Cat seems to be sleeping more

[LinZ]

Wow, it's been a while since I showed my face here, hasn't it? Anyway, I've come with concerns about my cat, Rolly and his recent sleeping habits.

For about a week, Rolly has been sleeping a lot more, or at least laying around. He doesn't just flop over anywhere...he has two specific places that he catnaps...in the dog's cage, and on the right side of the couch. He loves the dog's cage, either because he finds her blankets comfortable or he just likes the smell of doggy odor. As for the couch, he will only sleep on the right side...not the middle or the left. I don't know why he seems to biased

Besides his sleeping habits, I see no other changes in his behavior...he's eating, drinking, and using the litter box normally. Also, he still acts the same...meowing whenever I touch him (this is normal - he's a big pansy), playing with string, cuddling when he's alone with anyone, and walking around, being his silly whiny self. He sleeps during the day and is allowed to run around the house at night, so I'm wondering if he does his playing and walking at night, then rests during the day.

Rolly is not very old - only about 7 years old. Maybe Rolly has always been this lazy, but I just never noticed because he used to be a lazy bum anywhere in the house, but now he's picked two distinct places in which to take a siesta.

Any thoughts on Rolly's new sleeping habits?

..........................

LinZ - wonders if Rolly gets the excess sleepiness from her >.o

[kehorner]

It could just be a change in where he prefers to sleep, but it could be something more serious. Check out his eating, drinking, and litterbox habits. Also, how long has it been since he's had a vet exam? It might be worth your while to go get some blood drawn just to rule out any serious problems. Sometimes very serious things can start out not seeming like a big deal.

I had a cat that I adopted. She didn't take well to the new house and was peeing outside the box, but some different litter helped that. She was a very small girl, and she was new to me, so I didn't think much about her not eating a ton. She stopped pooping, so I took her to the vet and they said that it was just constipation and gave her a laxative. She seemed to improve, but then started going outside the box again. I thought it was just attitude until one day she just completely went downhill. I took her to the vet first thing in the morning and they hydrated and drew blood for tests, but she died before they could even run the bloodwork. The person who had her before I adopted her said that, once they looked back on it, she had become more mellow and cuddly in the weeks before I took her.

Of course, this is a completely different set of symptoms and it may be nothing other than a sleeping preference for your cat, but it demonstrates that subtle changes in behavior and habits can be an indicator of serious disease. Of course, maybe if we had done bloodwork right away, they would have found that it was a terminal illness anyway, but maybe they would have been able to save her life.

Bloodwork will run you less than $100, and might just be worth it to put your mind at ease and make sure that your boy is healthy in his middle age. It is certainly much cheaper than emergency care!