Furry Friends Becoming Skittish?
I recently moved my family and two fur babies three states away from where we'd grown up. Some stress on everyone was expected so we expected our orange tabbies to behave a bit differently for a bit as it would take some time to get used to the new environment.
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| Fur baby enjoying her new home. Such a typical cat, asleep all day awake all night! |
Within the first month of living in our new place our younger tabby cat started to behave as usual. However her mother had become more skittish as time passed by. At the end of the first month we noticed that not only was she behaving skittish, but she had a sore on her neck caused by extreme scratching.
Now because our furry companion was usually pretty accepting of getting petted and now it seemed as if she tried to avoid people at all costs, I knew something more was going on. She had become very skittish to the point that if a human came near she would scurry as fast as she could out of sight.
The fact that she has become so skittish that her hind end peels out, drifts, and slides all over the wood floor as she is trying to scurry away even though she is older and has a bit of mobility problems tells me that this sudden skittish behavior was more than just the stress of the move. Her mobility problems began when she was a year old and her claws on her hind leg got caught on a window frame when she went to jump through it and I had to go rescue her from dangling by her leg. After a hard pregnancy and birthing kittens that were to big for her, her mobility problems became worse. So the only time this cat moves is if she's going to steal your seat.
Pests Pestering Furry Family
We'd been combating brown recluses in the place we moved and when there's spiders there's a food source such as other bugs. So I decided to check her fur and discovered she was severely infested with fleas.
Huge patches of small black dots and creepy crawly fleas were on our furry friend's back hiding in her thick long fur. I thought, 🤔 "That could be why her back has been all twitchy, she has a flea infestation."
Fur Babies Don't Just Get Fleas
However it could be more than just fleas that are bothering your furry family member. When your fur baby is skittish but generally a lover and seems to not want to be touched there could be an underlying problem.
That is why I suggest that you take your furry family members to the vet if you notice that they are more skittish or that they are biting and scratching themselves more than usual.
Your vet can do tests to make sure your furry companion doesn't have mites living under their skin, and it could save your pet's life. If the mites go undetected your pet could lose coordination, and end up with serious and deadly infections.
If the vet determines that your furry friend has mites they will prescribe your pet with the right medication to get rid of the mites.
If it's only fleas that's bothering your furry family members, I know Chewy.com has many flea preventions available as well as everything else your pet needs and wants.
I hope my experience and research on the skittish behavior of my pet helps give you some insight on what you might be dealing with and helps you get your furry friends back to being themselves. Much love.