Looking for advice on how to both support my cat and ideally also improve her behaviour! She's a 2.5 year old ginger and white female and seems to have had quite a noticeable behaviour change recently. She's always been quite lively (think she definitely has "single kitten syndrome") but lately there have been several changes in her behaviour - overgrooming (she currently has quite a bald tummy), and a massive increase in "disruptive" behaviours - jumping up on counters/tables she never did before, sitting directly in front of the telly, getting very involved in whatever we're doing.... Unfortunately this is very triggering for my neurodivergent 7 year old as she has a tendency to get right up in his space (e.g. sit right next to the computer when he's playing minecraft and swipe at his hands/ the screen).
I've taken her to the vets who thought the baldness is stress related and she's on gabapentin for it but I'm not sure it's having much effect. She had a VERY stressful year last year (moved house, long ear infection needing a lot of investigation and treatment, getting lost for 5 days), which all seem to have made her less confident with strangers than she used to be but things have been much more settled for the last 6 months so it's odd that this behaviour has started now. I'm not sure it's stress as it seems more like seeking interaction than withdrawing- she reminds me of a toddler that's trying to socialise but hasn't learned how to do it appropriately!
I've bought several toys but she's not interested, and have been making an effort to play with her with a bit of string (the only thing she'll go for) throughout the day but she's still not herself. She has unrestricted access to outside.
Has anyone else experienced this/ got any tips? Does Feliway work??