- Joined
- Apr 3, 2019
- Messages
- 86
- Purraise
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Hi all!
I’ve been posting a lot about my cat as she’s been growing up and all the problems I’ve been having with her. This is my first cat and I’m really struggling to even like her. Her and I definitely have a bond issue and while I’d never euthanize her or rehome her to someone I don’t know, (if I were to rehome her it’d be to my roommate because she loves my roommate) it’s sad to feel like she’s not mine. So, I contacted a couple cat behaviorists in the area, I filled out multiple pre-assessment forms and I sent them my history. I’m feeling really guilty that it came to this point but I’m really just at my last straw.
If any of you have any last minute suggestions here is her history:
“
I adopted my cat from a friend who found the kittens on her farm. When I took her to the vet, they estimated that she was about 4 weeks old. She was weaned too early. She was very sweet and cuddly, never purred unless she was kneading, but also very curious and energetic as a kitten should be. I played with my hands and didn’t start to correct the behavior until she was a couple months old.
At a couple months old, she was being a kitten and climbing up on furniture. I talked to my veterinarian (who was not Dr. Stacy at the time) and she suggested I get cat trees and scratching posts. I had asked about nail caps and she had told me that many of their clinic cats used them and that they worked really well and stayed on for quite a while. So, I invested in some cat trees, scratching posts, and some nail caps. The nail caps didn’t stay on well, and fell off after about a week. Getting them put on was traumatic, because she did not handle being restrained very well at the vet clinic and it cost $35 to get them reapplied, even at a lower cost clinic. It got to the point where she needed to be sedated for her nail trims/caps. I started to do it myself, because I didn’t want to have to spend $35 on nail trims/caps and didn’t want her to be sedated so often. (To be fair, the receptionist told me there isn’t many negative effects with frequent sedation, but I didn’t like the idea of it). Eventually I couldn’t do it alone and it became too much of a hassle. The nail sessions started to end with bloody hands and that’s when I stopped using nail caps.
At 5 months old, her behavior was still the same as it was a couple months ago, still crazy as ever and climbed everything. She also would attack fast moving feet and hands. I read online that this is usually normal kitten behavior that they’re practicing hunting skills and that they will grow out of it, so I let it go on. We were also preparing for her spay surgery at this time, and my old veterinarian wanted to do bloodwork before the surgery date to get it out of the way. They brought her back to me and said that they were unable to work with her as she was “too irritated and reactive” as said in her medical records. We had to wait until she was sedated for surgery to be able to do bloodwork.
After her spay, she was fine. She continued to bite hands/ankles and continued to not stand for nail trims, or being touched. But I brushed it off as normal kitten behavior again. (She was 8 months now) I knew the people who adopted her siblings, and saw how cuddly of cats that they had become and started to wonder why my cat acted like this. I joined a cat forum called “CatSite” where I asked lots of questions regarding my cat’s behavior. I explained how she bit and scratched whenever I try to pet her. It didn’t seem aggressive/stress-related. I got responses like “this cat lacks confidence and still needs more socialization” and “she’s still a kitten”. They gave me LOTS of great advice. Rewarding her when being pet, using feliway or bach rescue remedy, getting cat trees, hissing, making a loud high pitched “ow” everytime she bit, doing time-outs, saying no, distracting, ignoring, redirecting. I tried all of it, but nothing stopped her.
I posted again at 11 months, after trying many of these options, and I was told to be very stern with my corrections. I also learned that her back twitched when I touched her there. They told me that this is a sign that she might be pretty sensitive there and to try to just touch her face. I learned she might have pent up energy, so I started to play with her more and take her out on walks. (I know I should’ve been doing this from the start, but I’ve never had a cat before and I’ve been learning as I go..).
After this, I finally went to my vet clinic again, to learn that my previous vet had moved out of state and that’s where I met Dr. Stacy. I talked to her about the problems that I’ve been having and that I felt exhausted of options. I also brought up the twitching of her back and Dr. Stacy talked to me about Hyperesthesia and I think we ruled that out. This is where the medication started. We first tried liquid gabapentin and it felt like the nail trims all over again. Restraining her was difficult, she hated the taste of the medication.
I expressed concern to Dr. Stacy about feeling like it wasn’t doing much and that restraining her was too difficult and was probably contributing to her hatred towards being touched/held/pet/near her. I wondered if there was a capsule version of the med that I’d be able to sprinkle onto her food and get her to eat. I also wondered about increasing the dose. The first couple days I think I was able to get her to eat the med with the food in it and it really knocked her out to the point where I felt bad that she was so drowsy. After that, she refused to eat her food if she could smell the med in it. We tried pilling her, pill pockets, cat burritos, lateral hold, etc. We couldn’t get her to eat the med.
I talked to my vet again, and we decided to try a compounded version of gabapentin liquid that tasted like fish. I tried that in her food and she ate a tiny bit of it, but caught a sniff of the med and I watched her gag. The next morning, she had thrown up 12-13 times in an hour. I took her to the emergency vet and they did an ultrasound to see if something was lodged in her intestines. Instead, they just found that her intestines were irritated. Dr. Stacy suspected it was probably the new medication.
After that $700 bill, she was on antibiotics and anti-nausia meds, which she took fine (surprisingly) with pill pockets. We took a break from any and all meds for a couple weeks, and then my cat was prescribed Amytriptyline. (From my understanding they usually use that on older cats with behavioral problems and that’s why we tried gabapentin first).
I haven’t gone to pick that up yet, since I’ve been at college (UW-Madison) and when I come home (DeForest) some weekends, the vet clinic in Waunakee isn’t open. I’ve been watching a lot of cat behavior videos to try and figure out what my cat is trying to say to me. Even my roommate, who has had cats her entire life and has always been a cat person, says that she doesn’t really understand “cat language.” Which makes sense since she left her litter too early and hasn’t met another cat in her life.
Another concern that I have is that she just naturally isn’t a friendly cat to me. I think it might be from months of trying to get her to take pills and doing her nail trims. She probably associates me with all things bad. I haven’t ever heard her purr and when I offer my finger for her to rub on, she never does. Though, whenever my roommate comes home, my cat runs to her and rubs up all over her legs. My cat sleeps with her at night, lays on her lap, purrs with her. My cat also bites her, which is confusing. If you talk to my cat, her tail lashes and she gets angry and gets ready to pounce on you, even if it’s a soothing voice. I can’t look or touch her without her getting angry. I understand that I may never have a cuddly cat, but all behavior signs that are “I love you” she doesn’t show. She runs to the door when someone new comes in and when my roommate does, but not me. She purrs with my roommate, but not me. She sleeps with my roommate, but not me.”
tia
I’ve been posting a lot about my cat as she’s been growing up and all the problems I’ve been having with her. This is my first cat and I’m really struggling to even like her. Her and I definitely have a bond issue and while I’d never euthanize her or rehome her to someone I don’t know, (if I were to rehome her it’d be to my roommate because she loves my roommate) it’s sad to feel like she’s not mine. So, I contacted a couple cat behaviorists in the area, I filled out multiple pre-assessment forms and I sent them my history. I’m feeling really guilty that it came to this point but I’m really just at my last straw.
If any of you have any last minute suggestions here is her history:
“
I adopted my cat from a friend who found the kittens on her farm. When I took her to the vet, they estimated that she was about 4 weeks old. She was weaned too early. She was very sweet and cuddly, never purred unless she was kneading, but also very curious and energetic as a kitten should be. I played with my hands and didn’t start to correct the behavior until she was a couple months old.
At a couple months old, she was being a kitten and climbing up on furniture. I talked to my veterinarian (who was not Dr. Stacy at the time) and she suggested I get cat trees and scratching posts. I had asked about nail caps and she had told me that many of their clinic cats used them and that they worked really well and stayed on for quite a while. So, I invested in some cat trees, scratching posts, and some nail caps. The nail caps didn’t stay on well, and fell off after about a week. Getting them put on was traumatic, because she did not handle being restrained very well at the vet clinic and it cost $35 to get them reapplied, even at a lower cost clinic. It got to the point where she needed to be sedated for her nail trims/caps. I started to do it myself, because I didn’t want to have to spend $35 on nail trims/caps and didn’t want her to be sedated so often. (To be fair, the receptionist told me there isn’t many negative effects with frequent sedation, but I didn’t like the idea of it). Eventually I couldn’t do it alone and it became too much of a hassle. The nail sessions started to end with bloody hands and that’s when I stopped using nail caps.
At 5 months old, her behavior was still the same as it was a couple months ago, still crazy as ever and climbed everything. She also would attack fast moving feet and hands. I read online that this is usually normal kitten behavior that they’re practicing hunting skills and that they will grow out of it, so I let it go on. We were also preparing for her spay surgery at this time, and my old veterinarian wanted to do bloodwork before the surgery date to get it out of the way. They brought her back to me and said that they were unable to work with her as she was “too irritated and reactive” as said in her medical records. We had to wait until she was sedated for surgery to be able to do bloodwork.
After her spay, she was fine. She continued to bite hands/ankles and continued to not stand for nail trims, or being touched. But I brushed it off as normal kitten behavior again. (She was 8 months now) I knew the people who adopted her siblings, and saw how cuddly of cats that they had become and started to wonder why my cat acted like this. I joined a cat forum called “CatSite” where I asked lots of questions regarding my cat’s behavior. I explained how she bit and scratched whenever I try to pet her. It didn’t seem aggressive/stress-related. I got responses like “this cat lacks confidence and still needs more socialization” and “she’s still a kitten”. They gave me LOTS of great advice. Rewarding her when being pet, using feliway or bach rescue remedy, getting cat trees, hissing, making a loud high pitched “ow” everytime she bit, doing time-outs, saying no, distracting, ignoring, redirecting. I tried all of it, but nothing stopped her.
I posted again at 11 months, after trying many of these options, and I was told to be very stern with my corrections. I also learned that her back twitched when I touched her there. They told me that this is a sign that she might be pretty sensitive there and to try to just touch her face. I learned she might have pent up energy, so I started to play with her more and take her out on walks. (I know I should’ve been doing this from the start, but I’ve never had a cat before and I’ve been learning as I go..).
After this, I finally went to my vet clinic again, to learn that my previous vet had moved out of state and that’s where I met Dr. Stacy. I talked to her about the problems that I’ve been having and that I felt exhausted of options. I also brought up the twitching of her back and Dr. Stacy talked to me about Hyperesthesia and I think we ruled that out. This is where the medication started. We first tried liquid gabapentin and it felt like the nail trims all over again. Restraining her was difficult, she hated the taste of the medication.
I expressed concern to Dr. Stacy about feeling like it wasn’t doing much and that restraining her was too difficult and was probably contributing to her hatred towards being touched/held/pet/near her. I wondered if there was a capsule version of the med that I’d be able to sprinkle onto her food and get her to eat. I also wondered about increasing the dose. The first couple days I think I was able to get her to eat the med with the food in it and it really knocked her out to the point where I felt bad that she was so drowsy. After that, she refused to eat her food if she could smell the med in it. We tried pilling her, pill pockets, cat burritos, lateral hold, etc. We couldn’t get her to eat the med.
I talked to my vet again, and we decided to try a compounded version of gabapentin liquid that tasted like fish. I tried that in her food and she ate a tiny bit of it, but caught a sniff of the med and I watched her gag. The next morning, she had thrown up 12-13 times in an hour. I took her to the emergency vet and they did an ultrasound to see if something was lodged in her intestines. Instead, they just found that her intestines were irritated. Dr. Stacy suspected it was probably the new medication.
After that $700 bill, she was on antibiotics and anti-nausia meds, which she took fine (surprisingly) with pill pockets. We took a break from any and all meds for a couple weeks, and then my cat was prescribed Amytriptyline. (From my understanding they usually use that on older cats with behavioral problems and that’s why we tried gabapentin first).
I haven’t gone to pick that up yet, since I’ve been at college (UW-Madison) and when I come home (DeForest) some weekends, the vet clinic in Waunakee isn’t open. I’ve been watching a lot of cat behavior videos to try and figure out what my cat is trying to say to me. Even my roommate, who has had cats her entire life and has always been a cat person, says that she doesn’t really understand “cat language.” Which makes sense since she left her litter too early and hasn’t met another cat in her life.
Another concern that I have is that she just naturally isn’t a friendly cat to me. I think it might be from months of trying to get her to take pills and doing her nail trims. She probably associates me with all things bad. I haven’t ever heard her purr and when I offer my finger for her to rub on, she never does. Though, whenever my roommate comes home, my cat runs to her and rubs up all over her legs. My cat sleeps with her at night, lays on her lap, purrs with her. My cat also bites her, which is confusing. If you talk to my cat, her tail lashes and she gets angry and gets ready to pounce on you, even if it’s a soothing voice. I can’t look or touch her without her getting angry. I understand that I may never have a cuddly cat, but all behavior signs that are “I love you” she doesn’t show. She runs to the door when someone new comes in and when my roommate does, but not me. She purrs with my roommate, but not me. She sleeps with my roommate, but not me.”
tia