have anything to do with it?

[cozietoesie]

An issue with rescue cats can sometimes be that you don't know all their history and how they were raised. I've seen myself when cats suddenly seem to relax - my own old boy, a vet-phobic when he came to me, has stopped worrying about it - in fact he flirts outrageously with the vet now - because it clicked that he may go but he then comes home! Maybe your cat has suddenly relaxed when nothing bad happened? (You all might have been quite tensed up before and soon after DS was born?)

Weird creatures. Shame she still hates DH though.

[Clobbered]

Two of my cats have undergone similar personality changes, for no apparent reason - no changes in the household at the time. They both became much more affectionate and interactive. No idea why. It was years ago, when they were about 4 and 7, and they have both stayed that way. Enjoy!