This is Cleo. She is 2.5 years of age. I have posted about her before actually. I worry about her because she gets so anxious that it harms her. She has had an outbreak of hives on her skin, especially her ears, for the last week or so, and she has been picky about when and what she wants to eat, if at all. We got a kitten in June and she gets along with him, so I don't think that's the issue. Most of the time we find Cleo hiding and terrified of human contact, and we have to be very gentle with her. She does not like eating with her siblings. They were all born here in a stable, non-abusive environment by the way. Lately she has been bonding with me, but on her terms. Is this something that requires veterinary intervention?
Sounds like you need to go to a vet.
How do you know anxiety caused the hives? Couldn't the hives have caused the anxiety? Or couldn't they be separate?
Take it to a vet, if you haven't already.
This. The kitty could be experiencing pain, and cats aren't like dogs who loudly announce their discomfort. They're like grumpy old men with stiff upper lips.
I had a cat whom I let be an outdoor cat, and hadn't taken him to get his last couple shots. He caught feline aids one day and became sort of aggressive to everyone but me. Not like he was very affectionate but still, he isolated himself more and more until the end.
Fyi dogs actually very often hide their pain too.
Really? Damn, all dogs I've ever had were very vocal about everything. Might've been the breed ig.
Isn’t the theory that animals that show pain are more likely to be attacked by predators because they show signs of weakness. Therefore, they tend to hide it.
Make sense for cats as they're both predators and preys
Dogs are predators though, I think what you're talking about applies to herd animals that are prey, predators will pick off the weakest.
I always thought that pack animals abandoned their sick or injured to not slow down the rest of the pack which is why dogs hide injuries. But apparently wolves protect their injured.
African wild dogs take care of their injured too and let them stay behind with the young while the healthy adults hunt ❤️
Seriously, you have a pet with a health problem, this is exactly what vets are for. Whether it's a problem that's physical, mental, or environmental, the vet is the one best able to figure out what the problem is and how to solve it.
Warms my heart when all the top comments direct the OP to seek professional help.
TAKE HER TO THE VET
She's been anxious for her whole life thus far.
Our anxious cat had her teeth removed (feline resorption) and we noticed she was much bolder while she was on gabapentin to recover from the dental surgery. We talked to the vet and he put her on a daily dose of it. We experimented to find the smallest amount that gave her Courage without making her sleepy. (Having her painful teeth out helped a lot too, but it wasn't her whole problem.) Now for normal days she gets 25 mixed into one can of food and spread throughout the day, but for a recent airplane trip she had 75 in one small meal before being put in her carrier.