Change in a routine - thoughts please

[jb12]

So I adopted the lovely Susie who is 7 at a time when i was working from home and with her all day every day.
Now she is left alone for approx 9 hours a day, whilst i have a timed feeder to take care of her food needs its week two of her being left home alone and ive no idea if she has adapted well or not.
If she was unhappy what would the signs be?
New to the whole cat owner thing so any thoughts most welcome.
Thx

[Lilith]

Hi and welcome - sorry you haven't had a reply before

This is quite a difficult question; signs of insecurity and separation anxiety can include clinginess and crying when you're around, a craving for attention, any attention, and sometimes bad habits such as not using the tray ... having said that I'm home 24/7 and have a clingy one who never lets me out of her sight and has naughty habits sometimes ... she WAS a problem child when she arrived though, and they're all different!

Some cats accept a change of routine calmly, take everything in their stride; with any luck Susie is one of these. You're obviously doing your best for her; some people recommend leaving a radio on low when the cat's alone - but depends if you listen to the radio I reckon (I never do.) Some people even install cctv to see what the cat does during the day - finances permitting of course.

Hope this helps for now and that other people might have more advice, and all the best with Susie and hope she carries on as calmly as she is doing; it's a big change for you too; good luck to you both

[Janey]

Hi and welcome. Sometimes it’s quieter at weekends, that’s possibly why no one’s replied until today. Susie is bound to be missing you somewhat but as to whether it will bother her too much is hard to say unless as Lilith says, she seems clingier now, or her behaviour changes in some way. In which case, just a thought... would it be possible to add another cat to your family to keep her company? if she likes other cats, and you could afford it of course? If not you could leave lots of toys for her to play with, things such as ping pong balls (my cat will play on her own with those) are worth a try and those toys with a few treats in, or dry food for her to have get out herself, to keep her entertained. Either way, I hope all turns out ok, do let us know.

[Sniper1]

Just a thought if it might work for you and you could set one up a bird feeder or severely near a window keeps mine entertained for hours I am lucky though as none of them when out bother to try and catch the birds so it works OK just depends on the cat it would be wrong of course to encourage the birds if your cat is a bird catcher mine just seem to enjoy watching but can't be bothered to catch any