New Home Anxiety

[silva_unt]

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We moved into a new home (from 1 bedroom apt to 3 bedroom house) and while I think it’s stress, I’m just not sure if it’s possibly Feline Hyperesthesia Syndrome.

Petey is 3 years old now. About 2 years ago, Petey pulled all the hair off from the tip of his tail when I left on a 3 day trip. Chasing his tail was not uncommon for Petey, but I didn’t know it was caused by anxiety. We started with daily medication and a soft blue cone around his head until his tail healed. I then went every other day with meds, and finally only as needed for the next 2yrs. He’s always been a bit skittish.

We started packing about 2-3 months ago and noticed Petey not liking all the boxes and changes. I refilled his prescription for the moving/new home situation. The first week in the new house (end of September) Petey hid and even skipped a few meals. No litter box issues though. After about a week he started coming out more but any noise terrified him! Eventually he started playing with Neko, our other cat, and exploring the home. He sits on the counter to watch the birds, etc.

On 10/20 we noticed Petey running around the house as if something was chasing him. At first we thought it was his back foot since he would look at it and lift it. But I examined it and found nothing. He then started panting which freaked me out because I could not find his source of pain. His back will twitch and he has been excessively grooming under his tail (between the anus and the base of his tail). I see nothing wrong though?? I checked his fur for fleas, but everything looks clean.  I’ve since put him back on his meds every other day. I bought a Comfort Zone diffuser and a da-Bird toy last weekend since he broke his last one. He has been playing and lying around us, things seemed to be improving until he starting biting the tip of his tail last night and I put the cone back on him. He lets us pet his back when he’s twitching. But if I try and examine the tail he’ll paw me with nails out, but not enough to hurt me. He trusts us for examining him. I want to say the twitching will start closer to bedtime, but I’m not certain yet. I’m at work most of the day too.

Another odd thing, the room with the litter box, he’ll go in and use the bathroom ok but if I physically take him in there he freaks out, gets low to the ground, pats the carpet as if he sees something and runs away.

Neko isn’t exhibiting any problems, if anything she has noticed Petey’s discomfort and has somewhat taken an alpha cat persona. I haven’t noticed her groom him like usual. They eat together fine and even lets Petey eat her food with no problems.

So I’m not sure if this is stress only and it will take time to overcome his new home fears or if its Feline Hyperesthesia Syndrome, which I’ve been reading up on. Only thing is, the back twitching is completely new and has only been going on for the past 9-10 days. It’s not as excessive as the grooming, but it’s what makes him run.

He’s on an all wet diet: Simply Nourish for breakfast and Nutro Natural Choice for Dinner. Mixed flavors. He loves his greenies too!

Sorry for the long read, just wanted to get all the info out there!

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[ondine]

I remember waking up several times a night when we moved into our new house.  I wasn't used to the odd creaks and groans of the new house.  Petey may be hearing things he's not used to.

He may also be smelling things he's not used to.  If the former owners had pets, make sure everything is scrubbed down with a good enzyme cleaner.  If not, he may be smelling the former owners and its freaking him out.  Who are  these people?

Give him a few weeks but if it gets worse, talk to your vet.

 

[silva_unt]

Actually, the house was vacant for a year, but it's possible they had pets prior to that. Would I need a wet vac or something to clean the carpets with enzyme cleaner? They even provided receipts for changing the carpets, they look pretty clean. I guess it could still be under the new carpet if they didn't clean it right.

I took his cone off after dinner last night and he was ok for a little while, he wanted to groom under his tail again though and was tucking his butt in, so I put the cone back on him.

He was chasing Neko this morning with his big blue cone around his head.... i think it makes him feel bigger! He honestly does not mind his cone, lol.

 

[ritz]

Ritz has been diagnosed with FHS. Although she would occasionally twitch, the symptoms seemed to get much worse when several stressful (to her) events occurred: I fostered a cat for a short time, several vet appointments including vaccinations and several repairmen came into the house. Like Petey, Ritz has always been an anxious cat (rescued from the streets when she was around five months old, abandoned, survived a 20" snow storm).
Ritz never over groomed or bit her tail, but she did run up and down the hall trying to escape whatever it was she thought she saw. And her flank twitched too. I tried to distract her, didn’t work; and petting her made it much worse. She was clearly bothered by the attacks.
I debate whether to put her on Prozac, and finally did so in February 2013, because I didn’t want the behavior to become a habit. I weaned her off Prozac after she’d been on it for around three months. Her symptoms have decreased, but she does sometimes twitch, usually after dinner time.
Petey could be reacting to the move. Like Ondine said, I’d wait another week or two and if the symptoms don’t decrease I’d take her to the vets. If possible, I’d film her during one of her attacks.

I have no idea what is up with the litter box. Something could have happened while he was using it, but while you were outside or at work--a strange sound. The grooming/licking around his private parts *may* be a sign of something wrong with his urine/UTI. Is he peeing a normal amount?

You could try adding Rescue Remedy to his food and see if that helps. I think it helped Ritz, though it may have been the high alcohol content! I also tried L-THEANINE but didn't see much difference.

 

[silva_unt]

 Neko too has back twitching, more severe than Petey's, for the past year. Neko, however, is not sensitive to this and will just groom or let it happen with no other reactions. It got worse when I fed her peas, which she's allergic too. I've since stopped the peas in their diet, and her twitching has gone down. She never runs though, just licks her back. If I massage her back, it seems to help and she lets me. I think I will definitely mention her symptoms to the vet.

Petey twitching though, is all new and started after we moved into the house. I hope some more weeks in the home and the help of the Comfort Zone diffuser will help him be at ease. I need to buy one more for the hallway/bedrooms area where the litterbox is. The one we have now is in the bedroom and I move it to the living room when we are home. I'm sure he spends most his time in the bedroom since most of our belongings are here and smell like the apt.

To be honest, I have not actually seen him go into the litterbox this week. He'll go into the hallway, whcih i've been assuming he's heading to the litterbox. I will pay more attention to this today and tell my husband to do the same.

I hope it's not a UTI issue! I did think that too when he was licking that area. I also mentioned to my husband last night that I wonder if his neuter wasn't 100% successful... When Petey pees, he sprays. Not outside the box, but he stands in the box and pees up. I had to buy an enclosed litter box, which he was scared to go into at first, for this issue. Is this normal with Male cats? Should he be peeing down into the litter?

How much of the L-THEANINE do you add to the food?

 

[ritz]

I sprinkled the capsule -- 100 mg -- onto his food once a day (I fed Raw). It doesn't taste as, well tasteless, as some of the other supplements I've given him (probiotics, egg yolk lechitin).

One of the recommended ways to mitigate the symptoms of FHS is: feeding a food with as little additivies, ingredients as possible, and regular play time. Given that I already feed Raw (no additives) and Ritz doesn't like to play all that much, I put her on Prozac. She wasn't herself on the drug, which is why I weaned her off. Plus, the symptoms abated finally.

Ritz (female) pees standing up most of the time; she's done this for as long as I've had her (almost four years). For her, it's normal. I tried an enclosed litter box, but the urine leaked out of the cracks. So after some trial and error, I bought a large rubbermaid/plastic tote box, had my brother cut a entrance hole, and use that as Ritz's litter box. Some of her urine still sometimes goes out the box, depending on how and where she squats.

I don't know if the change of his peeing habits has anything to do with the neutering (how long ago was that)? Another important symptom of a UTI is the volume/amount of urine: if it decreases significantly, time to go to the vets, asap.

Ritz is prone to stress-induced UTIs, so I'm always on the lookout for symptons. She licks her nether-land areas a bit too much for my comfort, but the volume is as usual and she shows no other signs of being sick.


This behavior is not to be confused with random peeing in the corner of a room or on your (favorite) bedspread. This could be either a medical or behavioral issue.

 

[silva_unt]

Well, Petey is sensitive to med tastes...I've tried hiding his meds in his food before I got the pill pusher device. I had even tried pill pockets, but he bit into it and now hates pill pockets

Does anyone have a recommendation on a limited ingredient wet food with NO PEAS? I'll definitely give it a shot

We currently feed Simply Nourish for breakfast and Nutro Natural Choice for Dinner, how are these?

This is the box i bought and has been working great

http://www.petsmart.com/product/index.jsp?productId=4217939&f=PAD/psNotAvailInUS/No

The snap part sticks out, so while some urine gets in the cracks, they don't leak out.

Petey was out and about in the house yesterday, not scared of the doors opening etc, which is good. I took his collar off after his meals so he could groom and play with the Da-Bird. Jumping high as ever Looks like improvement for sure, but will keep his collar on and every other day meds for a little longer. I'll be away one night this coming weekend, hope that won't stress him out.

Thanks for all the info and help Ritz and Odine!

 

[ritz]

I don't have any personal experience with either of the canned foods you mention, but I've read on the Nutrition Forum that both are pretty good. I used to feed Ritz Soulistic (made by Werva, PetCo's brand), which she loved before she got too picky.

 

[silva_unt]

Oh both my cats LOVE Soulistic, but Petsmart is closer to me and they don't carry it 

Whenever i'm at Petco, i'm sure to get it!

 

[silva_unt]

Are neutered male cats still attracted to unspayed females? Every once an awhile i've been noticing feral/stray cats around the house. Orange, tabby, white, and tortie w/baby. I've only seen the first three and my husband spotted mommy and baby this weekend while I was away. Well, both my cats are fixed, and Petey has been clawing at the front door and meowing at us to let him out! This is new, he's generally scared of outdoors and has never been an outdoor cat. He obviously smells these cats that are outside our home.

Are they attracted to my Comfort Zone diffuser, Petey or Neko, or just our comfy cozy yard?

Is Petey just drawn to the noises and smells?

Besides the above, he's been doing better. Still trying to bite his tail about every other night, usually when he's due for medication. But the running has stopped and twitching has decreased.

 

[ondine]

Petey probably does sense the cats outside and is wondering about them.  It's less attraction than worry over his new territory.  I mean, here he is, just getting used to his new digs and some other cats are coming around already?  Geez!

He has a lot on his plate and as a nervous cat already, he's probably going through a really tough time.

The outside cats may be smelling the Comfort Zone but maybe not.  It could be they were already neighborhood residents and have now found a nice cozy yard to settle in.  If you feed them, plan to get them trapped and fixed ASAP!

 

[silva_unt]

We did consider TNR, do clinics give a discount for this?

 

[ondine]

There are clinics specifically designed for TNR and they can be very reasonably priced.  Explore the resources in your area.  The one near me charges $35 for males and $45 for females and that price includes first shots (rabies and distemper)

 

[silva_unt]

Thanks for the info, i'll definitely look into it!