by MOJI
(Oxford UK)

My lovely little year old kitten has suddenly gone off her usual food -likes new stuff- but the weird thing is the way she rests her head… she places it down face first on a pillow as she rests. She either looks depressed or as if she has a headache? Can’t seem to find any similar symptoms on line. Am I too paranoid… she is also quite clingy…bless.

Admin:Thanks for the submission on cat headache. My regards to your one year old cat. I think the key to this is whether there are any other symptoms. Resting a head straight down is not necessarily a sign of illness in my opinion. Kittens can sleep in the most strange positions. Although a sign of a cat headache is to sit with eyes partially closed and the head hanging (src: Dr Carlson and Giffin).

Going off usual food is also not unusual. Cats can get a bit picky on food. Is she going to the toilet OK, usual stools, no diarrhea, not over urinating etc.? A check on toilet habits is a way of checking on some health issues.

Other symptoms like losing weight, lethargy, not liking to be touched etc are indicators too.

It appears that a good sign for a cat headache is when the cat is involved in “head pressing”. The cat puts his forehead against a wall.

It is well known that it is very dangerous to give pain killers to cats so this should not be done. A watchful eye and monitoring plus an early visit to the vet might be indicated if her general demeanor looks different and/or there are other symptoms. It may be that your routine has changed. Perhaps you are away more than usual? It seems that you can see a difference in demeanor/behavior in your kitten. As kittens can fade quite quickly it may be advisable to see a vet.