Expert: Dear Tabbi - 1/19/2009

Question
Hi Tabbi,

I just adopted a 3 1/2 year old tabby mix brother sister pair from the Humane Society.  I'm having trouble interpreting some of their more interesting behaviors and hope that you can help.  The male, Clyde, has corneal scarring in both his eyes due to a URI when he was a kitten.  4 or 5 times a week when I come home from work or if I go up to my bedroom where he has been sleeping, he gets very close to me and rubs his face against mine.  I understand that this is his way of marking me and I enjoy it as much as he does, most of the time.  The problem is that if I am not as close as he wants me to be, he'll put both paws on my chest to get closer and his claws are usually out when he does this.  If it's causing me pain I will try to get him to stop.  Even if I lay down on the bed with him so he doesn't have to climb up, he'll paw at my face with his claws out.  I don't think he's trying to hurt me, but I'm wondering why he has his claws out.  There is no sign of distress and it seems like an enjoyable experience for both of us.

The female, Maisy, is a constant groomer.  It seems that when she is not running around the house chasing stuffed mice or sleeping, she is grooming herself or her brother.  Often when she grooms herself and sometimes her brother, she chews at her fur/skin.  Kind of like she is biting at an itchy spot.  I know they don't have fleas as they have been treated and it's the dead of winter.  To add to that, she is showing some signs of irritated skin on her face.  The fur is thinner around her eye and red.  That's the only spot I see with issues, the rest of her fur, despite the biting, is full and thick.

Also, is it typical for females to be more active than males?  Clyde is content to sleep all day and shows not too much interest in playing, although I can keep his attention for a few minutes with a laser pointer.  Maisy on the other hand is always playing and getting herself into some kind of trouble.  

All in all they are great cats despite some of their medical issues (chronic URI, allergies, heart murmur and damaged eyes).  

Thanks in advance for your help.

Answer
Melissa,

That is wonderful that you adopted adult cats, and that you adopted two at the same time. It helps them adjust better if they have a friend instead of being alone and scared.

Females are not any more active than males. It depends on their personality and temperament, not their gender. Cats and be brother and sister, yet have two different fathers which is why two cats from the same mother may act totally different.

Your male more than likely has feline herpes of the eyes. I have one 2 year old cat that has the herpes of the eye and she is slowly losing her sight. Her corneal ulcer is slowly covering her eye. But otherwise she is fine. Her two sisters both had severe eye infections when they were newborns, from a feral mother who had a severe upper respiratory infection, and as a result both had to have one eye each removed. One has sight in the other eye, but the other  is blind in the 2nd eye. But healthwise they are also fine. Here are some informative articles for you to read about eye herpes:
(copy and paste, or type, the whole link into your address bar)

http://www.vetinfo4cats.com/cherpes.html

Make sure you learn to trim your cat's claws (do not EVER de-claw!). That will help a LOT when they get overly affectionate. Here is a link that shows you how with pictures:

http://www.cat-world.com.au/catclaws.htm

The grooming by the female may be due to psychological reasons. Grooming is comforting to them and it relieves stress, tension, and anxiety. She may be doing it as a result of previous experiences, or anxiety of everything being new (new home, new people, new environment, etc.). As she settles in and becomes comfortable she may stop. If not, and the cat starts losing patches of fur, or pulling out her fur, the vet can put her on an anti-anxiety medication to keep the behavior under control.

She may also have allergies. They can be from dust, an ingredient in her food, a chemical in the carpeting, or a common allergy is to flea saliva, called Flea Dermatitis. They can itch from the bite of even one flea.

She may also have intestinal parasites. Both cats should be wormed. Do not get over the counter wormer as the worms are becoming immune to it. A vet can give you the latest effective product, and you also need to medicate for the correct type of worms (there are several) and the weight of the cat.

I hope this answered your questions. If you have others please send a followup as they arise.

Tabbi