# Cat with mental disability?



## mew_chan (Sep 17, 2009)

I have 2 beautiful Abyssinians a fawn male called Daffydd (Dabby), and a blue female called Saphire. They are brother and sister and around 5 years old. They are both indoors cats and both originally belonged to my parents (and still do) but they have moved to the UK for a working holiday for 1-2 years and my brother and I are charged with caring for them until they get back. Before my parents moved away they were living in a large 4 bedroom house and my mum used to spoil the cats silly. The apartment they live in now is a 2 bedroom flat with a large kitchen/living area. It isn’t really that big, if I had it in my power to move them someplace larger I would but at the moment it is not possible. 

They have toys and they have each other, and each afternoon (or whenever I am outside, sometimes they get hours outside while I am gardening) they are put on a harness and allowed to roam around the small backyard I have which they love.

Now the problem and the title of this topic. Sapphire has always been a bit... strange... she moves funny, she acts funny and she looks at you funny. She was always that way even as a kitten, I noticed it before we were able to take her from the breeder when she was still very young, but the rest of my family did not, but then I am very interested in animal behaviour. 

She is a very affectionate cat or rather she wants attention but not in the same way Dabby wants attention, in that it seems very selfish (yes I know I am talking about a cat here haha). 

She is also neurotic, she will repeat the same behaviour again and again to the point where I start getting angry at her for it. Example: I will be at the computer doing work and she will jump on my lap (often scratching my lags or even hooking her claws in to pull herself onto me) she will not sit down and will constantly stand and push herself into my face. The way she stands on me hurts, when I try to correct her behaviour to make her sit down she bolts(often scratching me with her hind legs in the process) or just pushes back. So I put her on the ground and go about my work, and she gets on again, I will repeat the process to get her off, again and again she will try to get on me until I have to use the spray bottle every time she looks about to jump on me. It is infuriating, I would be quite happy to have her on my lap so she can get some attention while I am working, if she would just sit down.

There are other examples, like her constantly tapping at the glass of my fish tank (and knocking down all the items around it in the process), I spray her with the bottle she bolts within 1 min she is back doing it again, while I am still sitting in the room with the bottle, spray - run, spray - run... argh. 

When she was younger she used to get kicked by accident alot too because I think walking near her used to spook her. She might be hiding behind a chair and would bolt in front of your feet so that as you stepped you kicked her or tripped over her, she now is a timid little thing 

I don’t know if this is a mental thing or if she is just plain stupid, to me she seems like a cat with autism or something... its so strange too since her brother is one of the most intelligent cats I have ever met, he is also much too curious which gets him into lots of trouble.

I know that she wants attention but it is so hard to give attention to a cat that just hurts you when try to. I need some advice on dealing with or even training her to be more bearable because she is a sweetie at heart and the cutest thing, and I hate seeming like a bad guy to her.
A collection of images of them (plus 2 of a friends cats, and the abby with the bird is kimba my first abby)


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## Heidi n Q (Nov 22, 2006)

Welcome, and hi. I think Dabby and Saph look beautiful, but from what you describe, I can't think Saphire has any neurotic issues. She seems like a normal cat doing normal cat things.

We have learned to sort of 'shuffle' our feet so we don't accidentally step on a cat (_we have 8 in the house_) and if we're moving faster, we keep a sharp eye out...though usually the cats keep back if we're moving fast. The exception is when I'm playing "chase" with some of the cats, where we chase each other back/forth and up/down the hall. 
_They'd probably kill me if we had stairs!_ 
I wanted to comment about Saphire standing in your lap for attention. I had a kitty who was similar to that... Mousie (1995-2008rb) *loved* to be petted, but if you touched her, she HAD to stand up and walk and turn back/forth so you could pet her everywhere. Most cats will stand, sit or even lay down to be petted and relax and fall into a snooze. Not Mousie! She had to be UP and ARCHING her back into your hand and pushing her head into your palm. Petting was an inter-active sport for her, nothing passive and accepting about it. I learned to not pet her when she was resting because she *would* get up.
One of our current cats, Louie, likes to sit in my lap when I'm on the computer, but he takes for-ev-er to get himself situated. Stepping his feet all over my lap, kneading excessively and poking me with his claws and every time I touch him to re-direct his feet, he seems to have to start all over at the beginning. But, at least once he gets himnself settled down onto my lap, he's content to stay there.
Floofy also seems to like to demand attention when I'm on the computer. I just stop whatever I'm doing and devote a few minutes just to him, and that satisfies him. If I really need him to leave me alone because I'm in a project that I must give my attention to, I pick him up off the desk and hug him to my chest, giving him smoochy kisses and just generally making a mushy fuss over him until he is disgusted and wants down.
I think your Saphire could become more confident with some quiet and dedicated socialization and handling sessions every day. Just to get her more accustomed to being handled and not be so jumpy.

Both of them are beautiful cats, and I like your friend's fluffy cat, too. Is it a Somali?
heidi =^..^=


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## RachandNito (Nov 21, 2008)

> I pick him up off the desk and hug him to my chest, giving him smoochy kisses and just generally making a mushy fuss over him until he is disgusted and wants down.



hehe, that's what I do to Nito when he meows and meows for attention but won't be satisfied. Hehe "You want some attention? I'll give you attention!!" *machine gun kisses*


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## mew_chan (Sep 17, 2009)

Haha even if she doesn’t have a mental disability, which honestly I think is possible (she does so many other weird things that it is hard to list them all), in the minimum I would say that she is not a very intelligent cat, at least compared to dabby who is a competent problem solver. I have owned and been around cats my whole life so its not as though I am new to the whole, "how cats should act thing". Everyone who meets her says that she is a weird cat.

I don’t think much research has gone into looking at whether the stranger cats out there are actually mentally handicapped, even if it is something relatively mild like Autism, and because they are cats it doesnt really matter in the scheme of things... For all we know any cat that shows the inability to learn simple tasks etc, and seems to have weird character traits could have a mental handicap... its just that because it is a cat it is hard to test or know what it is thinking. 

The kicking thing is a problem because she will often dash past us in a manner that can only involve her getting hurt, like she is unable to judge whether or not the gap is big enough for her and ends up being slammed against the wall because she misjudged. It also doesn’t help that she usually does this at top speed so we have no time to react, bolting for no reason, or already at full pelt when she tries to run past us. She is also incapable of judging distances when jumping onto things, and often miscalculates and falls off things she tries to jump onto (which is why I think she has to dig her claws in when trying to get on me). Besides she has look about her that I have seen in another cat before who truly was handicapped in some way (a very inbred Siamese rescue cat). 

Sapphire also does this thing where she will go crazy if you talk to her in a certain tone of voice, she goes so crazy that she often falls off what she is sitting on. We usually say a phrase along these lines in a high pitched but husky voice: "Sapphire, Hello, Hello Sapphire (at this point she is rolling her head side to side, upside down etc), Sapphire, you're a silly cat aren't you... yes... yes... yes you are... hello"
Its really cute and funny 

And yes the 2 fluffy cats belong to a friend of ours and are Somalis, beautiful cats if you want a long haired Abyssinian <3

Also I did a few searches on google and didnt really find anything truly relable as a resource but there are a few discussions etc on animal mental disabilities if anyone is interested.:
http://ask.metafilter.com/31378/Mental-Retardation-in-the-Animal-Kingdom
http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20080327091545AAPE99T

EDIT: ahh this source looks a bit more reputable... its by a PhD
http://www.blisstree.com/autismvox/can-animals-have-autism/


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## ogdred (Apr 7, 2009)

You can send her to me, if you'd like... I think my persian might be her soul-mate  .

Seriously though, they are _gorgeous_ cats. She does sound a bit off to me, but not altogether unusual. I've known a couple cats that just weren't very smart. It's hard to _explain_ how one knows that a particular animal is less than brilliant... sometimes it's just something that you have to see for yourself. Gizmo displays some incomprehensible behavior, as well. He is also _very_ clumsy, will repeat certain actions, darts in front of us. Sometimes Gizmo becomes inexplicably afraid of imaginary objects (is he hallucinating? who knows).

I think it would be difficult to train her not to do the things that bother you. The spray bottle obviously doesn't work, so I'd give it up. Training methods like that don't work with Gizmo, either... they startle him, causing him to knock over everything in his path, but he does not learn. To keep her away from the fix tank I'd try putting some double sided tape or one of those plastic computer chair mats upside down (so the little pokies are face-up) around it on the table (hope that made sense). That way the entire area isn't fun anymore. You could also try some citrus spray to deter her. As far as her being obnoxious on your lap, well... I don't know. It's possible that if you spend some time trying to bond with her and avoid punishment techniques like the spray bottle she might feel more relaxed in your presence and be able to settle on your lap quicker. You could also clip her claws or get her some soft-paws. My guess is that with this cat you'll need to focus on problem-solving her behaviors, rather than hoping that she might _learn_ through discipline.

:roll: At least she isn't yours!


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## dmcwlvssr (Apr 24, 2005)

What a beautiful Kitty! Maybe it is an "ABBY" thing LOL :roll: My Sundance a somali has quite a lot of the same issues plus he is sometimes down right mean to the other cats. He will be 5 in January. I do think it is a jealousy thing too. He is my brat boy and also the most loving of the bunch. Go figure. I live with it. I too do the kitty shuffle walk. Need to be very careful with this. Or one of these days he is going to hurt me or get hurt. I Try to show other ways of doing things, not making a big thing when he/we get spooked, or angry when he bullies, keeping nails trimmed and I have a squirt bottle in each room. :lol: About the machine gun kisses, LOL that is one thing that will make him go away. Sending hugs, purrs and prayers.


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## Heidi n Q (Nov 22, 2006)

I've often thought cats *could* be mentally deficient. 
It can happen with people, why not other animals as well? 
I *know* we've ALL seen "dumb dogs" who are as intelligent as a sack of hammers, but they are happy things. Horses have a birthing problem called "dummy foal" if the foal had a lack of oxygen during birth it can have various levels of brain damage. The more severe cases do not survive. So it is plausible that kittys can be odd, too. ...but like you said, they're cats and no one has really taken any time to actually study the phenomenon, because how are you gonna ask a cat what its' thinking? 

I have a kitty who sometimes seems to just *stop* in mid-jump. IN the air. She keeps her body elongated and does NOT bring her back legs up to land on the surface of what she is jumping on, and will then either hit the top and fall back, or latch her claws and try to drag herself up, usually pulling down on top of her whatever she had tried to jump on. However...in her defense...I *think* she does this when she jumps and sees, or thinks she sees, another cat already where she wanted to land and instead of making allowances, she just sort of 'freezes'.

The running in front of legs thing...it is normal for cats to run in front of their people AND try to make or keep contact with a leg, constantly stopping to look back and be sure you're following to where they are trying to lead you. Kittens and cats do this with each other, trying to lead everyone to a food source and the touching, I see it as "holding hands". But when our cats try 'holding hands' with us, it is usually disastrous because our legs are so long and if they have a tail or ribcage against our supporting leg, they stop moving, thinking we've stopped, but actually we are moving our *other* leg forward and if they don't move...they *will* trip us when it is time for us to move the leg they are leaning on.
Crazy cats! 
Now, when a cat tries to 'lead' me, I'll bend over a bit and lightly grasp the top of their tail to 'hold hands' with them. They are usually disconcerted with this and will keep moving and not trip me or they'll move faster and get ahead of me, further decreasing the trip-factor.
Aren't cats fun? They always keep us thinking! :lol:


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## mew_chan (Sep 17, 2009)

I love Sapphire I really do... she has always been a bit of an annoying bugger but she is a sweet heart and her pityful little meow melts my heart every time, and she does this cute thing where she reaches for you if you are close by and she wants attention(there is a pic of her doing it on the windowsill when she was just a kitten in the big collage). 

She does get bullied by Daffydd the monster cat, and we thought that some of her behaviour quirks might be caused by him. At one point my parents considered giving her to someone, but we did not know anyone and did not want to give her to a stranger who might get annoyed by her quirks and dump her. But Dabby has settled down and mostly leaves her alone now.. unless she is getting attention... or has something he wants...

I think when my parents return I might even end up keeping just her while they take Dabby and I really think it would be good for her... she might settle down and be less flighty. She tends to use my lap as a safe haven for when he is teasing her and it might be one reason why she always seeks me out since she considers it something of a safe spot.

I have tried other methods of training... like food rewards but she does not get the idea and as soon as she sees the food stops doing the right thing and practically tackles me for the food. It is also hard to reward good behaviour when she does not do the good behaviour.

I cut those needle sharp little kitty claws at least once every 2 weeks or when they start hurting again(and she makes such a fuss about it too) even though they have a scratching post the fact that they are indoors cats means their nails do tend to get very long and sharp. She really hates it when I try to do her toes and they are the most deadly. Dabby is brilliant when I have to cut his nails(I can even do it in his sleep lol!). I used to play with his feet as a kitten and scratch him between his cute little kitty toes. The most I have to worry about is him trying to use the hand I am doing the clipping with as a face rubber.


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## Jadedea Jade (Feb 3, 2009)

your cats are beautiful. i wish i could get some abys.

sounds like your cat is perfectly normal. Just wait till they start running you over in the bed 2-3 in the morning, or sitting in the middle of the hallway getting in your way. Or hopping on the toilet as you begin to sit on it, or aim (if you’re a guy). They do do some silly crazy stuff. My cat gets really hyper active out of nowhere and her tail gets all puffy and she runs up and down the stairs for like 10 minutes straight all while making this "bbbbrrrrrtttt" noise. All you can do is scratch your head and added to your lists of stories of "my cat did the craziest thing the other day"....


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## fanofdmb84 (Aug 29, 2009)

When you talked about her misjudging her jumps and "looking at you funny" I couldn't help but wonder if mayber her eyesight is compromised? I've dealt with some one-eyed cats and older cats with poor eyesight and they did the same things...tried jumping on counters and jumped head first into the front of the drawer or toppling off of things. Have you had her ears checked? That could cause balance problems, especially if there's something not right with her eyes. But then again, some cats are just not very intelligent (mine sure isn't!!).


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## refinnej (Sep 21, 2009)

My cousin has an Abyssinian who is also "off". Her eyes don't seem to focus correctly, and she's just not very intelligent, although extremely sweet and loving. She occasionally drools when not in the presence of food. 

My guess is that they could be in-bred. I'm no expert, from what I understand, pure breds tend to have more physical and emotional problems than "mutts" in general.


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## mew_chan (Sep 17, 2009)

I don’t think they are inbred, at least directly… their mother was new stock to the breeder we got them from… the breeder was looking after her since her owner was ill and in hospital and no longer able to care for her cats… Originally we went to look at a couple of oriental kittens she had up for adoption but Dabby and Sapphires mum was in with the kittens and we fell in love with her… unfortunately she was pregnant and the breeder would not let us have her at the time… and then when she found out that she had the blue gene she wanted to keep her anyway… 

I have watched her hunt... it seems to me she must not only have a deficency in sight but in smell... I have seen her with her prey (lizards only) still clasped between her claws and she is unable to find it... eventually getting up to look for it while it scurrys away... or Dabby eats it...

Oh yeh I completely forgot their dad is the revolution cat... he appears in the TV ad for the product I believe (see the pic of abby.. there are other picks of him on the page too)
http://www.revolutionpet.com.au/PetOwners/WhatIsRevolution.html


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## dmcwlvssr (Apr 24, 2005)

After reading more I tend to think maybe fanofdmb84 has the right idea. Has the pretty girl been checked out? Dad is gorgeous too!


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