Curmudgeonly Old Cat (with Anxiety) Issues

[donutte]

I know I've posted about my Maple issues in the past but well, no idea where those threads are and usually no one had answers, haha. So hoping maybe someone might have some insight!

I have four cats. Maple (15 years), Penelopy (4 years), Oscar and Oliver (2 year old littermates). Over the last several years, Maple developed some extreme anxiety issues that caused her to urinate outside of the litter box. After a lot of time and changes and Prozac, we got her to the point where she started going in the litter box again!

Well, we tried reducing the Prozac to every other day. Not a good idea. Anxiety is on high now and she just sees the other cats across the room and growls this pretty hideous sounding growl. There are no fights really breaking out, but Maple is terrified, even if they are just looking at her. To make things worse, Penelopy and (lately, and especially) Oscar have started running after her when she runs. Great. And then she'll hide under the table in the corner, where she's been using the bathroom apparently. Greeeeeat.

I've been trying to get her to socialize more, and have them go by each other so she realizes they won't hurt her, and it's fine while I'm there, but in the middle of the night, she absolutely insists on laying smack dab in the hallway, the thinnest area of the house - and she's 17 lbs so a big kitty. If anyone dares to walk by her, that hideous growl again. I try ignoring it, other times I can't. It wakes me up!! And sets me on edge at that. And well, it's impossible to not walk by her.

Obviously we've gone back to Prozac every day, and she will just stay on that for the rest of her life. I have two Feliway diffusers plugged in, one in the hallway area. I spray the Feliway spray where she typically stays at the beginning night (on the back of the sofa), and along the hallway. I ordered that trio of solutions from Jackson Galaxy, "Ultimate Peacemaker", still waiting for that to get here. It looks like it has one solution for all the cats, one solution for the troublemakers, and one for the anxiety-prone kitties. I'm considering a calming collar but always leery of putting those types of things on my cats.

Anything else I can or should try? Behavioral or supplemental? I know under normal circumstances ensuring she has an escape route is helpful, but vertical space doesn't work well with this 15 year old cat. She can't jump very much and needs a big landing space. Like a table.

 

[dahli6]

It is going to take time for her to get back to normal after you did that to her Prozac dosage. Do not mess with that dosage without the aid of the vet. It will cause mood instability and psychotic episodes. Make sure she has her meds even if it cuts into the food budget.
I don't have any kitties on meds but I have a few anxiety prone. One of them, Louffa, has almost starved herself to death twice because she could not sit still and eat she was so afraid of the others.
Can you give Maple her own room for a week or two? Secure place to eat, sleep, potty and have personal contact on her own terms. Preferably some place where she can still be supervised but isn't overly noisy or crowded with people.
One person at a time sort of situation. She needs a padded room while her meds level out.

 

[donutte]

It is going to take time for her to get back to normal after you did that to her Prozac dosage. Do not mess with that dosage without the aid of the vet. It will cause mood instability and psychotic episodes. Make sure she has her meds even if it cuts into the food budget.
I don't have any kitties on meds but I have a few anxiety prone. One of them, Louffa, has almost starved herself to death twice because she could not sit still and eat she was so afraid of the others.
Can you give Maple her own room for a week or two? Secure place to eat, sleep, potty and have personal contact on her own terms. Preferably some place where she can still be supervised but isn't overly noisy or crowded with people.
One person at a time sort of situation. She needs a padded room while her meds level out.

Sorry, I should have stated that this was under the consultation of a vet that we reduced it. It wasn't just me being willy-nilly! And believe me, my kitties' care has always been paramount. I won't even go over how much I went into debt taking care of two CKD kitties in a short span of time Anyway, she was on the meds over a year and the vet wanted to try and see if we could at least reduce it. Have since told him I don't care about side effects, she's 15 years old, any long-term side effects would be moot at this point. He agrees with me that we won't be trying to reduce it again.

See, Maple used to just stay in my room all the time. In the last, I dunno, 6-9 months maybe? she has started wanting to be out here in the afternoon. Originally it was just in the evenings that she wanted to be in the living area, and then it was in the afternoons. I even see her in the mornings occasionally these days. Problem is we put a big litter box in my bedroom (mainly to help make her happy) BECAUSE she spent all her time in there. Have considered putting up the baby gate and putting some food and water in there, but the other cats (namely Pea-Pea) would eat the dry food. She's a dry food addict and I only give them so much per day because she's getting kinda big. I say she's trying to look like Maple (both black cats) so she can eat Maple's k/d that she gets for lunch. Joys of having multiple pets...

She definitely needs a padded room... a pee-padded room!

 

[dahli6]

Thank you for clarifying. One never knows; ya know?
I hope I didn't sound harsh. It is never my intention but....
I always just give Louffa whatever she wants. When I see her being bullied I tell everyone else to stop. She mostly stays in my kitchen and cosplays as a stove cozy.
She is afraid of the litterbox so I try to keep the sink clear of dishes but I am cleaning every time I enter the room which is often.

 

[donutte]

No worries! I know a lot of times people do things on their own. I have done some things on my own on occasion, but it's after a lot of experience with it and LOTS of vet discussions (like with Maple's Miralax, I know sometimes I have to increase it or lower it - she has some constipation issues also).

Maple isn't afraid of the litter box per se, but she does get anxious about it. The other three like to play this game (not just with her, but each other as well) where they pounce on anyone coming out of the litter box. Wellllll Maple doesn't like that game. And most of them now jump over the back of it rather than walking out the nice opening I made, hence there being litter all over the place (grumble grumble grumble). And of course, Maple acts like prey so Oscar will run after her whenever she runs. And when he gets in that stalking mode, it's hard to get him out of it, so I try really hard to keep him from getting that way in the first place.

I feel really bad that I couldn't spend a lot of time with them lately. I was basically working two full time jobs while ramping up my business. I recently got to the point I was able to leave my day job so have been trying to be a better kitty mama and play with them a lot more than I was. Especially at night! But before I was just too tired to do much playing.

I HAVE noticed that when the moth fly creatures are out in the house, they leave her alone more. For sure. They have diminished greatly, but now I almost wish they were back!

 

[di and bob]

Try to get her a 'safe' place for her own. Even if it is just a box. a low table with a bed on it would be ideal, something she can defend from the others. Whenever you are around I would not let the others bully her at all. Tell them no loudly if they even start towards her. Have a kickeroo toy handy to throw and distract them with, cats can't resist and get a lot of their aggressions out on them. If none of this is possible is there a small room she can call her own? It might be a good idea to lock her up while you are gone, She needs quiet.
I'm so sorry you are having all this trouble, I know, I have 5 of my own. Maple is 15, so like in her 80's, she deserves some peace and quiet, and respect. You will be blessed for trying so hard, love her and build up her confidence by defending her from the others, I'm sure she appreciates it!

 

[dahli6]

No worries! I know a lot of times people do things on their own. I have done some things on my own on occasion, but it's after a lot of experience with it and LOTS of vet discussions (like with Maple's Miralax, I know sometimes I have to increase it or lower it - she has some constipation issues also).

Maple isn't afraid of the litter box per se, but she does get anxious about it. The other three like to play this game (not just with her, but each other as well) where they pounce on anyone coming out of the litter box. Wellllll Maple doesn't like that game. And most of them now jump over the back of it rather than walking out the nice opening I made, hence there being litter all over the place (grumble grumble grumble). And of course, Maple acts like prey so Oscar will run after her whenever she runs. And when he gets in that stalking mode, it's hard to get him out of it, so I try really hard to keep him from getting that way in the first place.

I feel really bad that I couldn't spend a lot of time with them lately. I was basically working two full time jobs while ramping up my business. I recently got to the point I was able to leave my day job so have been trying to be a better kitty mama and play with them a lot more than I was. Especially at night! But before I was just too tired to do much playing.

I HAVE noticed that when the moth fly creatures are out in the house, they leave her alone more. For sure. They have diminished greatly, but now I almost wish they were back!

We have so many that I am a stay at home cat mom. I was afraid to say they might be pouncing her. hehe
The vets where i live are so expensive I have to do a lot on my own. The time I did go to a vet it was expensive, they thought I was lying and then they purposely gave me the wrong treatment(which they believed was the right treatment)and cost my Bitty the vision in one of her eyes. So I have trust issues.
it sounds like you have a lot on your hands. Must be fun.
*smiling the whole time i am typing.

 

[donutte]

Try to get her a 'safe' place for her own. Even if it is just a box. a low table with a bed on it would be ideal, something she can defend from the others. Whenever you are around I would not let the others bully her at all. Tell them no loudly if they even start towards her. Have a kickeroo toy handy to throw and distract them with, cats can't resist and get a lot of their aggressions out on them. If none of this is possible is there a small room she can call her own? It might be a good idea to lock her up while you are gone, She needs quiet.
I'm so sorry you are having all this trouble, I know, I have 5 of my own. Maple is 15, so like in her 80's, she deserves some peace and quiet, and respect. You will be blessed for trying so hard, love her and build up her confidence by defending her from the others, I'm sure she appreciates it!

I have sooo many toys that my living room looks like it was made for cats, lol. I need to remember to bust out the laser pointer. While I don't like using it as a toy, it DOES make for an amazing distraction - much faster than the toys will. Then after they are properly distracted, I can bring in the toys...

Maple pretty much owns the leather love seat and the chaise in my bedroom, and the kitties leave her alone there (she just keeps insisting on laying in the walkway though!). She's also peed a lot on the chaise so it really needs to go. Her pee is horrific, even the vet said he's never smelled pee so bad in his life. Hoping when my brother comes by again he can take it out,

We have so many that I am a stay at home cat mom. I was afraid to say they might be pouncing her. hehe
The vets where i live are so expensive I have to do a lot on my own. The time I did go to a vet it was expensive, they thought I was lying and then they purposely gave me the wrong treatment(which they believed was the right treatment)and cost my Bitty the vision in one of her eyes. So I have trust issues.
it sounds like you have a lot on your hands. Must be fun.
*smiling the whole time i am typing.

Our vets are expensive but thankfully are great. I live in the "poor part" of an expensive area. After going through so much with Lucky and especially Sara, I've decided they're gonna have regular vet visits from now on. And yeah, it is costly. I was supposed to take 3 of my 4 cats to the vet this month, gonna have to wait till next month, just regular checkups.

 

[dahli6]

I live out in the countryside, often with no transportation. Sometimes I have to handle things on my own immediately after they happen.
I think the one vet I might trust would probably just immunize and worm mine every year.

 

[donutte]

I'm in the suburbs, and the vet is literally next door. And considering my cats hate being in the car that is a very good thing!

 

[donutte]

The thing with the cats, none of them hate each other. I've often seen any one of the three other kitties sleeping in Maple's chair with her (forgot she has her own chair also in my bedroom). It is usually Oliver, who absolutely adores Maple (even though she gets curmudgeonly with him at feeding time - he gets so excited that he just tries to rub all over her and she hates it). But sometimes I've seen Oscar or Pea-Pea in the chair with her!

 

[dahli6]

A vet next door. That is kind of awesome.

 

[donutte]

A vet next door. That is kind of awesome.

It really is. Especially when I'm trying to get my cat in the carrier and it's 5 minutes after the start of the appointment before that happens. Takes less than a minute to drive over. I'd walk it but there's a big ol' fence between my house and where they are so have to go the long way around. I sometimes walk it with the dogs though (I have two of those - Maple could care less about the dogs).

 

[donutte]

Speak of the devil, just took this pic of Oliver and Maple in her chair

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• donutte
• May 5, 2016

 

[artiemom]

Just a thought.... actually from Jackson Galaxy. He always recommends having vertical spots where a threatened cat can run up to... and watch..

Can you install any cat shelves? I mean, someplace where Maple can feel secure and watch from a distance? Some place that can be 'her'"

 

[donutte]

She can't jump well and would need pretty big landings (and know exactly what you are talking about!). I'd have to make it so she could step from one to the next, and I'd run out of wall before getting halfway up the wall!

 

[artiemom]

She can't jump well and would need pretty big landings (and know exactly what you are talking about!). I'd have to make it so she could step from one to the next, and I'd run out of wall before getting halfway up the wall!

sorry, it was a thought...

What about creating some sort of 'castle' just for her? a hiding spot? I do not know how you could keep the other 2 away from it, but something to think about???

 

[donutte]

I might try to do that, just need to figure out a good spot. There are tons of hiding spots but she never goes into them. Well, she does go in the laundry basket when there's stuff in it...

 

[kittens mom]

I think you're just dealing with a senior cat and old age. Would it be possible to put a cat door with a chip in it that allowed her access to your bedroom on her terms ? Or any room where she couldn't be followed. Somewhere there is a video of Mercy making the most horrible growling noises when the Tabbinese Twins lay on her . It's all noise and she either gives up or moves. Neither of the twins seem to have concept that means go away!!! I tend not to pay attention unless there is immanent danger of flying fur.
Is there a reason she is picking that spot in the hallway ?

 

[donutte]

This is a senior who is peeing outside the litter box, grumble grumble. Oh, and I forgot to mention, when she gets into these literal "hissy fits" she will plop on her side or back and voids her bladder because she gets THAT upset. And flying fur, ha, I've seen that. One time she got mad just because Pea-Pea crossed her path one day and I literally saw the fur pop out of her head. I feel like there's a joke in there that could be made about black cats crossing paths...

As far as the hallway, not sure why she's decided that was a good spot to hang out lately. Started maybe a month or two ago? I'll see her there and ask her if she realizes she's gonna have all the other cats running back and forth past her, and she's gonna get pissed. She just stares at me when I do that.