We have 4 cats, 2 aged 13 (brothers), 1 aged 4, the only female rescued as a kitten and 1 aged 2, also rescued.

The 4 year old female is very strange. She seems to like order, things the same every day, same routine. If anything is slightly different she doesn't like it and seems stressed.

The other cats like routine too but accept if things, like feeding times, bedtime etc. are different from day to day. The female cat doesn't like visitors to our house. Mostly things are the same but I wondered if cats can have OCD.

Sometimes with me she is affectionate but mostly indifferent to any attempts of fuss.

Do you know, I wouldn't mind knowing this too.

I've got a pair of sister tabbies, one of whom is totally anal. She can be happily snoozing on my bed every day, and then when I change my quilt cover, you'd think it was molten lava - she won't walk on it for a couple of days because it's 'different'. She'll gradually work herself up towards actual full sleeping on the bed - she'll jump up and off again for one day, then she'll jump up, walk around a bit, then jump down, and so on. Weirdo, she is.

She'll also get into habits that she'll do for absolutely months (such as lying in a certain position on my lap - head dangling one side, back legs the other) and then if I'm not here for two days it's as if she's never done it before. She sort of forgets things she was used to doing.

And I daren't give her a different little plate for her food. She won't eat if I do.

That little cat, by the way, is a total timid basket of nerves.

Cats are as varied as people.

You get laid back ones, lazy ones, energetic ones, nice ones, nasty ones, cold ones, warm ones, sociable ones, introvert ones, ones with OCD etc, etc. The list is virtually as endless as with humans.

Oh I know - it's fabulous, I reckon. Getting to know your cat's personality is just so much fun. I suppose I just wondered (as did the OP) if cats could actually suffer such things as OCD or autism or whatever, After watching my cats it wouldn't surprise me, but it'd be fab to know for sure.

exactly like my Olive (RIP) she got very agitated and stressed if her everyday life didnt go to "order"

she was very OCD and did get a little worse as she got older! she also didnt like visitors to the house but she definately had her "routine" and she got her noise out of joint when her "routine" was interrupted in any way!

I think most pets like routine. In the wild a change in environment will more likely be a danger to them than a good thing after all.
Relly - when the quilt cover changes its going to smell very different to the previous one. If you use a strong smelling detergent/fabric softener a large item like that is going to be pretty overpowering to a cat. My girl regularly changes her sleeping spot, changing the duvet or her sleeping blanket will often trigger a move.

I wondered about the smell, too, and I do agree with you, but watching her get used to a new quilt cover was hilarious (to me, anyway!) I'd change it from a plain cream with a broad stripe at the bottom to a sort of terracotta check design on a cream background, and the cat would be exTREMEly careful about where she put her paws. She'd only step on the cream bits, not the terracotta bits.

The poor devil - by the time she'd got used to the new cover, I'd be changing it to something else.

I also see your point about 'in the wild'. New smells, especially, would be a hazard if it's not the right kind of smell.

Thank you all for replies, it's good to know it's not just our cat that acts a bit weird.

Don't you just love them

Yep! Contrary, bad-tempered, affectionate, weird, cuddly, expert at training humans - what more could we ask for?