Our cat Felix, who is 14 this year, has suddenly started to ignore us. It all started the other night, when, after we had gone to bed, we heard a crash downstairs, and he had knocked over an ornament on a shelf stand. He usually lies on the chair next to this shelf, but ever since this, he has been refusing to lie in his normal spot, and has taken to lying on some old boxes out in the conservatory. All attempts to bring him back into the room with us have failed. He appears to have been spooked by what happened, but things like this have happened before, and it has not bothered him. He also seems to be off his food. Hopefully it is just a phase, and he will return to normal soon, but as he is getting on a bit, my wife does tend to worry about him. He came into our house about 3 and half years ago, when my father in law passed away, so he is the last link my wife has with her mom and dad, so anything like this and we get worried! Any thoughts or advice from all you cat lovers out there would be appreciated!

He might be unwell, especially if he is off his food too. When my elderly cat isn't feeling well he becomes antisocial. He has arthritis & kidney failure, so I guess sometime he just doesn't feel too well.

Not sure how the knocked over ornament fits into my theory, unless he too has arthritis, tried to jump up and his body let him down.

If it carries on it might be worth taking him for a check up at the vets, or ringing your vet to ask their advice over the phone.

If you've got him checked over and he's well, it may be stress, especially if the last time it happened was a while ago - six months is a long time for cats, isn't it? My little old lady (14) gets a bit more jumpy than she used to.

Is your Felix going deaf? If he is, the loud crash noise might just be the loudest (or only!) thing he's heard for a while, which would spook him a bit more than usual?

Cats have a tendency to find new favoured spots to sleep but he's behaving differently and he's off his food so that suggests to me that something medical is up - particularly with his age.

In fact I'd be expecting a northern European cat to be eating more at the moment as even neutered and spayed cats will be eating to set themselves up for the breeding season ahead and also need energy for moulting and growing a new coat.

I think this definitely warrants a vet's visit. I think the ornament may be a sign of decreased mobility if combined with being antisocial and not eating well. Just not worth the risk of ignoring changes like this.

Thanks for the replies. He seems to have settled into a new spot to sleep, and doesnt want to come back! When he does, he has a habit of sitting in front of the TV and staring at us,(Look at me not the goggle box!) so we have been giving him loads of attention, to try and settle him down.He apears to have regained his appetite, which is a good sign, so it might just be a phase he is going through. He doesnt go out that much these days, and when he does, he either dissapears for ages, (wife panics!) or sits by the door waiting to be let back in.(we dont have a catflap). At the moment he is in his new spot in the conservatory (or as we call it his Winter Palace!) Will keep you posted.

Is it possible that the ornament from the shelf fell on him ? He may be afraid of it happening again if the shelf is close by to where he used to sleep it could have got nudged while he was settling down and hit him.

Cats can be amazingly odd. My cat (years ago) would not go to the cat toilet as we had a small flap on it which had hit her on the head so we had to go out and buy another cat toilet with an opening, no flap!! It only happened once, was a gentle hit, just fell on her head and she was furious!! Also went to the USA for a three week holiday, came home and was totally ignored by Garfield for weeks, she would run excitedly to any female that came into the house as though to say....Stuff you!! She was usually very antisocial but with time she recovered and I had her for 15 years and will never forget her.

Sorry its been a while getting back on here, had a lot going on. To cut a long story short, Felix seems back to his old self, and is now stretched out on the back of his usual chair. We had to go away to Cornwall for a couple of days at the end of April for a funeral, so he went into the cattery. When he came back he was very affectionate (as usual), and seems to have forgotten about whatever it was that spooked him! He had his annual booster and check up recently, and Vet says he is quite healthy for his age, not too much to worry about apart from his heart murmer.

My cat acted similar to this a few years ago, she used to sit and stare at walls, seem ignorant added to this she usedto forget she had ate, trouble with toileting etc.

When we took her to the vets, they said she was suffering from dementia and the vet said that 40% of cats over 14 years of age get this.

I was surprised by this figure, I wasn't sure of the age of my cat as she came to me after being dumped at the house I had just moved into (fantastic cat btw).

This was a good few years ago and my Emily has now passed on, but after that vet visit she lived a good few years.

I know your cat is well now, this is just for general information really, sharing my story.

He may be going deaf, being that age. And cats often change their sitting/lying spots from time to time. Mine did, depending on the weather.