My male cat has been acting strangely the last couple of days. He usually does not like to sit with people, and dislikes being bothered, but lately this has changed. He has been sleeping in weird places, like under desks, and comes and curls up next to people. Also if you pick him up and set him in your lap, he curls up and falls asleep. Even if you wake him up and set him on the floor, he jumps back up to lay with you. This is very strange for him.

Another thing is that he eats a ton of food, but lately has been losing weight. We took him to the vet a couple of weeks ago and they took his blood for some tests, and also checked for worms. They didn't find anything and told us to change his food, which we did. He isn't losing weight anymore, but he is also not gaining weight. I am not sure if I should be worried about him or if he is just going through a phase. If anyone has any advice or comments, they would be very appreciated. Thanks!

How old is your cat?

I've kept cats all my life. One of my cats is 21 years old (we think of him as a "retired entertainer").

I have noted that the older cats get, the more affectionate they sometimes become. About five years ago my cat seemed to "mellow out." He became less mischievous and playful and wanted to spend more time indoors and physically close to the family. We think it might be that in his old age he feels secure being around family members.

Some cats go through personality changes, some of them are temporary. If your kitty is relatively young, he might just be going through some kind of natural, emotional change. It seems to me that mood swings are more pronounced in cats that have been spayed or neutered.

Have your cat experienced any environmental changes over the past year? I'm having a very similar problem with my female, right down to the weight loss. She used to be aloof, occasionally friendly, and very independent. Now she is the complete opposite. About a year ago I rescued a tiny male kitten, and now he is the absolute bane of her existence and harassed her every waking moment trying to be the dominant kitty. Both my cats are fixed. The female was rescued about 3 years ago as a full grown adult. I don't know how old she is.

He eats a ton of food but has been losing weight? Has he always eaten a ton? Or is that a new behavior change? Also, how old is he? Eating a lot of food but losing weight anyway is a classic symptom of diabetes. Is he peeing and drinking a lot too? Did you get a copy of those blood tests? If not, you should and check them yourself and see if anything is out of range.

I've seen too many instances where something is wrong in the blood tests and the vet doesn't say anything because it's just "old age" or some similar silly reason. If something showed up on there, it should be dealt with.

What's the new food? Vets are not nutritionists, and unfortunately most of what they learn is from food companies, who tell them to feed their foods. And cats have been treated like "small dogs" for far too long instead of like cats, who have very special nutritional requirements. If you were told to change foods, the vet must have had some reason.

My 3.5 yr old declawed house cat suddenly took off out the door and we haven't seen her since. Is this normal for a cat to all of a sudden want to be outside in 40 degree temperature, when all she has known was the great indoors? I am extremely worried and scared for her. She has never been outside since we've found her at 5-weeks of age. What should I do? We have been scarrowing the neighborhood morning and night and no sign of her.