Can Someone Adopt Merlin?

Mamanyt1953

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It sounds like you are doing well. Just remember that when he is rubbing against you, he is frantically scent-marking you so that he feels like you are HIS...move away from him at times like this very slowly and gently. More and more I think that the initial bite was not out of anger, but an attempt to keep you with him. The ONLY method he has to do that are, after all, teeth and claws.
 
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Meowmee

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It sounds like you are doing well. Just remember that when he is rubbing against you, he is frantically scent-marking you so that he feels like you are HIS...move away from him at times like this very slowly and gently. More and more I think that the initial bite was not out of anger, but an attempt to keep you with him. The ONLY method he has to do that are, after all, teeth and claws.
Yes I am quite confused by why he is still so frantic after all this time and why he has not learned not to bite me though, or why he is even doing this at all, I have never had a cat behave this way before and although the dvm said she thinks nothing is wrong neurologically, I still wonder if there is, because his behavior is really manic.

He did it again today, tried to bite my leg and I am starting to lose hope he can ever be trained to stop, at least not by me. This time again he was trying to stop me from walking away and just started biting my leg, no scratching. Fortunately I felt it and saw it and yelled NO loudly. Then I stopped him from coming near me and he was upset and scared and tried to get under the cage to hide where I had lifted it to clean the litter pan, but he couldn’t. He did not want to walk around the front where it was open because he was scared of me.

I can’t move away at all really and if I am worried about him biting me my goal is to stop that. I was not moving away quickly though when he bit me again. Fortunately he did not put his teeth in etc. or get a chance to, but he may have if I had not reacted immediately. I was wearing long pants which are heavier and longer socks too etc.

I just used my voice and hands to keep him away, but later I found a big piece of cardboard and use that but he is so fast and is so determined to get to my legs etc. so it is problematic.

He is just not getting that it is not OK to bite me etc. I am starting to lose hope. On top of that my father has begun harassing me again about him, he hasn’t said a word about it for a long time, but today out of the blue he said, so you haven’t had any luck with getting him a home. I said no not yet and then said nothing and he dropped it, but I am sure he will start soon telling me to let him out. Problem is M is biting me again, I am failing at training him and outside will be even worse, he will prolly really bite me again and it will be another disaster, going to doc, being reported, trapping him again etc.

This is causing me terrible stress. I am not sure what to do at this point, no one is helping me really, no one wants him and I can’t have a cat by my door all the time trying to bite me. Wish I had never started feeding, if anyone out there is reading this and considering feeding DON’T, because you could easily end up with a nightmare like this.
 
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Meowmee

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Merlin has the runs now, pure liquid for 2-3 days. I have him on flagyl but it is not working, for Quinn it works after two doses to knock out runs. I gave him some sacchoramyces boulardi as well which helps Quinn too, but it seemed to make him worse. I withheld food for 12-14 hours, water only then gave him chicken baby food and then tiny portions Quinn’s home cooked chicken diet. He had not pooped today and I hoped he was responding to the meds finally but he just pooped pure liquid twice while I was having dinner. I am not sure what to do at this point.

One problem is he is not always eating the flagyl right away, I have put it in baby food, he ate it the first time and then the second time he wouldn’t eat it so I put it in Queens food and I had put it in a little bit of tuna he ate it but if I leave it there eventually he seems to eat it. There was no other way to medicate him really I am not going to try getting anything in his mouth obviously. I collected a little stool sample tonight and if I take him to the other Dvm I will get his stool tested again. I did have it tested when he was last reverted at my regular DVM but they said it was negative I gave him drontel then anyway just for one night because that seemed to cause him to have soft stool.

He doesn't seem to be sick etc. He is sleeping on the couch in my studio while I am not there and he is out of the cage. I caught him there when I opened the door today when I guess he didn't hear me coming etc. But I thought he was sitting there due to what looked like his fur, I wasn't sure because Quinn sits there too sometimes when we are all together.

I have scheduled an appointment for Quinn thursday with a previous dvm to do the felv vac etc. I tried to do it with my regular dvm but the receptionist was very officious when I asked about getting Merlin some more flagyl etc. And also supposedly could not get me an appointment for two weeks for Quinn even though there are 6 docs there now! Unbelievable! She insisted he has to come in etc. So I said how are they going to know if he is ill etc. if he needs to be sedated for an exam etc. She had no reply. I just wonder if he will need full sedation now since he has been inside for so long. I am going to call the other dvm and see if they will see him and if they can get him in the same day maybe, but I don’t know what to expect.

This used to be a great hospital overall but their best doc retired and many others have left as well and it has been taken over by vca now. The original dvm mentioned cared for Syb and my Wizard when they were very ill and was amazing overall. Things have changed a lot. I just wonder where along the way things changed in medicine that they feel they can speak to me this way? The people at the front have not always been the greatest here, at least one was always rude, but this one is a total idiot.

Any more ideas about how I can treat his runs at home? He does not seem to be dehydrated but I am worried that could happen eventually. I gave him a little dry food, to see if that would help when he seemed ok today. Before this he had a couple of instances of some soft stool. I was trying to switch the kibble to a grain free kibble, but I switched him back and he was ok then, and then once after I gave him a tiny bit of Quinn’s home cooked, it cleared up again. Otherwise he has been on Kirkland premium chicken and rice(I think) and nine lives and some tidbits. I will post this in the illnesses forum as well.
 
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Meowmee

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Try a teaspoonful of canned pureed pumpkin with each meal. That often does the trick.
I am doing this first before more s boulardi to see which is working, but continuing flagyl. I have scheduled an app with a former dvm on Friday just in case nothing works. So far one loose poop today but nothing yet. I gave him another small dish of 9 lives with fl and pumpkin but he only ate a tiny bit so far.
 

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As a last resort you may want to try scruffung him when he attacks you. You take them by the loose skin on the back of the neck and hold them still to the ground until they stop struggling. If they struggle wildly, lift their front legs off the ground. (I had to do this with one cat I had to medicate him, three grown men couldn't hold him down!) It instinctively quiets them because it is what mama cat does to discipline them. Don't lift them completely up into the air, that may injure them. Tell them NO, or better yet hiss loudly at them, just what mama would do. This will be difficult at first but he will get better quickly once he realized that this will happen, that he is displeasing you. This has to be done EVERY time he attacks, just like with a toddler, their attention span is very small and they need repetition and consistancy to learn. Right now he gets overly excited and only knows how to comminicate through his claws and teeth. Cats do not learn through physical pounishment like striking them or scaring them, it only makes them mistrust and be afraid of you. All the luck!
 
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Meowmee

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As a last resort you may want to try scruffung him when he attacks you. You take them by the loose skin on the back of the neck and hold them still to the ground until they stop struggling. If they struggle wildly, lift their front legs off the ground. (I had to do this with one cat I had to medicate him, three grown men couldn't hold him down!) It instinctively quiets them because it is what mama cat does to discipline them. Don't lift them completely up into the air, that may injure them. Tell them NO, or better yet hiss loudly at them, just what mama would do. This will be difficult at first but he will get better quickly once he realized that this will happen, that he is displeasing you. This has to be done EVERY time he attacks, just like with a toddler, their attention span is very small and they need repetition and consistancy to learn. Right now he gets overly excited and only knows how to comminicate through his claws and teeth. Cats do not learn through physical pounishment like striking them or scaring them, it only makes them mistrust and be afraid of you. All the luck!
Thanks. Merlin is a 15 lb cat who has already bitten me etc. Although not out of aggression I believe. There is no way I am going to attempt to scruff him etc. lol. At least not without long leather gloves which I do have now. I am scared now and I am not going to let him bite me again.

He got scared just from me loudly telling him no etc. And shewing him away with my gestures/ hands etc. I wouldn't hit him obviously. The cardboard seems to work well to stop him from biting so far anyway, but he keeps working his way around it. He ends up marking the cardboard instead of me.

The thing that really works now to get him back in the cage is shaking the can though, but it does scare him. Earlier though I was able to get him to go back in by tapping the cage. Most of the time I don’t want him getting too close to me when I am not watching or trying to watch him carefully so the can is easier. He is so fast and determined to mark me. I am wondering now if this is really about affection or about marking me as his territory.

He was watching me and Quinn earlier, I get him back in the cage so Quinn can come in. Quinn jumped on the couch and was next to me getting attention and Merlin looked like he was upset\ jealous etc.

I wish there was someone who could train him. I am not able to do it. I have ordered long boots to wear when he is loose so he can’t bite my legs but it is going to be uncomfortable for me. I am scared he may bite my hands arms etc instead if I sit in there with him loose.
 
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Meowmee

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he's smart, it sounds like you already are training him to a degree, bless your heart!
Yes I have been to a degree starting outside etc.. but it hasn't worked to stop him biting me, which is the thing he needs to stop as well as the frantic marking.

First he started going in the carrier part for me to clean it when he was only in the cage and I would tap it etc. and lift the towels on the cage etc. so now I tap the carrier for him to go back in. He wouldn’t do it earlier I had to actually move the cage open a little bit more and then keep tapping it and it kind of worked again fortunately, maybe I shook the can again first, I can’t remember now. He’s not as afraid of the can though as he was on that first day when he tried to bite me and I yelled no etc. my boots should be coming tomorrow night so hopefully I can spend a little bit more time with him when he is loose and see what happens.

So far no more poop just one urine and some gas. He only nibbled on his next portion of nine lives, pumpkin, Flagyl and S. Boulardi. Keeping my fingers crossed but I will be bringing his poop to my former Dvm tomorrow when I bring Quinn in.
 
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Meowmee

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Unfortunately had more soft poop which I added to the sample, I dropped that off with Quinn yesterday and today Merlin will be going in later.I got more emergency Flagyl for Quinn and I’m just wondering if I should try giving that to Maryland instead just in case the one I’m using is no good anymore? It’s a liquid and I keep it stored in the fridge but they told me that it should last for a year and it is not expired yet.
 
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Meowmee

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Hi! I was offline for a while, what did you decide to do?
I waited and took him in to dvm. He had more soft poop before that but it seems to be once per day now. Dvm did not really examen him but was able to touch him a bit but he stayed in the cage. He said he is not dehydrated etc. fecal tes for parasites was neg, he was able to look at his paws, fungal infection is gone. Could not look in his mouth etc. did not get a weight, or touch belly etc.

We are waiting on the rest of the pcr test. He gave me new flagyl because although my other dvm said their liquid flagyl would last a year in the fridge, this dvm said not good after 6 months so maybe that is why he has not responded yet. I am not sure what the difference is. He said theirs does not need to be refrigerated. He suggested a limited diet change and I bought some royal canin adult hydrolized rabbit and peas cans and a bag of dry. And some Forti flora.

He said next step would be ultrasound for ibd if nothing else works. I am still not sure if he will go back out yet so may not do that obviously. He said it is ok to worm him again.

So today when we got home I gave him part rk diet, part 9 lives with drontel, added the new flagyl and some forti flora and he has not eaten it all yet, he is very stubborn about it sometimes he just wont eat it. I tried more 9l gravy added in it and he just licked that off. So I am not sure when to try to dose again etc if he doesn't eat it all at once.

He was pretty good at the dvm but wish they had tried more of an exam although I didn't really want him sedated etc. they seemed to have forgotten he is an outdoor cat etc. because one woman came in to weigh him and I said to wait etc. but he was really good, not like a feral cat at all, but not a tame cat either. He let dvm pet him a bit etc. he cried on the way there, calmed down eventually there and then started up again when another kitty came in and was crying.

I am very exhausted and did not sleep well or enough at all, so I won’t spend as much time with him later. I was petting him more today, I had some shorter boots on but still using the cardboard and can. He jumped a-bit when I pet his head when he was eating a bit so he is still not tamed I think even though he still frantically rubs and marks me etc. I managed to snip off a matt on his back without really touching him.
 
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Meowmee

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I'm wondering if some of this tummy upset might be stress-related. He has been confined quite a bit.
Yes could be but he has calmed down about being in the cage and is only in for brief times now, he is out in the room most of the time now. I think it is the whole stress of coming inside. Caging is supposed to calm feral and stray cats who aren't tame.

I have never seen severe runs from stress in my cats before though.

Since he is not calming down about frantically marking me etc. and kind of clawed at me today I have no hope he will ever be trained by me on these issues. I have to start considering release somehow or maybe bring him for an interview to bidawee if possible. I can’t have a frantic cat in or outside the house and there has been no real interest in adopting him or helping me train him etc.
 

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Hey! I had not gotten alerts on any of your recent posts. I have not forgotten you but my ability to be on site was hampered by technical problems. I am so sorry to hear Merlin is sick but since I was away from the posts and came back to a lot of information I may have a little insight that has gotten lost in more recent discussion. Your first post about adopting Merlin mentions an apparent allergic/ bacterial or something going on that you gave him Zyrtec for which, to me, indicated an issue as well as a possible cause for him to try and get you to help him by biting. That bite was his only way to get your immediate attention. Cats will do that. Moving forward to now, he is showing other signs of feeling bad with stomach upset. It makes perfect cat sense that he is more frantic and is nipping. He is just trying to tell you he needs help. I really do not see him as untrainable. I see him as asking his loved one to fix his tummy. I did read the posts about getting a poop test. Did you tell the vet about his apparent allergic reaction early on? I am wondering if it is a food reaction. Was he always eating the foods he is on now?
My other thought is that he is picking up on your stress levels. I know you have been very worried about all of this. Stress can do to him what it does to you. I know you mentioned your own tummy issues. This cat has looked to you for love and wants to return it as well. They understand when you are suffering and they want to save you, just as you saved them. I can see by your posts that you are finding it upsetting and I feel for you in this. Can you try some calming routine before you go in to work with Merlin? I wish I was near you. I would try to give you a break so you can have some deep breaths and a little time for yourself. :alright: Maybe a cup of Chamomile tea before going to be with Merlin? Relaxing music? Whatever makes you feel relaxed is sure to transfer to Merlin. :heartshape:
 
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Meowmee

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Hey! I had not gotten alerts on any of your recent posts. I have not forgotten you but my ability to be on site was hampered by technical problems. I am so sorry to hear Merlin is sick but since I was away from the posts and came back to a lot of information I may have a little insight that has gotten lost in more recent discussion. Your first post about adopting Merlin mentions an apparent allergic/ bacterial or something going on that you gave him Zyrtec for which, to me, indicated an issue as well as a possible cause for him to try and get you to help him by biting. That bite was his only way to get your immediate attention. Cats will do that. Moving forward to now, he is showing other signs of feeling bad with stomach upset. It makes perfect cat sense that he is more frantic and is nipping. He is just trying to tell you he needs help. I really do not see him as untrainable. I see him as asking his loved one to fix his tummy. I did read the posts about getting a poop test. Did you tell the vet about his apparent allergic reaction early on? I am wondering if it is a food reaction. Was he always eating the foods he is on now?
My other thought is that he is picking up on your stress levels. I know you have been very worried about all of this. Stress can do to him what it does to you. I know you mentioned your own tummy issues. This cat has looked to you for love and wants to return it as well. They understand when you are suffering and they want to save you, just as you saved them. I can see by your posts that you are finding it upsetting and I feel for you in this. Can you try some calming routine before you go in to work with Merlin? I wish I was near you. I would try to give you a break so you can have some deep breaths and a little time for yourself. :alright: Maybe a cup of Chamomile tea before going to be with Merlin? Relaxing music? Whatever makes you feel relaxed is sure to transfer to Merlin. :heartshape:
I am exhausted and will reply tomorrow, have pulled a muscle and it is getting too hard to manage all of this.
 
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Meowmee

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Nothing relaxes Merlin when he is in crazy mark my legs mode though. He is really frantic, so something is wrong with him mentally I think and he is refusing the new flagyl, even if he gets no other food, the only thing that can prolly help his poop. Very frustrating. I had to tell him off to get him to stop earlier, yell at him basically and he finally backed away. I told him his behavior was weird and it was not normal and was making me upset. I am fed up with this whole situation.
 
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