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- Jun 29, 2013
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Simon's history is available in my various posts here; Any questions, I'll try to answer, but his history is too lengthy to include here.
Within the last week, we ran a panel of bloodwork, urinalysis, and a stool sample - discovering that Simon had signs of two different kinds of crystals (which I guess makes him a FLUTD kitty?) and was dealing with Giardia. The vet assured me that this was likely the cause of many of his issues, so we set to work treating the Giardia with Flagyl and ordered Simon some Hills C/D Multicare food (which just got here today; I'll likely be asking for tips on how to switch him over in the nutrition forum soon; Vet didn't think the crystals were bad enough to require surgery). He's been on the Flagyl now for a few days and have yet to notice any improvement. He hasn't thrown up or had diarrhea, but to be fair, he hadn't really had those symptoms in several days prior to the diagnosis either (In fact, he was likely borderline constipated); He poops once a day or every other day, but I'm still having to give miralax twice a day to get him to do that much. Simon is still eating us out of house and home, up to three meals a day (he'd readily eat more, if we put another can of food down in front of him) which we were hoping would also decrease as we treated the Giardia.
The current major issue is his aggression.
Our vet had said it's likely the result of one of his current issues leading to some pain, which seemed feasible at first. However, the "attacks" have continued with no real rhyme or reason to them. My Mom finally saw one of the fits a few days ago and said herself that it was like someone flipped a switch in Simon's head from "calm" to "I'm going to kill you before you can hurt me" (During this fit, he just rolled over and started going nuts on my arm; He eventually needed scruffed and removed from the situation). Tonight was probably his worst fit; We were both calmly laying on the bed, not touching one another, when he bit at my arms a couple times. I moved my arm away from him so he wouldn't continue and would realize that this behavior wouldn't be tolerated, which just seemed to anger him further. The bites got worse, he'd latch with his teeth and start that kicking routine cats do with their toys sometimes but his claws are SHARP and were drawing blood. I finally got my arm away from him and stood up, slowly walking to the other side of the bed where I had items I could put between us if needed - but he launched himself at my face before I could stop him. Luckily it was just a minor scratch on my cheek, but I think I must have turned just in time because that claw was not far off from my eye and could have caused A LOT of damage.
My nieces and nephews - all under the age of 4 - come over often and I can't run the risk of Simon snapping and going after one of them (We keep them separated now, but I'm sure Simon can hear them from the other room. There's no way around this and them not coming over is NOT an option). I have Panic Disorder myself, which I thought was under control, but I'm almost afraid to be near Simon now, lest he have another fit or come after me in my sleep (Crating all night is no longer an option as that just stresses him out further, and now that we know he has crystals, we need to keep stress to a minimum). He's already on Prozac for separation anxiety issues (though we're not noticing any changes and it's been a couple weeks now; The vet did pre-warn us that some cats weren't helped by the Prozac, but we were hopeful). We've tried leaving the TV sound on, tried making it as quiet as possible, tried putting him in the crate and letting him have free roam, tried feeding more, distracting with play. There are no outside animals causing issues and no other animals in the house. Nothing is working to prevent or help these fits; It seems like once one starts, our only option is to let him tire himself out or to put him in a large metal dog crate and leaving the room until it passes (which, in the process, just exacerbates his separation anxiety). He's very sweet once the episodes pass, but holy cow, during an episode, he is out for blood.
I just don't know what else to do. If we do the course of flagyl, change the food, and his behavior is STILL fits of pure rage, I'm afraid the next step would be to consider euthanasia. I can't and won't live with a violent, aggressive cat at the expense of my own physical and mental health (and my Mom, who pays for most of his vet care has already said that if it keeps up, he has to go before he seriously hurts one of us).
Does anyone have any suggestions or have been through this before?
(Please no guilt tripping; I know euthanasia shouldn't be my immediate knee-jerk reaction but you'll see that I've tried everything I can, so far. Rehoming wouldn't really work out, as most people won't want to take on an aggressive, violent, often-sick cat and shelters are so full that healthy cats are being euthanized to make room. This post isn't even saying that is 100% going to happen)
Within the last week, we ran a panel of bloodwork, urinalysis, and a stool sample - discovering that Simon had signs of two different kinds of crystals (which I guess makes him a FLUTD kitty?) and was dealing with Giardia. The vet assured me that this was likely the cause of many of his issues, so we set to work treating the Giardia with Flagyl and ordered Simon some Hills C/D Multicare food (which just got here today; I'll likely be asking for tips on how to switch him over in the nutrition forum soon; Vet didn't think the crystals were bad enough to require surgery). He's been on the Flagyl now for a few days and have yet to notice any improvement. He hasn't thrown up or had diarrhea, but to be fair, he hadn't really had those symptoms in several days prior to the diagnosis either (In fact, he was likely borderline constipated); He poops once a day or every other day, but I'm still having to give miralax twice a day to get him to do that much. Simon is still eating us out of house and home, up to three meals a day (he'd readily eat more, if we put another can of food down in front of him) which we were hoping would also decrease as we treated the Giardia.
The current major issue is his aggression.
Our vet had said it's likely the result of one of his current issues leading to some pain, which seemed feasible at first. However, the "attacks" have continued with no real rhyme or reason to them. My Mom finally saw one of the fits a few days ago and said herself that it was like someone flipped a switch in Simon's head from "calm" to "I'm going to kill you before you can hurt me" (During this fit, he just rolled over and started going nuts on my arm; He eventually needed scruffed and removed from the situation). Tonight was probably his worst fit; We were both calmly laying on the bed, not touching one another, when he bit at my arms a couple times. I moved my arm away from him so he wouldn't continue and would realize that this behavior wouldn't be tolerated, which just seemed to anger him further. The bites got worse, he'd latch with his teeth and start that kicking routine cats do with their toys sometimes but his claws are SHARP and were drawing blood. I finally got my arm away from him and stood up, slowly walking to the other side of the bed where I had items I could put between us if needed - but he launched himself at my face before I could stop him. Luckily it was just a minor scratch on my cheek, but I think I must have turned just in time because that claw was not far off from my eye and could have caused A LOT of damage.
My nieces and nephews - all under the age of 4 - come over often and I can't run the risk of Simon snapping and going after one of them (We keep them separated now, but I'm sure Simon can hear them from the other room. There's no way around this and them not coming over is NOT an option). I have Panic Disorder myself, which I thought was under control, but I'm almost afraid to be near Simon now, lest he have another fit or come after me in my sleep (Crating all night is no longer an option as that just stresses him out further, and now that we know he has crystals, we need to keep stress to a minimum). He's already on Prozac for separation anxiety issues (though we're not noticing any changes and it's been a couple weeks now; The vet did pre-warn us that some cats weren't helped by the Prozac, but we were hopeful). We've tried leaving the TV sound on, tried making it as quiet as possible, tried putting him in the crate and letting him have free roam, tried feeding more, distracting with play. There are no outside animals causing issues and no other animals in the house. Nothing is working to prevent or help these fits; It seems like once one starts, our only option is to let him tire himself out or to put him in a large metal dog crate and leaving the room until it passes (which, in the process, just exacerbates his separation anxiety). He's very sweet once the episodes pass, but holy cow, during an episode, he is out for blood.
I just don't know what else to do. If we do the course of flagyl, change the food, and his behavior is STILL fits of pure rage, I'm afraid the next step would be to consider euthanasia. I can't and won't live with a violent, aggressive cat at the expense of my own physical and mental health (and my Mom, who pays for most of his vet care has already said that if it keeps up, he has to go before he seriously hurts one of us).
Does anyone have any suggestions or have been through this before?
(Please no guilt tripping; I know euthanasia shouldn't be my immediate knee-jerk reaction but you'll see that I've tried everything I can, so far. Rehoming wouldn't really work out, as most people won't want to take on an aggressive, violent, often-sick cat and shelters are so full that healthy cats are being euthanized to make room. This post isn't even saying that is 100% going to happen)
). If it keeps it up, I'll probably wind up buying some cleaner that someone recommended on my other thread just to be safe. 
