I need help with one of my cats

[binkies]

Stella was born in the shelter and has only lived in the one place with me her whole life. Well, we just moved and she is extremely upset. She has spent the last week trying desperately to get out and I guess go "home". She has torn down 2 sets of blinds, ripped the access panel off the bathtub and got stuck under the floor, climbed up into the chimney, and dug a hole in the bathtub wall since I secured the access panel again. Not to mention opened every cabinet we have and climbed into the stove! I don't know what to do with her. In fact, I even bought a natural over the counter sedative for her, but I don't want to keep her knocked out all the time.

 

[naturestee]

Oh wow!:shock:

I would recommend keeping her in a large dog crate or NIC cage when you can't watch her for now, so she can't escape or destroy the house. Try using Feliway to calm her down- I've heard lots of good remarks about it. You should be able to find it in pet stores, or call your vet. Mine stocks it.

I hope she calms down soon!

 

[seniorcats]

naturestee wrote:

Oh wow!:shock:

I would recommend keeping her in a large dog crate or NIC cage when you can't watch her for now, so she can't escape or destroy the house. Try using Feliway to calm her down- I've heard lots of good remarks about it. You should be able to find it in pet stores, or call your vet. Mine stocks it.

I hope she calms down soon!

Excellent advice. Take her out of the crate frequently for short periods for lots of attention and pats. Try putting one of your unwashed articles of clothing in with her so she has something that is comforting and smells like 'mom'.

Other than that, the other route is to talk to your vet about a prescription sedative for feline adjustment anxiety. Our Mallory (the Lunatic Cat) is on Amitriptylline (Elavil) and it has helped her enormously. If your vet can write a generic script, WalMart will fill for $4.00 for a 30 day supply. Your vet can tell you about dosage and tapering her off.

 

[binkies]

How odd! I myself actually take Amitryptaline!!! I wonder if my vet would tell me how much of mine to give her?

I had to leave her for the first time today and I did crate her for her own good. I felt awful about it. Poor baby, I never thought about how it would affect her, moving and all. But with the sedative, she was knocked out pretty much.

 

[Sayuri]

I wouldnt put her into a crate, this will only add to her anxiety

What you need to do is pop her in a room with her things and a couple of things that smell like "home" then you can introduce the new house to her slowly.

There is something you can get called Fellaway that comes in a diffuser - its a feamone - get a bunch of those and plug them in around the house, they wont work straight away but it should help to reduce her anxiety. You can also get a travel spray, that may be worth looking at to see if it will help her in a faster short term sense.

Sedation is not reccomended and should only be done as a last resort and under the advice of a vet.

Whatever you do do not let your cat outside for at least a month

 

[binkies]

I have to put her in a crate when i'm gone!! She is literally destroying the place and we haven't been here a whole week. It's rented and I already have to patch drywall!

 

[Becknutt]

It will take her a while. When I moved with my7 year old cat who had only lived in one home she disappeared for about a week and we thought she had gotten out and ran away. Turned out she was hiding up in the springs under the couch. She was VERY upset. It took her a good month to get used to the new place. Though lucky for me she didn't distroy anything! We were told she hid in the couch because it was familier to her. I would say try puting her in a room with a lot of familiar furnishings arranged similerly to how they were before to help make her feel at home. Good Luck!

 

[seniorcats]

I forgot to mention Tally's Cat Care Links

http://www.geocities.com/Heartland/pointe/9352/alphalinks.html

Check the 8 or so studies under Anxiety. The most common recommendation is crating. The information is quite useful. If it's still not enough info, try googling feline anxiety.


http://www.geocities.com/Heartland/Pointe/9352/behavior.html

This page has a lot information on behavior, Feliway, Rescue Remedy, etc.