My cat has changed

by Joel
(55901)

I have a two year old neutered seimese cat. My cat use to be very affectionate, and would listen when we called him so kind of obedient, he would stay on my lap when I'd pet him untill.... My roomate decided to bring her neutered male cat to live with us and since then my cat has changed drastically. He isnt as friendly or affectionate as he use to be. He never stays when we carry him to pet him or to have any sort of contact with him. My cat and my roomates cat fight every now and then, it seems as if they are playing though but i dont know. My cat seems to always start it but they dont get hurt or anything. So my cat has some jeleousy issues, but i dont get why cause i only give attention to him and rarely to the new cat so i dont know what to do to make him feel wanted around the house and make him be affectionate towards us and obedient.

Answer by Kate
Hi
Well I don't think that there is anything you can do to make your cat more affectionate towards you and as for obedient I don't think there ever was a cat who was made to me obedient.

Basically a cat has its own free will just like the rest of us and what has happened is that his life and environment has changed and he has changed with it. he obviously feels a little more on guard while the other cat is around and this can make a cat less relaxed and so less affectionate if they feel like they have to keep one eye out for the other cat. he is also displaying signs of wanting to be the dominant cat in the house and again his change in behaviour reflects the dominant male.

All you can really do is hope that over time the two cats learn to relax a little more with each other and in so doing your cat also reverts back to his old ways.

Your role is to be relaxed about the situation yourself (cats can feed off of our own anxieties), give them both space, make sure they have their own litter trays, beds, feeding bowls etc and give them space to sort out their own territories.

Playing games with your cat will also help to build the bond between you again and also help to relax your cat.

I really wouldn't worry too much, this is probably just a transitional period for your cat and if it was in his nature before to be affectionate then I'm sure given time, space and lots of TLC he will once again be the friendly cat you once knew.

best wishes Kate

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