One of my cats, Gomez the large black cat who was abandoned, has started displaying some new mannerisms lately. Instead of coming into the front room as usual and getting my attention to let him out, he now stands in the kitchen doorway and news softly. Instead of heading upstairs freely for a nap as he used to, he will now wait at the foot of the stairs until I lead him up. Not sure what, if anything, it means other than the fact that cats do this stuff and that my fellow cat people might find it amusing to hear.

Maybe he feels lonely and wants your company?

First thing that came to mind is that he might want more of your attention perhaps.

Aye. He seems to be a bit lonely. Maybe a little feline friend might do the trick as well

I think I told this story on here before, but a long time ago, I had a cat who was getting ready to have kittens. I had a big box all prepared for her with nice bedding and she seemed to like it. She had her kittens and I sat with her through the whole thing. After, I thought she might want some alone time with her new family so I left the room. I sat on the living room floor to watch tv and she would come up to me and meow loudly until I went went back to the room with her. she did that several times. She had food and water. I think she wanted my company. We were very close.

He does seem to suffer from a bit of PTSD from his former 'owners' but he has recovered a lot over the last three years of living with me. He's more or less like any happy and domesticated cat now, although he still seems to have occasional flashbacks. I had one cat, then him and his 'sister' both moved in with me. At first they were both feral and you couldn't get to close to either of them without being viciously attacked. But, three years on, they're much better and all three tolerate each other at the least and sometimes even show affection for each other and even more often for me. Cat's do vary in character and some of them show enormous affection for you just by being in the same room as yourself. I think he's OK, just a bit odd at times but for what is essentially a rescue cat, he's getting better all the time.

Good luck.

I hope your little buddy will recover soon. But I am sure he found a very good home now

Thanks, he'll be fine. He does this kind of thing every Autumn. Through the Summer him and his sister Maggie are out as much as possible and stay out at night just coming back for food and to touch base now and then. When Autumn and Winter arrive, they change back to house cats and only go out when they need or want to. Maggie adjusted really quickly and does whatever she wants, sleeps wherever she wants etc. Gomez is a bit different, he doesn't seem to take his new home for granted, so for a while he'll wait for permission to go upstairs or come into the front room. In a week or so he'll have adjusted and realised that it's OK.

You are the Alpha - Top Cat. The cat respects you.

That's probably a big part of it.

I would definitely take him to a vet. Cats don't talk when they are I'll. They either avoid people or ask for more attention or both.

Just lost neighbour's cat to terminal cancer. He was behaving weird with symptoms above. I felt he knew what was coming and tried to communicate.

Hope this is not your case.

As would I. However, his appetite is normal and everything else seems to be OK with him. He's just a little odd at times and the transition from Summer to Autumn is one of those times. He's adjusting from being a largely 'outdoors' cat to an 'inside' one and it's going as well as it usually does. He's sleeping on top of a fabric suitcase on my bedroom wardrobe most nights and that is new behaviour but sometimes on my bed. (Last year, he slept on the bed throughout the Winter.) He's also coming into the living room for more extended periods and has even slept in the living room with one of the other cats. (Normally at first during Autumn he's not keen on being in the same room as one of the others but soon becomes used to it.
You can be sure that I keep an eye on their health and that they get regular health checks at the vets.