Moving Or Rehousing Nervous, Anxious Cat

[MicheleG]

I am trying to decide the best option for our cat and would like your feedback and opinions please.
Just over a year we agreed to housesit our little cat and long story short she has ended up living with us permanently. She is around 3 years old, and when she first arrived she displayed typical cat behaviour when relocated, hiding for a couple of days etc. so no problem there. She eventually started living with us, but was very remote. Gradually over the year her behaviour with me improved, however we found that she was very aggressive cat, biting, scratching and hissing. This behaviour still continues but not very frequently with me, only if I annoy her (she can be quick to annoy] and is now to the point now where she will very rarely be in a different room to me, if she is not actually on my lap, if she is sleeping and I leave the room she will follow me until I return. With my husband her bad behaviour continues, she will jump up on the couch next to him, then hiss, and bite for no reason, then come and sit with me as if nothing had happened. All of this I can deal with as I can see how much her behaviour has improved over the past year and know it will only continue to do so. However, we will soon be relocating overseas for a year and I am concerned about how she will react to the flight and the lead up to the flight. She is always terrified when we take her in the car, shaking and wide eyed, we board her at our local vet on a fairly regular basis, but on our last trip, she was so angry when it was time to collect her that the staff had to call me to put her into her carry box. This has never happened before, I was able to put her in very easily, and I believe the staff are excellent so I don’t think they were hurting her in any way but I could hear her wailing a floor below. If we have people over she always hides and becomes quite agitated after they have left.
So that is a little bit of background and I know it is nothing too major and if we were not moving there would be no problem. We currently live away from our home country and will be relocating for a year before relocating again to France where we will pick up a boat and live permanently on board, whilst sailing back to Australia. My question to you all is do you think it would be kinder for her to try to rehouse her before we move, or do you think she would be ok? Unfortunately none of the airlines we can fly allow pets inside the cabin or I would so that. I am really concerned that the unfamiliar people handling her and the noise will be really distressing for her, especially as her behaviour around other people seems to be deteriorating. My husband thinks I am overreacting and that she will be fine once she realises I am there, but I am not convinced.
Thanks for any suggestions or help you can provide
Michele

 

[ArtNJ]

You checked all the regulations? It is not so easy to bring pets in and out of countries, lots of people thinking it will be fine run into problems.

I bet we could help recommend some techniques for your husband to better bond with her and discourage the biting, but all the moving is clearly not going to help. It doesn't sound like a great situation for an already nervous cat. I don't think it is crazy to consider rehoming options, but you aren't doing the cat any favors unless you can find a cat person that knows how to work with a cat like this and is willing to adopt. If you can't, maybe you need a little pharma help via your vet (though bringing drugs to foreign countries can be another issue), or at least test the various OTC calming products and see if any help.

 

[Mamanyt1953]

Should you decide that you must rehome (and dragging this cat around the world may be impossible), look for a single or widowed older woman with no children or grandchildren living in the home. Apparently, your cat will bond better with a woman than a man, and a quiet home would be the best fit for her. Make sure that the potential adopter realizes that she is slow to trust, but does, eventually, with calmness and kind handling.

Best of luck with this. I know it is a heartbreaker.

 

[MicheleG]

You checked all the regulations? It is not so easy to bring pets in and out of countries, lots of people thinking it will be fine run into problems.

I bet we could help recommend some techniques for your husband to better bond with her and discourage the biting, but all the moving is clearly not going to help. It doesn't sound like a great situation for an already nervous cat. I don't think it is crazy to consider rehoming options, but you aren't doing the cat any favors unless you can find a cat person that knows how to work with a cat like this and is willing to adopt. If you can't, maybe you need a little pharma help via your vet (though bringing drugs to foreign countries can be another issue), or at least test the various OTC calming products and see if any help.

Thanks for your response. Yes we have checked the requirements for both getting her out of China and into Thailand and they are not too onerous. Then moving her to the EU from Thailand is pretty straightforward. I have broached the subject of medication with our vet, we are trying feiliway in her carry case for her next vet visit to see if that will work before going down the medication route.

 

[MicheleG]

Should you decide that you must rehome (and dragging this cat around the world may be impossible), look for a single or widowed older woman with no children or grandchildren living in the home. Apparently, your cat will bond better with a woman than a man, and a quiet home would be the best fit for her. Make sure that the potential adopter realizes that she is slow to trust, but does, eventually, with calmness and kind handling.

Best of luck with this. I know it is a heartbreaker.

Thank you, yes it is a very difficult decision to make. Years ago we had two cats that I would have had no hesitation in moving as I know they would have been fine and coped with the noise and unfamiliar situation. But this little one is so apprehensive and scared.

 

[Mamanyt1953]

Be sure to let us know what you eventually decide, and how things go for her and for you! I am utterly confident that your decision will be with her well-being in mind.

A thought...chamomile tea (German variety only) is very calming for cats and safe in proper dosages (1-3 teaspoonsful up to 3 times a day, chilled). This might give you an alternative to heavier meds, and since you can buy the tea bags almost anywhere fairly cheaply, you could try it on her ahead of time and see if it helps her.

 

[MicheleG]

Be sure to let us know what you eventually decide, and how things go for her and for you! I am utterly confident that your decision will be with her well-being in mind.

A thought...chamomile tea (German variety only) is very calming for cats and safe in proper dosages (1-3 teaspoonsful up to 3 times a day, chilled). This might give you an alternative to heavier meds, and since you can buy the tea bags almost anywhere fairly cheaply, you could try it on her ahead of time and see if it helps her.

I have never heard about using chamomile tea before. I wonder why it is only the German variety?

 

[Mamanyt1953]

The English variety has very little medicinal value and is actually toxic to cats in fairly small doses. And oddly, English is what is most often grown in gardens. Just buy the tea bags from a store, and you are assured that you are getting German chamomile.

 

[MicheleG]

Hi everyone, I just wanted to bring you up to date with our little Patches. We made the move about a week ago. She seems to have coped much better than I thought she would. She is eating normally but not drinking a lot. I am giving her only wet food, so she is obtaining her moisture that way. She is urinating normally, but I have noticed that she hasn't pooped for a couple of days. She does not seem distressed by this, she is not straining to go, there is no blood in the litter tray, she is playing and I can pick her up so she doesn't seem to be in any pain. Are there any home remedies that you recommend that I could try. I would rather not put her back in her travel cage to go to the vet if I don't have to, as I know that stresses her out. Thanks in advance