Expert: Ali - 2/1/2010

Question
Hello, I have had Lucy in the Sky (2 yr old American Short hair) for about 3 weeks since I rescued her from a shelter as a stray cat. She loves to get petted and is now comfortable laying around the house when I am in also at home. Although she is getting over a cold I am worried as she is not as playful as most cats. I am not sure whether to be worried or to conclude that this is part of her calm nature. She does not really care for catnip but when I drag an attractive cat toy in front of her she doesn't even look; she likes string more and will only go after it if placed directly in front of her, she will not run or even walk for it. She has a healthy appetite and is overall very sweet, gentle, and quiet...only purrs when petted or sleeping and loves to sleep at the foot of my bed or random areas of the house. Should I be worried or simply let her be?

thank you for your help!

-JR

Answer
Jenny,

At this point I'd recommend watching Lucy closely for any further signs of illness such as vomiting, diarrea, loss of appetite, etc. If Lucy is on antibiotics she may be feeling a little nauseated since antibiotics don't discriminate between bad bacteria that cause illness and beneficial bacteria that are normally found within the digestive tract of healthy mammals. You could certainly try giving her a few tablespoons of yogurt throughout the day starting ASAP and continuing until Lucy's been off of her antibiotics for a week or so to see if that makes any difference in her overall demeanor. It's also important to realize that Lucy's been through an incredibly stressful ordeal - shelter life is hard on cats, it's quite possible she just needs some more time to recuperate from the noise and activity of shelter life and settle into the quiet routine of life in her forever family.

The fact that Lucy isn't big on cat toys isn't necessarily indicative of a problem, just like people different cats have different likes and dislikes as far as entertainment is concerned. It's quite possible that Lucy prefers string as a play toy over the usual cat toys, that's not uncommon for cats - it is important to ensure that you only allow Lucy to play with string when you're supervising closely since cats can accidentally ingest string (their tongues are barbed which makes it difficult to spit something out once it's in their mouthes) which can cause serious problems within their digestive tract that could potentially require immediate surgery to remove the foreign body and save the cat's life.

Overall for now I'd say wait and watch Lucy closely for any sign that she's becoming more seriously ill and have her rechecked by your veterinarian after she's finished her antibiotics to ensure that she's 100% healthy in every way. If you have any further cat related questions I'd be more than happy to help you out in any way that I can so please don't hesitate to contact me again.