|
Hi folks. The short of it is I live in the middle of the quiet countryside, have a healthy indoor-only cat hellbent on pissing on the carpet around her litter boxes. And I can't seem to stop her. She also seems to be going backwards with socialising, and is now terrified of seemingly harmless things. I have seen a vet. More often that I'd like to recall as Lucina was in the vets every 2-4 weeks for the past 18 months with a horrendous allergy (beef, fleas and dust mites, huzzah!). Very good vet, covers all the bases. Last few times we've had her pee tested too. No infection. As we have tried various edible calming aids, creams and tablets the vet's current suggestion is tranq tablets after hearing her home behaviour. I am unsure what effect tranqs have on a small cat. Has anyone here used them before long term? I don't know what to do, she is obviously unhappy. She has been here 4 years, with 2 other cats for three of those. Everything seemed pretty fine. Litter boxes cleaned 2-3 times a day, no fighting. Suddenly this May, Lucina started performing like this. Princess-puss has been peeing directly in front of the litter boxes. She uses the boxes normally but also drops some hefty amounts of pee in front of them daily. I now have a plastic sheet under the boxes and some doormats to save the carpet. We have tried months of Feliway plugs in her favourite spots combined with (since 3 days ago) Elsey's Cat Attract Litter Additive used at high doses. I cannot try the litter as it's simply not affordable (UK). For about 48hrs we were pee-free and this morning she was back peeing on the plastic sheet. We have considered that it's due to a fleet of tomcats in the yard, and even put up a sonic cat scarer which seems to work, but she's still at it. I wash the doormats in the machine daily and the sheet every other day because that catches it too. We spray down with pet cleaner (smells like citrus) when replacing. She is very friendly towards people, rather lazy and is happiest sitting on a windowsill in the sun, or out with me in the yard. She likes to play. She is however starting to act increasingly nervous, especially hiding from food when it's put out. I have to fetch her, and she shrieks and wails like I'm hurting her until her snout is in the food. Sometimes she eats a few bites and runs off. She likes to make little "burrows" around the house, and gets intensely upset if I remove her from one (such as clean laundry or a cooler). Beyond a grumpy "Hey I was sleeping" reaction and into hysterical squealing and grasping onto her hiding place like I'm about to drag her off to slaughter. She grips in this frantic panicked way to people, causing a lot of damage to skin and shoulders, of she thinks she's being carried somewhere bad. if I pick her up and carry her to the bedroom for example, she will shriek and howl, and settle down on my lap in a tight ball making little snuffly sobbing noises and giant purrs for a very long time. A lesser issue: I rent and am having to deep-vax the carpet every month to stop my house stinking of cat-pee. Despite the sheet and the mats there's still a permeating amount of pee in the carpets. I am not in a lose the cat or lose the house situation, but I am deeply uncomfortable. My gut feeling is I don't want to start drugging a young cat to keep her calm, I'm also worried her character will change (the friendly part). I am already injecting her at home with hypoallergenic treatment to control her raging allergy to something in the environment. That could be for the rest of her life, coupled with tranqs I am just worrying. probably unnecessarily. But if she is suffering now, then is it worth going down the meds route? Have I overlooked something really obvious in calming her down?  Pic actual size.
|
#
?
Jul 17, 2014 17:38
|
|
|
|
| # ? May 5, 2024 06:33 |
|