Jumpy Cat
by Corina
(California)
My cat is aptly name Taz for Tazmanian Devil. As a kitten and even now at 4 yrs old he would spin through the house in a blur of beige and chocolate fur.
He has always been a bit jumpy for no real reason. Our older cat who passed 4 years ago got a little skittish in her older age, but not like this.
I chalk it up to his unique nature, but my husband really gets his feelings hurt because the way he jumps or tenses up makes it look like he expects to be injured. Can anyone explain why he does this and if we can change it?
Corina
Hi Corina… thanks for sharing and asking. Taz may simply be a nervous individual. Some cats will be more nervous, insecure. This may be because of his innate nature (genetics) or how he was raised in the first 7 weeks of his life or both.
If he is a bit insecure, humans can seem awfully large and a bit scary! (Cats Live in a Land of Giants).
This insecurity shows in his behavior and his skittishness. Although I am guessing somewhat. There is a questionnaire on PoC about cat personality: Cat Personality Questionnaire. It is a PDF file that opens in a different way.
It seems to me that it is about personality provided everything else is normal and regular.
My immediate thought is to try and tune into that sensitive cat personality and make his home as calm and as reassuring as possible: How To Calm A Cat?. Diet may play a role too.
I feel though that you have a nice cat friendly home so some of the ideas may be redundant. But we can always make our homes a little more cat friendly and that includes me.
Visitor’s comments and input welcome…