Cat Behavior Question - Cat Won't Sleep Where He Has Always Slept

My cat's behavior has suddenly changed - the cat has slept on dining chair in dining room since he was a kitten on blankets. Now he won't sleep on them or even go on the chair... I have changed and washed the blankets as I have done since he was little and kept to same washing powder. Any ideas as to what's causing this?


Reply from Liz (Editor): It sounds as though something may have happened to cause this sudden change in behavior. Has anything changed in the vicinity of the chair that may be causing this? The chair and blankets haven't changed, but has anything else?

For example, is the chair in the same position? Have you opened a window so it's now in a draught? Is there an air freshener or anything nearby that he doesn't like the smell of? Has he had a fright when he's been sitting or sleeping on the chair? Is it suddenly warmer coming into summer and he's finding the blankets or the area too warm?

If you can't think of anything at all that has caused this, it may be that your cat, for reasons best known to himself, has decided to change his favorite sleeping spot. Is there now another favorite area he likes to go to? The reason I ask this is that I've found this a few times with my cats - they'll have a favorite bed which they fight to get onto, which remains flavor of the month for a few months, but then they suddenly lose interest in it! Sometimes the reason is obvious - for example they lose interest in the radiator bed when the heating is off in the summer - but other times there's no obvious reason that I can figure out.

Thank you for your question.