I apologize for the terribly long first post
. Iâ€[emoji]8482[/emoji]m not always this wordy; but I think that all of these issues may be related somehow, Iâ€[emoji]8482[/emoji]m just not really sure how and am looking for advice.
I am the ‘momâ€[emoji]8482[/emoji] of Terry. He is an almost 3 year-old kitty. Heâ€[emoji]8482[/emoji]s kind of the oddball of his family, in numerous ways. I wonâ€[emoji]8482[/emoji]t get into all of them right now; suffice to say that even the vet and all the people at the vetâ€[emoji]8482[/emoji]s office agree that Terry is 'a very unique cat'. But, Iâ€[emoji]8482[/emoji]m hoping that Iâ€[emoji]8482[/emoji]m not the only one with these behaviors going on…
Terry is my ‘only childâ€[emoji]8482[/emoji] itâ€[emoji]8482[/emoji]s just him and me in my fairly large apartment. He is an indoor kitty, doesnâ€[emoji]8482[/emoji]t even try to get outside.
1)\tMy vet gave him the diagnosis of IBD, about 6-8 months ago. (Interestingly, his problems with vomiting began only after he was neutered when he was 7 months old, he never vomited even once before then.) It started out as only once in a while, progressively getting worse, so that sometimes is was every day or several times a day. We first tried Sensitive Stomach, which worked at first, and then gradually didnâ€[emoji]8482[/emoji]t; we then progressed to Low Allergen formula, which was the same. Now, Terryâ€[emoji]8482[/emoji]s been on prednisolone for just over a month and only vomited once – on the dining room table! What a nice gift…
2)\tAnother fact – Terry is a huge cat! Heâ€[emoji]8482[/emoji]s 19 pounds, but not really fat – just tall and long. He is NOTHING like his littermates. Iâ€[emoji]8482[/emoji]ve heard about instances where kittens from the same litter may have different fathers, well this must be the case. His mom was part Siamese, part unknown; his 3 littermates were all tiger striped kitties, he was the black sheep so to speak – all black except for about a dozen or so white hairs here and there. All the others are petite kitties, much smaller; with no problems similar to his.
3)\tTerry has always been a pretty dependent cat. When he was a kitten, he would howl when I left, I thought it was only when I was still beside the door, but a friend who stayed with me told me once that he cried by the door for about 5 minutes after I left
Now if Iâ€[emoji]8482[/emoji]m outside on the balcony or in the back courtyard, Iâ€[emoji]8482[/emoji]ll hear him meowing loudly.
4)\tHe is a ‘lickerâ€[emoji]8482[/emoji]. I have tried to discourage this since he was a kitten, but its no use. If you let hem lick you, heâ€[emoji]8482[/emoji]ll never stop. A friend once watching him while I was out of town, sat down and thought that heâ€[emoji]8482[/emoji]d feel comforted by licking her arm – she has to stop him 20 minutes later! He doesnâ€[emoji]8482[/emoji]t lick himself excessively, only me and friends. I try to stop him every time, consistently.
5)\tHe has a huge clawing problem, but this is not terribly remarkable because heâ€[emoji]8482[/emoji]s a normal cat in this respect. But this problem plays into the next issue…
6)\tHe eats carpet. Iâ€[emoji]8482[/emoji]m not talking about just chewing on it – I mean, picking at and pulling out the carpet fibers from the floor, and he doesnâ€[emoji]8482[/emoji]t stop there, he then progresses on to the nylon fiber base of the carpet, and just keeps going – How do I know this, you ask? I once caught him chasing his tail round and round, and realized he wasnâ€[emoji]8482[/emoji]t chasing the tail, but the tail of something trailing from his behind – I was able to stop him and very gently pulled it out (I know – very dangerous, but I wasnâ€[emoji]8482[/emoji]t really thinking at the time) It was an 18 inch long piece of nylon carpeting fiber!!!!!!!
The carpet fiber must have come from one of two places – either the carpeted scratching post that he had because of his clawing problem, or it came from a seam in the carpet in my apartment that he continually is picking at. I canâ€[emoji]8482[/emoji]t get him to stop. I tried those aerosol sprays – donâ€[emoji]8482[/emoji]t work, tried vinegar water – doesnâ€[emoji]8482[/emoji]t work. Then I thought I was smart and thought that he would be repelled by cayenne pepper. Ha, not this cat! He rolled around in it like it was catnip!
So my question is: do the IBD, the dependent personality, the licking and the carpet eating all go together? do other cats have the same problems? Or are all these issues separate?
I love my cat very much! I love the way that we play fetch with his favorite mouse, how he leaves his favorite ‘killedâ€[emoji]8482[/emoji] toys in a heap around his food dish. I just would like to try to help him to get past some of these problems that he is having, do any of you have any suggestions at all? I want to help him to be a healthy happy kitty.
Lauri
I am the ‘momâ€[emoji]8482[/emoji] of Terry. He is an almost 3 year-old kitty. Heâ€[emoji]8482[/emoji]s kind of the oddball of his family, in numerous ways. I wonâ€[emoji]8482[/emoji]t get into all of them right now; suffice to say that even the vet and all the people at the vetâ€[emoji]8482[/emoji]s office agree that Terry is 'a very unique cat'. But, Iâ€[emoji]8482[/emoji]m hoping that Iâ€[emoji]8482[/emoji]m not the only one with these behaviors going on…
Terry is my ‘only childâ€[emoji]8482[/emoji] itâ€[emoji]8482[/emoji]s just him and me in my fairly large apartment. He is an indoor kitty, doesnâ€[emoji]8482[/emoji]t even try to get outside.
1)\tMy vet gave him the diagnosis of IBD, about 6-8 months ago. (Interestingly, his problems with vomiting began only after he was neutered when he was 7 months old, he never vomited even once before then.) It started out as only once in a while, progressively getting worse, so that sometimes is was every day or several times a day. We first tried Sensitive Stomach, which worked at first, and then gradually didnâ€[emoji]8482[/emoji]t; we then progressed to Low Allergen formula, which was the same. Now, Terryâ€[emoji]8482[/emoji]s been on prednisolone for just over a month and only vomited once – on the dining room table! What a nice gift…
2)\tAnother fact – Terry is a huge cat! Heâ€[emoji]8482[/emoji]s 19 pounds, but not really fat – just tall and long. He is NOTHING like his littermates. Iâ€[emoji]8482[/emoji]ve heard about instances where kittens from the same litter may have different fathers, well this must be the case. His mom was part Siamese, part unknown; his 3 littermates were all tiger striped kitties, he was the black sheep so to speak – all black except for about a dozen or so white hairs here and there. All the others are petite kitties, much smaller; with no problems similar to his.
3)\tTerry has always been a pretty dependent cat. When he was a kitten, he would howl when I left, I thought it was only when I was still beside the door, but a friend who stayed with me told me once that he cried by the door for about 5 minutes after I left
4)\tHe is a ‘lickerâ€[emoji]8482[/emoji]. I have tried to discourage this since he was a kitten, but its no use. If you let hem lick you, heâ€[emoji]8482[/emoji]ll never stop. A friend once watching him while I was out of town, sat down and thought that heâ€[emoji]8482[/emoji]d feel comforted by licking her arm – she has to stop him 20 minutes later! He doesnâ€[emoji]8482[/emoji]t lick himself excessively, only me and friends. I try to stop him every time, consistently.
5)\tHe has a huge clawing problem, but this is not terribly remarkable because heâ€[emoji]8482[/emoji]s a normal cat in this respect. But this problem plays into the next issue…
6)\tHe eats carpet. Iâ€[emoji]8482[/emoji]m not talking about just chewing on it – I mean, picking at and pulling out the carpet fibers from the floor, and he doesnâ€[emoji]8482[/emoji]t stop there, he then progresses on to the nylon fiber base of the carpet, and just keeps going – How do I know this, you ask? I once caught him chasing his tail round and round, and realized he wasnâ€[emoji]8482[/emoji]t chasing the tail, but the tail of something trailing from his behind – I was able to stop him and very gently pulled it out (I know – very dangerous, but I wasnâ€[emoji]8482[/emoji]t really thinking at the time) It was an 18 inch long piece of nylon carpeting fiber!!!!!!!
The carpet fiber must have come from one of two places – either the carpeted scratching post that he had because of his clawing problem, or it came from a seam in the carpet in my apartment that he continually is picking at. I canâ€[emoji]8482[/emoji]t get him to stop. I tried those aerosol sprays – donâ€[emoji]8482[/emoji]t work, tried vinegar water – doesnâ€[emoji]8482[/emoji]t work. Then I thought I was smart and thought that he would be repelled by cayenne pepper. Ha, not this cat! He rolled around in it like it was catnip!
So my question is: do the IBD, the dependent personality, the licking and the carpet eating all go together? do other cats have the same problems? Or are all these issues separate?
I love my cat very much! I love the way that we play fetch with his favorite mouse, how he leaves his favorite ‘killedâ€[emoji]8482[/emoji] toys in a heap around his food dish. I just would like to try to help him to get past some of these problems that he is having, do any of you have any suggestions at all? I want to help him to be a healthy happy kitty.
Lauri