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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.
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.