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- Jan 27, 2022
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This is a very long post, but please help, I am at wit's end.
I've had Pb (Princess baby) for over 10 years. I rescued her from the restaurant I was working at who got her to help with the rat problem as a kitten- she wasn't being taken care of properly and I chose to take the cat and leave the job. She has always been very loving. sweet and good with people. Family and friends would routinely, and my partner and I could leave her with a cat sitter without incident. Until Covid. Covid changed everything. First, she got unfettered, constant attention from me and my husband while we were in lockdown (we live in NYC). Second, we notices she was eating and going to the bathroom a lot. After taking her to the vet (a cat specialist), she was diagnosed with diabetes and hyperthyroidism. We transitioned her to a wet food diet and began giving her medication twice daily. In retrospect, she did start to exhibit some anxious behavior. Overcleaning and biting her tail. When we went to go visit family and left her with a friend's 23 yr old daughter, we did not think twice. On the second day, she attacked. It was so bad, the girl went to the hospital to get her wounds checked out. Ultimately, she was fine, with no stitches or long-term physical damage- though she was emotionally upset. She blamed herself, she was having a heated conversation with her boyfriend and she is very much admittedly a 'dog person. So we moved on. We informed our vet who just told us to watch her more closely and not leave her with a sitter again. Fine. We can do that. Fast forward 6 months (Spring 2021), my sister comes to visit. This is the first time since Covid that we have had visitors, but because of the vaccine, we felt safe. We were not safe. The cat attacked my sister that first night right in front of me. Went after her once, and then after I pushed her off, followed my sister after she ran to the bathroom and attacked again. She had deep scratches and bruises from the incident. Still, we thought we could handle it. Keep her in my bedroom at night (at the time we lived in a small railroad apt), and watch her with my sister during the day. I did not want this to ruin my weekend with my sister, it had been so long since I had spent time with her. The next night, things escalated quickly.
1. We came home from a bbq- admittedly a little tipsy- and started to prepare for bed.
2. The cat was still being sequestered in the bedroom but spaced when my husband went out to use the bathroom.
3. My sister was laying down on an air mattress, and the cat immediately attacked her head and face.
4. My husband- trying to pull her off my sister, sustained injuries to his legs, arms, and face. Bites and scratches.
5. When I walked out I grabbed her, sustaining serious, deep scratches to my left arm. But I was able to shut her in the back bedroom. I now describe this scene like it was out of a horror movie. There was blood everywhere. We were all very injured.
6. Unsurprisingly, we were absolutely traumatized and did not feel safe sleeping in our apt (she was crying very loudly) and went to a friends where we immediately contacted our vet. He is lovely and was very kind. We agreed to take her into the office first thing in the morning.
7. The following morning, going back to the apt, I was able to sit with her for a little, but once my husband tried to put her into the carrier, she began attacking again. (note, we have never had an issue putting her into the carrier before, she is usually very easy)
8. We were able to shut her in the room again and I decided we were not capable of dealing with this. We were a wreck, both physically and emotionally at this point.
9. We called animal control to help get her into her carrier- which was then placed in a larger crate (borrowed from neighbor who had a dog- we cleaned it thoroughly to get rid of smell)
10. We took her to the Animal ER where we were absolutely convinced they were going to tell us she had some sort of medical issue/ brain trauma that caused this behavior.
11. She returned to normal- and after a few days, lots of tests and money spent, the vets at the hospital and our own personal vet encouraged us to take her home.
12. At the hospital, she was also diagnosed with high blood pressure and prescribed medication.
13. We took her home and she was immediately back to her sweet and loving self.
14. We all went to urgent care and got prescribed heavy-duty antibiotics- my cuts in particular got pretty infected. My husband's face had a large bite. My sister was covered in bruises and scratches, specifically to her face and the crown of her head.
15. EVERYONE (non-vets) told us to put her down. EVERYONE. This was her second strike. But we just couldn't do it. We asked the doctor to prescribe her Prozac and hoped for the best.
At this point, her medication routine includes medicine for hyperthyroidism (taken twice daily mouth), insulin (injected twice daily- with daily blood sugar tests), medication for high blood pressure (taken once daily by mouth), and Prozac (taken once daily by mouth). We thought Prozac was helping. We love her SO much.
Fast forward to the present. I found out that I am pregnant. We spent the money for a pet behaviorist hoping she could help us desensitize or train Pb before the baby- who we are afraid she will attack/ kill. The behaviorist was lovely, but she didn't offer much advice beyond creating more spaces for Pb to hide as a result, we bought a super expensive cat tree she has barely even looked at and we were going to start introducing baby noises to prepare her for a new roommate. After the session, my husband and I recently took a belated honeymoon. Fearing for the safety of a cat sitter we decided to board her at my vet's (which he recommended). This did NOT go well. The vet told me she turned to a "feral state" and he feared for the safety of his techs. She had to be put in an isolation room and he would not allow her to be boarded there again.
Waiting downstairs for the vet to bring her, I could hear her screaming/ yowling as they tried to put her in the carrier. Afterward, when we got into the uber to go home, she was immediately loving and sweet. Her aggression is always focused on others, she LOVES me- i.e. needs to be near me often and sleeps in my arms at night.
What do I do? We have already increased her Prozac. We don't have any friends over. My family is scared to visit me- my sister refuses to come, even after I give birth.
I am almost 6 months pregnant at this point. The dr. has suggested introducing sedatives to manage the aggression, but she's already on SO much medication. We have brought up euthanasia with him, but he has been very dismissive and thinks we can handle this.
My heart is absolutely breaking and I am having frequent anxiety attacks. I look at her looking at me with such love and I start sobbing (I'm also pregnant/ hormonal). Do we put her down? We cannot in good conscience rehouse her with her history. I don't want to let her go, but I am starting to get really scared about what is going to happen when I have this baby. We have also spent A TON of money- thousands and thousands of dollars- on her medication, vet bills, and getting her assessed.
My other sister is visiting this weekend, and we are using it as a test to see if there is another incident (we are on alert so won't let it escalate like last time). I don't feel any confidence she will pass.
She is, and I want to reiterate this, SO loving towards us. It's only when someone she doesn't know enters our apt that she begins to exhibit this behavior ( we have to watch her closet if our landlord or super need to come in).
What do I do???? I no longer feel I can talk to my vet anymore- after her latest boarding incident, he seems to have lost interest in her care. Any advice or thoughts would be much appreciated. Thank you.
I've had Pb (Princess baby) for over 10 years. I rescued her from the restaurant I was working at who got her to help with the rat problem as a kitten- she wasn't being taken care of properly and I chose to take the cat and leave the job. She has always been very loving. sweet and good with people. Family and friends would routinely, and my partner and I could leave her with a cat sitter without incident. Until Covid. Covid changed everything. First, she got unfettered, constant attention from me and my husband while we were in lockdown (we live in NYC). Second, we notices she was eating and going to the bathroom a lot. After taking her to the vet (a cat specialist), she was diagnosed with diabetes and hyperthyroidism. We transitioned her to a wet food diet and began giving her medication twice daily. In retrospect, she did start to exhibit some anxious behavior. Overcleaning and biting her tail. When we went to go visit family and left her with a friend's 23 yr old daughter, we did not think twice. On the second day, she attacked. It was so bad, the girl went to the hospital to get her wounds checked out. Ultimately, she was fine, with no stitches or long-term physical damage- though she was emotionally upset. She blamed herself, she was having a heated conversation with her boyfriend and she is very much admittedly a 'dog person. So we moved on. We informed our vet who just told us to watch her more closely and not leave her with a sitter again. Fine. We can do that. Fast forward 6 months (Spring 2021), my sister comes to visit. This is the first time since Covid that we have had visitors, but because of the vaccine, we felt safe. We were not safe. The cat attacked my sister that first night right in front of me. Went after her once, and then after I pushed her off, followed my sister after she ran to the bathroom and attacked again. She had deep scratches and bruises from the incident. Still, we thought we could handle it. Keep her in my bedroom at night (at the time we lived in a small railroad apt), and watch her with my sister during the day. I did not want this to ruin my weekend with my sister, it had been so long since I had spent time with her. The next night, things escalated quickly.
1. We came home from a bbq- admittedly a little tipsy- and started to prepare for bed.
2. The cat was still being sequestered in the bedroom but spaced when my husband went out to use the bathroom.
3. My sister was laying down on an air mattress, and the cat immediately attacked her head and face.
4. My husband- trying to pull her off my sister, sustained injuries to his legs, arms, and face. Bites and scratches.
5. When I walked out I grabbed her, sustaining serious, deep scratches to my left arm. But I was able to shut her in the back bedroom. I now describe this scene like it was out of a horror movie. There was blood everywhere. We were all very injured.
6. Unsurprisingly, we were absolutely traumatized and did not feel safe sleeping in our apt (she was crying very loudly) and went to a friends where we immediately contacted our vet. He is lovely and was very kind. We agreed to take her into the office first thing in the morning.
7. The following morning, going back to the apt, I was able to sit with her for a little, but once my husband tried to put her into the carrier, she began attacking again. (note, we have never had an issue putting her into the carrier before, she is usually very easy)
8. We were able to shut her in the room again and I decided we were not capable of dealing with this. We were a wreck, both physically and emotionally at this point.
9. We called animal control to help get her into her carrier- which was then placed in a larger crate (borrowed from neighbor who had a dog- we cleaned it thoroughly to get rid of smell)
10. We took her to the Animal ER where we were absolutely convinced they were going to tell us she had some sort of medical issue/ brain trauma that caused this behavior.
11. She returned to normal- and after a few days, lots of tests and money spent, the vets at the hospital and our own personal vet encouraged us to take her home.
12. At the hospital, she was also diagnosed with high blood pressure and prescribed medication.
13. We took her home and she was immediately back to her sweet and loving self.
14. We all went to urgent care and got prescribed heavy-duty antibiotics- my cuts in particular got pretty infected. My husband's face had a large bite. My sister was covered in bruises and scratches, specifically to her face and the crown of her head.
15. EVERYONE (non-vets) told us to put her down. EVERYONE. This was her second strike. But we just couldn't do it. We asked the doctor to prescribe her Prozac and hoped for the best.
At this point, her medication routine includes medicine for hyperthyroidism (taken twice daily mouth), insulin (injected twice daily- with daily blood sugar tests), medication for high blood pressure (taken once daily by mouth), and Prozac (taken once daily by mouth). We thought Prozac was helping. We love her SO much.
Fast forward to the present. I found out that I am pregnant. We spent the money for a pet behaviorist hoping she could help us desensitize or train Pb before the baby- who we are afraid she will attack/ kill. The behaviorist was lovely, but she didn't offer much advice beyond creating more spaces for Pb to hide as a result, we bought a super expensive cat tree she has barely even looked at and we were going to start introducing baby noises to prepare her for a new roommate. After the session, my husband and I recently took a belated honeymoon. Fearing for the safety of a cat sitter we decided to board her at my vet's (which he recommended). This did NOT go well. The vet told me she turned to a "feral state" and he feared for the safety of his techs. She had to be put in an isolation room and he would not allow her to be boarded there again.
Waiting downstairs for the vet to bring her, I could hear her screaming/ yowling as they tried to put her in the carrier. Afterward, when we got into the uber to go home, she was immediately loving and sweet. Her aggression is always focused on others, she LOVES me- i.e. needs to be near me often and sleeps in my arms at night.
What do I do? We have already increased her Prozac. We don't have any friends over. My family is scared to visit me- my sister refuses to come, even after I give birth.
I am almost 6 months pregnant at this point. The dr. has suggested introducing sedatives to manage the aggression, but she's already on SO much medication. We have brought up euthanasia with him, but he has been very dismissive and thinks we can handle this.
My heart is absolutely breaking and I am having frequent anxiety attacks. I look at her looking at me with such love and I start sobbing (I'm also pregnant/ hormonal). Do we put her down? We cannot in good conscience rehouse her with her history. I don't want to let her go, but I am starting to get really scared about what is going to happen when I have this baby. We have also spent A TON of money- thousands and thousands of dollars- on her medication, vet bills, and getting her assessed.
My other sister is visiting this weekend, and we are using it as a test to see if there is another incident (we are on alert so won't let it escalate like last time). I don't feel any confidence she will pass.
She is, and I want to reiterate this, SO loving towards us. It's only when someone she doesn't know enters our apt that she begins to exhibit this behavior ( we have to watch her closet if our landlord or super need to come in).
What do I do???? I no longer feel I can talk to my vet anymore- after her latest boarding incident, he seems to have lost interest in her care. Any advice or thoughts would be much appreciated. Thank you.