feline addiction?

[losna]

So Sinbad had an anxiety attack the other day. It was a really bad one, when I called the vet with his symptoms she had us take him in immediately, and an aide stayed with us the entire time we were waiting for the vet to have time to check him out. Very scary.

I don't want to get into what is setting him off, but it's something that we can't do anything about, and will remain present for the next several months. We did explain it all to the vet, she gave us anti-stress chewables for him, and a bunch of instructions on how to keep him calm as best we could.

It's only been a few days since we've been giving these to him, but he is starting to display behaviors that are a bit alarming. He really wants these chewies. All the time. We put them out of reach, he found a way up onto the shelf where they were. So we put them into a box, he figured out how to open the box and get them out. He chewed holes into the bag trying to get at them, so I transferred them into a freezer bag - and then he dug the original bag out of the trash and started licking and eating it.

Now it's completely locked away in the closet, and he's wandering the house wailing, trying to find them.

Do cats get addictions, the way people do? Is this something to be concerned about? Will we have problems with him when it's time to stop giving these to him?

My husband, who has been around cats his entire life, says Sinbad is just reacting to a new treat that he really likes and since he's so stressed out he's going overboard. Which does make sense, Sinbad is intelligent enough to connect eating these treats to feeling better (he knows, for example, that when he is having allergies lying near the air purifier helps his breathing and we never have trouble giving him medicine because he knows treats come afterward), but it's really disturbing me.

I will admit that I have issues regarding this kind of thing and may be transferring; my  mother was addicted to pain killers when I was a kid (she may still be, I haven't spoken with her in years), so I thought I'd ask here and see what you all had to say.

 

[Columbine]

I'm with your hubby on this one. Don't worry about it. As he gets back onto an even keel he should stop being so desperate for these treats. There's nothing whatsoever addictive in them.

I'm guessing it's Composure you're using. As he's reacting so intensely to the treats you might find he does better (or that you're more comfortable) with the liquid version. You can add it to his food or use a needless syringe. You could even try using a mix of the two - giving half the quantity as liquid might level him out enough that he's less intense about the treats.

Having said all that, Sinbad does seem to be VERY food motivated. It might simply be that he finds them extra yummy, and is just responding like a little kid with their favourite sweets!

 

[losna]

The vet did suggest a mix of both liquid and solid, but after further discussion she agreed that it was better to skip the liquid and give the chewies.

And yeah, it is composure. We're to give Sinbad 3 a day, and Tempest 1 or 2. She loves them enough to come out onto her shelf even with him sitting down below her, but isn't displaying the sheer needy greed that he is. Of course, she's not the one who had the anxiety attack, so that only stands to reason, really.. it was my tooth infection that was the final trigger for him. I came back smelling of anesthetic and antiseptic, and he just completely panicked. He hides whenever I use that foul mouthwash.

He is food and play motivated. And Tempest motivated, although I have yet to figure out how to get her to cooperate so I can use that! But oh man, if only I could.   I'd promise her some daddy time if she'd let Sinbad have a cuddle... He'd do anything if it meant he could get a Tempest cuddle. 

He loves the Composure way too much to use it as a motivator for anything, the slightest sniff of it sends him into fits of excitement, and he completely forgets everything but getting one in his mouth right now!!!  But he is a little glutton, it's true.. when we first adopted them and I was getting used to taking care of them, I'd feed him when he begged at his empty bowl thinking if he was piteous like that, I hadn't fed him enough... the vet told me how much to feed him and to stop doing that. She was like, he was just in here last week! He put on 2 pounds in a week?! Look at this ponch he's developing!  

Thanks for the reply.

 

[Columbine]

Given all of that, I really would put Sinbad's obsession down to greed!

I overfed Asha when I first got her, simply by feeding on demand. She was so skinny that I was desperate for her to gain weight....and ended up giving her an upset stomach :anon: