Strange behaviour

[Eastwickwitch]

My old boy (15) is behaving very oddly. He rarely goes out much in cold or wet weather, preferring to sleep on a sofa by the fire.
The last couple of weeks he insists on sitting on the kitchen work tops (something he's never done before) & refusing to lie in any of his favourite spots. Last night he went out for about 3 hours in the cold.
He's eating normally.
Any ideas?

Any new cats in the neighbourhood? And is there any way they could get into the house? That sounds almost as if he's 'on patrol' - and also seeking high vantage point within the house rather than relaxing.

We're very rural, but I think I have seen a new cat about. Do you think thats it? Can we do anything?
thank you.

How does he get out - eg do you have a microchip cat flap? There's not much you can do outside if there's a new cat on the block but if your boy realizes that he's safe inside his house, he should be able to relax after a short while.

He has a cat flap. I've only seen the new cat in the distance, never in the garden. It does feel like he's a bit disturbed, that makes sense. Thanks again.

Hah! He may be wanting to keep it out of the garden. (Or it may be coming around when you're not there.) I would suspect that he's edgy about it.

Microchip flaps are about £70 online - which isn't cheap but is good value for security because cats without 'authorized' chips can't get in to your house. Sureflap is the one used by most posters - \link{http://www.amazon.co.uk/s/ref=nb_sb_ss_c_0_8?url=search-alias%3Dpets&field-keywords=sureflap&sprefix=sureflap%2Caps%2C320\here's} some on Amazon.

It's worth thinking about - and if he's not chipped, that's probably under £20 at your vets and is a good idea in any case, even at his age, and especially for a cat who goes out.

PS - if you already have a chip flap, just leave him to come to his realization that he's fine. Just some extra TLC is all.

Thanks Cozie. We are in the middle of nowhere so have never worried about other cats. I think the one I've seen may be feral.
He gets nothing but TLC, he's over indulged.
Will talk to the vet about chipping.

Great advice, thank you