Fhs?

[Madamegato]

Hello!

Our kitty's name is Pixel and we've had him for three and a half years - since he was 6 weeks old. Since that time, we've been through hell and back with him, and I'm pleased to report that he's doing better... but we'd really love to help him be fully what we see for a few hours of the day.

Pixel is sweet and loving for about two hours out of the day. He loves to cuddle, headbutt, snuggle - this cat loves getting hugged. Perfect gentleman. Outside of that time, he's generally sleeping or exploring outside. (More on outside in a moment.) If he's not, though, and anything happens to make him agitated... it is "itchy butt." And he can switch on a dime. You can see what he does in the video below, and this is one of his more mild moments (I cut about four minutes of him gnawing at his tail base).


This does not include his absolute hatred of strangers, his random hissing at us if we walk near him, the time he bit through my finger because he was so panicked by the neighbor coming over, his inability to coexist with our older cat (12 years old)*, that we have to crate him at night, that I missed a trip to visit family because I couldn't trust him with a petsitter, growling at thunderstorms, growling at the gate opening... we absolutely had to let him outside because he was a terror before we decided a cat door in the window was a salvation.

[*Our older cat, Autumn, is a talker, not a fighter. Pixel dominated her from the time he was small simply because, a) she never reprimanded him in typical cat fashion - a well placed swat and hiss and, b) he never learned cat manners since we got him so very young. He used to be allowed upstairs, until we found he was pooping in her box and not covering it (they have their own boxes - his downstairs, hers up), he would crowd her out of a space by laying very close and staring her down until she left, and he would grab her in a hold - kicking and biting.

That last bit... I've had a lot of cats in my life and seen a lot of play. I know what that looks like... this, looks like everything fight except it is silent, but he is biting hard and kicking with ferocity. She would yowl and scream and we'd break them up. Eventually, we trained him that upstairs was no-go zone. Baby gates, spray bottles of water, and air cans on motion detectors finally broke him of it, and now the stairs are open and he knows to leave them alone. We have a little bit of peace. Trouble breaks out when Autumn comes downstairs on occasion. He will leave her be if we are in sight of them both - so they absolutely can sit in a space together and not fight or fuss. But if he is behind a chair or around the corner? He stalks her like prey... his face looking like he's on the hunt... and we can't really click him out of it. It literally is like he gets obsessed and cannot help himself. He will also jump on the side of the stairs and swat her if she's laying on the steps.]

After we installed his cat door, the aggression dropped tremendously, as did many of his more "manic" episodes. Letting him have access to the outside seemed to give him something to focus on and anytime he's overwhelmed, he comes back in. Except if he meets up with other cats, when he would fight - since this happened only at night - we curfew him after dinner. Again, I don't think he has a clue about personal space and either gets obsessively irritated or curious when it comes to other cats.

He eats a combined mix of freeze-dried chicken food (Honest Kitchen) along with raw chicken wing and an egg for his meals. (We were on kibble for a while and were trying to upgrade his diet to see if it helped. Didn't really notice a change in behavior, but his coat is beautiful.)

We have him on Cheristin for fleas and have given him flea baths in the hopes of soothing his skin if it was an irritation there. I saw no sign of fleas on him at all during the bath - something I expected to see especially in his white fur. After the bath, he was even more wound up and his "itching" was at an all time high - leaping about, running away, gnawing-gnawing-gnawing. Bad enough that we feel bad giving him a bath.

He does not have any dander that we can see - his skin does appear pretty healthy and his coat is like a double coat - soft and downy hairs below his longer sleeker hairs.

We have not taken him to the vet. We've been a little worried about it, to be honest, because he really doesn't like other people. I know the vet and the techs can handle a cat like that - but I feel awful putting Pixel through that panic. I know ultimately, we need to get him in there, but I wanted to reach out to this community first and see if you all agree with what I'm thinking... that Pixel may have FHS.

 

[Furballsmom]

Hi!

Regarding the vet trip, and in general, try MusicForCats . com, and also see if there is a calming product that might help.

Do you have a cat-only vet? That would be a better choice for him.

From @Mamanyt1953 ;

If you live in the USA, you can find a feline specialist here, their search engine is by zip code. Just be sure to select "cat only" NOT "cat friendly."

AAFP | American Association of Feline Practitioners

Here are some articles that may help with this decision:

How To Choose The Best Veterinarian For My Cat?
How To Talk To Your Vet
Cat Vet Checkup - What To Expect

Just in case there might be info here for you;
Feline Hyperesthesia

 

[Madamegato]

Thank you so much for the information! Talking to my husband, we're going to get him in for a visit. I don't really think it's fair to him to keep waiting and man, I'd really like to see if we can't help him have a better go of things. Sometimes it's so hard because he really does just seem tormented (not to mention when he decides to torment others). Thank you again! The site is fantastic and reminded me of the cat only vet that isn't all that far from where we live!

 

[Libby.]

Have you considered a food insensitivity? Egg sensitivity are a common culprit in behavior issues. When my daughter was 8 she had a boy in her class who was supposedly allergic to eggs. So any treats we brought in to share had to be egg-free. His mother explained that eggs just seemed to 'wind him up' to the point where he was literally running into walls and he was unmanageable. It can make some kids explosive as well.. Sound familiar?

 

[Madamegato]

Have you considered a food insensitivity? Egg sensitivity are a common culprit in behavior issues. When my daughter was 8 she had a boy in her class who was supposedly allergic to eggs. So any treats we brought in to share had to be egg-free. His mother explained that eggs just seemed to 'wind him up' to the point where he was literally running into walls and he was unmanageable. It can make some kids explosive as well.. Sound familiar?

Hi Libby!

We considered that, but given that his behavior was even worse before adding egg (when he was just on kibble), at the time we figured it probably wasn't allergens with his food. That said, though, it is definitely back on the table, and could certainly be part of him still having issues. I heard that chicken itself can be an allergen sometimes, as well as carbohydrates and he's getting both in the raw and Honest Kitchen food.

We've definitely talked about switching up his food, though, and maybe doing more research on a complete raw diet that offers balanced nutrition. I've looked into it for dogs, but never cats.

All that said, thanks for the heads up. I didn't really think about eggs being as much a culprit as the extra carbs in his freeze dried, but it's a good place to start!

 

[Madamegato]

You know, Libby, you made me curious and with the type of person I am, I kept track! Ha ha! I just had to go find my records.

So Pixel had been eating 1 egg with his food starting April 27, 2017. But, he was eating it with freeze dried turkey (which was left over from our dog who passed), and kibble.

We switched over to the Honest Kitchen for cats because it had more taurine and protein and did that on March 13, 2018. So he was having kibble still in the food, HK, and egg.

He started with "itchy butt" in May 2018.

We then switched to adding chicken wing and dropped the kibble in July 2018.

So I don't think it's the egg, but I am definitely rethinking the Honest Kitchen... we might have to drop that first! (Thanks for lighting the fire. I'd forgotten I even kept the record of what we were feeding him!)

 

[Madamegato]

Sorry for so many posts!

Confirmed with my husband that in fact, these past couple days (repeated itchy butt episodes) have coincided with my husband not having the wings and giving Pixel more Honest Kitchen. I'll keep people posted, but we may have an answer!!

 

[BlueMtnJess]

Our 13 year old boy that we lost to lymphoma this year had FHS for the last 2 years or so and this sounds a lot like it. It was like he would blackout with rage, then attack his littermate brother. His brother couldn’t get away and once we broke them up, he’d snap out of it. He self-mutilated the end of his tail to the point where there were smears of blood on the floor. Due to the lymphoma med side effects, it was taking forever to heal and he kept ripping it open. We were so confused. We took him to our vet and he blacked out there. The cat that I had never had any issue getting out of the carrier suddenly growled and bite my hand as hard as he could. I ended up on a round of antibiotics and the region sent someone from the health board twice to observe him to make sure it wasn’t rabies. But that same night that he bit me, he was sleeping curled up with me, happy as can be.

We lucked out, our vet recognized FHS. There is a support group in Facebook and many people say their vet has no idea what it is and recommends a behaviourist. Our vet put him on Gabapentin and it saved us. There was still the occasional “rage state” towards his brother, but it went from multiple times a day to once every other day. He still attacked his tail, but not nearly as often or as intensely, so it healed right up. We got it in a liquid form that we shot into his mouth as I am not a fan of giving cats pills. Some people have also had luck with thunder shirts.

One of the first signs of a pending attack of FHS is the skin rippling down the back. A lot of pet parents who swear by the thunder shirt say that is their trigger to get it on them. I really recommend talking to your vet and seeing if Gabapentin is right for your baby.

 

[Madamegato]

Our 13 year old boy that we lost to lymphoma this year had FHS for the last 2 years or so and this sounds a lot like it. It was like he would blackout with rage, then attack his littermate brother. His brother couldn’t get away and once we broke them up, he’d snap out of it. He self-mutilated the end of his tail to the point where there were smears of blood on the floor. Due to the lymphoma med side effects, it was taking forever to heal and he kept ripping it open. We were so confused. We took him to our vet and he blacked out there. The cat that I had never had any issue getting out of the carrier suddenly growled and bite my hand as hard as he could. I ended up on a round of antibiotics and the region sent someone from the health board twice to observe him to make sure it wasn’t rabies. But that same night that he bit me, he was sleeping curled up with me, happy as can be.

We lucked out, our vet recognized FHS. There is a support group in Facebook and many people say their vet has no idea what it is and recommends a behaviourist. Our vet put him on Gabapentin and it saved us. There was still the occasional “rage state” towards his brother, but it went from multiple times a day to once every other day. He still attacked his tail, but not nearly as often or as intensely, so it healed right up. We got it in a liquid form that we shot into his mouth as I am not a fan of giving cats pills. Some people have also had luck with thunder shirts.

One of the first signs of a pending attack of FHS is the skin rippling down the back. A lot of pet parents who swear by the thunder shirt say that is their trigger to get it on them. I really recommend talking to your vet and seeing if Gabapentin is right for your baby.

I'm so sorry for your loss. That is one of the hardest things - my girl Pepsi (lab/shep dog) died two years ago... lived to be 12 years old and we had her for 11 of those years. I still cry.

Thank you so much for the suggestion. I will definitely keep it in mind so that when we take him, if they make the FHS diagnosis, we can have something to discuss for potential therapy.

I'll keep everyone posted on how things go. For now, we cut out the Honest Kitchen and it dropped his "itchy butt" by about 50% so far. It may well have been something in the food, but it's really too early to tell. Since he had the other behavior issues from go, I don't think it rules much out, but if he's not tormented as much, it's already a win. Thanks to everyone for the suggestions and help.

 

[Jem]

You may be dealing with FHS but kitty also has anxiety/fear/stress issues. It is theorized that increased stress can cause / worsen FHS.
You are basically describing my late kitty Hank to a T. We had to work very hard with enriching his environment, keeping his schedule on track, and behavior modification for his aggression. He had up's and downs but by working on him he did better. Hank also had chronic underlying health issues that needed to be addressed, when they were found and treated his behavior was better overall. So please take Pixel to the vet, even if you think you have an answer with the food. NO amount of behavior modification will work unless and until, you have any possible health issues or irritants under control.

 

[Madamegato]

You may be dealing with FHS but kitty also has anxiety/fear/stress issues. It is theorized that increased stress can cause / worsen FHS.
You are basically describing my late kitty Hank to a T. We had to work very hard with enriching his environment, keeping his schedule on track, and behavior modification for his aggression. He had up's and downs but by working on him he did better. Hank also had chronic underlying health issues that needed to be addressed, when they were found and treated his behavior was better overall. So please take Pixel to the vet, even if you think you have an answer with the food. NO amount of behavior modification will work unless and until, you have any possible health issues or irritants under control.

Thanks, Jem. We do still plan on a vet visit for sure, considering, we just don't know and really do want to get it figured out. The food situation has helped, just taking out the stuff that was giving him itchies, but the behaviors are largely unchanged.

 

[Madamegato]

UPDATE:

We finally got Pixel in to see a vet tonight (boy the hissing and growling), and I thought that for anyone looking into this, they might have wanted to hear his results!

Basically, the vet gave him a course of Revolution just to rule out any sort of mites/fleas for his skin and gave him a dose of steroids to see if there was a chance it was just a severe itch. We have to report back tomorrow on whether we noticed a difference, but, barring that, she said looking at our video and talking to her, she felt confident it is FHS. So - if tomorrow comes and he's still having episodes, she's going to put him on Gabapentin. It feels really nice to have some sort of answers.

As far as he is with our older cat, we've actually been working with the pair of them and made great progress. We started by sitting between them on the floor, feeding them cat kibble by hand, taking turns with each piece. We've now graduated to where they will sit side by side and do tricks (shake, spin, up) for larger treats. They can be in the same room without Pixel immediately going into stalking mode, and while he does still revert at times, we've kept a solid eye on them together and can say that relationship is at least moving forward. The older cat is no longer afraid of coming downstairs with him in the room, so major progress. It's hard for him to be patient, sometimes he'd have episodes while even trying to wait his turn, but now that he knows the routine, it's going a lot more smoothly.

At any rate, wanted to reach out and give a conclusion. If it's not flat out itchy skin, then hopefully the Gabapentin works for us like it did for some of you who commented. Fingers crossed!

P.S.
The vet actually said that she noticed gray and white cats seem to have a lot more neurosis than other colors. While she said that was purely based on her observations and not a study, she felt poor Pixel had been dealt the short end of the stick. It's just my hope that we can finally bring him some kind of relaxation. She also said he had a very slow heart rate - 104bpm vs. the 200 she was anticipating with him being so anxious during the visit. We still have to follow up on what that could mean, so if we get any news, I'll come back for another post.

 

[Furballsmom]

Wat an amazing update!!