Apologies for the length here, but I'm looking for some advice. Been working with our vet, but they seem to be out of suggestions. My husband and I have 7 cats (2 females, one male, all indoors).
One of the males, who is around 9, has always been anxious. I found him abandoned in our shed at 2 weeks old and bottle fed him. We used to live in a bigger split level house and he mainly kept to the bottom floor because the other cats bullied him. The alpha male is particularly a jerk to him. When he was 6, he started peeing on things and the vet suggested Prozac. He calmed down and the peeing stopped, but he never stopped being anxious. He lives in fear and is never happy.
At some point we stopped giving him the Prozac - a combination of him being better and so much going on in life.
18 months ago we moved into a smaller house, 2 BD ranch with no access to the basement. Moving and getting him acclimated was tough but he eventually settled in. We put up shelves. Problem is, he only lives in the extra bedroom, never comes out. For a while he lived in the closet. When he was too scared to come out, he'd poop in there. If he was too scared to come off his shelf, he'd poop on it. At this point the vet said he was constipated, so she gave us Lax'aire.
Then about 3 months ago the vet told me to start the Prozac again and install more shelves.
All is well except he still just lives in that room with his food, water and litter box. I play with him a few times a day but he'll only get as far as the doorway and peer out to the rest of the house. I have to close the door when he eats and at night so the other cats don't bother him. Even with the door closed, he's still looking over his shoulder all the time.
I never dreamed of rehoming him, and still won't. I'm sure he would have been better in a one cat house but I'm all he knows. Everytime I change his set up, I feel like I set him backwards.
I have an option to move him to the basement but it's underground, so there are only small windows. I'm afraid the floor noises will drive him insane!
Does anyone have any experience with very anxious cats like this, or any suggestions?
Thanks for reading.
One of the males, who is around 9, has always been anxious. I found him abandoned in our shed at 2 weeks old and bottle fed him. We used to live in a bigger split level house and he mainly kept to the bottom floor because the other cats bullied him. The alpha male is particularly a jerk to him. When he was 6, he started peeing on things and the vet suggested Prozac. He calmed down and the peeing stopped, but he never stopped being anxious. He lives in fear and is never happy.
At some point we stopped giving him the Prozac - a combination of him being better and so much going on in life.
18 months ago we moved into a smaller house, 2 BD ranch with no access to the basement. Moving and getting him acclimated was tough but he eventually settled in. We put up shelves. Problem is, he only lives in the extra bedroom, never comes out. For a while he lived in the closet. When he was too scared to come out, he'd poop in there. If he was too scared to come off his shelf, he'd poop on it. At this point the vet said he was constipated, so she gave us Lax'aire.
Then about 3 months ago the vet told me to start the Prozac again and install more shelves.
All is well except he still just lives in that room with his food, water and litter box. I play with him a few times a day but he'll only get as far as the doorway and peer out to the rest of the house. I have to close the door when he eats and at night so the other cats don't bother him. Even with the door closed, he's still looking over his shoulder all the time.
I never dreamed of rehoming him, and still won't. I'm sure he would have been better in a one cat house but I'm all he knows. Everytime I change his set up, I feel like I set him backwards.
I have an option to move him to the basement but it's underground, so there are only small windows. I'm afraid the floor noises will drive him insane!
Does anyone have any experience with very anxious cats like this, or any suggestions?
Thanks for reading.
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