How to deal with separation anxiety in a cat?

How about trying to just leave for ten seconds without acknowledging the cat and coming back in without making a big deal of it by ignoring the cat again. You are showing the cat that you leaving is not a big deal and she should not worry about it. I know it works with dogs but am not sure about cats. Pat

I had/have the same problem with my cat Simone. She showed up at my home when she was only a few weeks old & very sick. The vet & I nursed her until she became the spunky cat she is today. She would cry non-stop when I left for work--you could hear her outside my apartment. I tried leaving the TV on, she had TONS of toys and the vet and I were thinking about giving her a mild anti-depressant (which I did not want to do). She got better. Then learned my schedule and was always waiting at the door when it was time for me to come home--my neighbors told me that at 5:30 she would start howling if I wasn't home (which was an improvement over crying the entire day). When I dated people, she would creep on the top of the couch and scratch their necks. I got married to a man who had a 3 year-old son--she didn't like either one of them-->she wants to the be the only one in my life. Now six years later, she loves my husband and plays with him a lot and she tolerates my step-son. She finally outgrew the crying when I left but if I am gone on an overnight trip she is very "clingy" when I come back and then she remembers she is mad at me and won't let me pet her for a day or two. All this to say, is that your cat is a one-cat person & Twinkle picked you! She'll get better with time and patience. Simone is 16 years old and I could not think of a better pet for me. Best of luck to both of you!

There are calming sprays for cats. Feliway is one. Some of them even come in the form of plug-ins. Perhaps something like that would help her when you're away and even when you're home. Good luck. You can find them in Pet stores or even online at Drs Foster and Smith for example.