Rude Dog Causes Cat to Run Away

Indy, (short for Indiana Jones) is a white, male cat who has resided with Brenley and her family for approximately 10 years. He arrived as a kitten and made it known that he needed to explore ‘the hood’ rather than just stay in the house. And he has, for many years, coming home each evening.

Earlier this year, Brenley’s household changed, as her father came to stay for several weeks while recovering from surgery. He brought his dog with him. As the family has been a home to both dogs and cats simultaneously, that shouldn’t have impacted on Indy but it did. This particular dog guest barked incessantly at Indy every time she saw him. Too much for Indy, he remained out of sight in the basement, trying to avoid the dog. The dog finally left, but Indy’s behaviour pattern started to shift. Instead of coming home, he started to disappear for several days and nights at a time. When he did come home, he didn’t engage with the family as much, and seemed to be avoiding Brenley.

Brenley contacted me because she knew something was amiss and was perplexed. The family was heading out of town on holidays to their cabin for several weeks - a trip Indy usually loved - and she was worried he wouldn’t come home and would be left behind. When I connected with Indy telepathically, he said that he had been punished. He felt the visiting dog punished him by forcing him out of the home and he thought the dog should have been punished, not him. He was smouldering with resentment about his punishment. He felt he had not been treated fairly and so didn’t want to engage with the family. I told him the dog was not returning for any lengthy visits again, and Brenley and family missed him and wanted him back home. In true cat fashion, he said he’d think about it, although he did tell me that he liked the visits to the lake.

A chat with Brenley offered more information. She told me that her father’s dog barked constantly at Indy and so Indy confined himself to the basement, not going into other areas of the house. He hadn’t been punished but she could understand how he might have felt that way because the dog was not reprimanded for her barking. By this time Indy had been absent 4 days.

I suggested Brenley talk out loud to Indy whenever she was outside in the garden, on the patio or walking around looking for him. She was to assume he was close by and could hear her. She needed to apologize to him for what happened and tell him that the dog might visit from time to time, but they would be short visits and he would be protected.

Two days later, I received word from Brenley that Indy came home on his own. He immediately insisted she pick him up and cuddle him. Before my visit with him, he refused to have anything to do with her but he was now safely ensconced on her bed watching her pack for the trip to the lake.

Cats dislike change, more than most animals. Changes can have long term affects on cats, so if your cat’s behaviour has suddenly changed, pay attention, they are trying to communicate with you! Luckily, in this situation, the problem was easily resolved.