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MOD NOTE: This first post has replaced the previous one at the request of the member.
We’d LOVE to avoid euthanasia or rehoming (I mean, I’m even willing to get allergy tested due to an increasing allergy to cats rather than rehoming, which speaks volumes as someone notoriously hesitant about anything to do with needles )
Simon has, since we adopted him, shown minor signs of issues with anxiety - meowing when I‘m out of the room (or even just out of sight but still in the room), he’d occasionally work himself up to the point of throwing up if his food was late but this was so abundantly rare that we didn’t worry much about it. The vocalization did increase over the past year, but again, it was easily remedied by things like putting a blanket over his large crate (again, I’m aware cats aren’t meant to be in crates constantly but he seemed to feel more comfortable and I wasn’t going to fight him on it) or leaving the TV on when I wasn’t in the room so he’d have some noise or Christmas lights on for lighting that was enough to see but not as bright as a room full of lights. He did frequently meow a lot, I once measure him going for nearly an hour straight, but I thought that if I ignored the meowing, he’d learn that it didn’t get the reaction he’d wanted and he’d stop (this was advised by my vet who assured me back then that, medically, there was nothing wrong with Simon that would result in excessive meowing).
A couple of weeks ago, I had to spend a week upstairs (rather than in the downstairs room that Simon and I occupy 99% of the time) due to my Mom having surgery and needing frequent assistance. During that week, I was still going downstairs several times a day to feed and spend time with Simon - but his anxiety increased ten-fold to the point that he was now throwing up daily. At first, we thought maybe it was fur balls as his anxiety had never been so bad prior to this and some of the throw up DID have fur in them (and he had been experiencing some significant shedding for the prior few weeks due to weather changes). After about a week, I was able to move back downstairs and go back to being with Simon for the vast majority of the day, but his anxiety did not decrease; If anything, it worsened. He began to chew anything he could get his mouth on - paper, plastic, cardboard. He started trying to scratch at various items of furniture that he had NEVER expressed interest in before, and at one point, scratched the wall so hard that I now have a roughly 6” long gouge into the drywall near his crate (It’s not terribly deep, but yeah, a giant scrape into the drywall isn’t something I ever expected from a cat that had been fairly mild his entire time with us). He STILL works himself up to the point of throwing up if I am out of the room for longer than 20 minutes. I’m afraid to go take a shower or go upstairs to spend time with family because I don’t know what I’m going to be walking back into when I come back downstairs - and one can only clean up vomit so many times before enough becomes enough. Simon seems to be okay if he is getting constant, 24/7 hands-on attention, but that’s obviously not a long-term feasible option; I have to be able to comfortably leave the room and do things without him having such a strong reaction. I have had a slight allergy to Simon since the day we brought him home, but the allergic reaction (a slight hives-like rash on my face) was easily avoidable as long as I kept him from touching my face.....something that is next to impossible with him deciding he needs to be on me or next to me 24/7. I’ve tried most of the behavior modification tools that I’ve read online and none of it is working; When he gets in ultra-anxious mode, the only thing that soothes that is being on/petted by me for an undetermined amount of time - no toys or treats are enough to distract him. He gets hyped up and bolts around the room to the point that, between this and the tendencies to destroy/chew on non-food items, we’re afraid he’s going to wind up hurt if we can’t get this under control.
The vet no longer knows what to do and referred me to an animal behaviorist that offers Skype/FaceTime sessions at the cost of $150 per hour (Her normal sessions are apparently 2 hours, but I simply can’t afford $300 right now after spending $200 in the last two weeks alone on things to try and ease Simon’s anxiety/separation issues. I’m hoping she’s willing to work with that). I’m fairly certain that, if required, she’d be the one to recommend medication which is honestly at the point that we’re at as this cannot continue.
Has anyone been in this position with a cat and separation anxiety before? Have any of y’all had experience with an animal behaviorist before? What’s worked for y’all?
We’d LOVE to avoid euthanasia or rehoming (I mean, I’m even willing to get allergy tested due to an increasing allergy to cats rather than rehoming, which speaks volumes as someone notoriously hesitant about anything to do with needles )
Simon has, since we adopted him, shown minor signs of issues with anxiety - meowing when I‘m out of the room (or even just out of sight but still in the room), he’d occasionally work himself up to the point of throwing up if his food was late but this was so abundantly rare that we didn’t worry much about it. The vocalization did increase over the past year, but again, it was easily remedied by things like putting a blanket over his large crate (again, I’m aware cats aren’t meant to be in crates constantly but he seemed to feel more comfortable and I wasn’t going to fight him on it) or leaving the TV on when I wasn’t in the room so he’d have some noise or Christmas lights on for lighting that was enough to see but not as bright as a room full of lights. He did frequently meow a lot, I once measure him going for nearly an hour straight, but I thought that if I ignored the meowing, he’d learn that it didn’t get the reaction he’d wanted and he’d stop (this was advised by my vet who assured me back then that, medically, there was nothing wrong with Simon that would result in excessive meowing).
A couple of weeks ago, I had to spend a week upstairs (rather than in the downstairs room that Simon and I occupy 99% of the time) due to my Mom having surgery and needing frequent assistance. During that week, I was still going downstairs several times a day to feed and spend time with Simon - but his anxiety increased ten-fold to the point that he was now throwing up daily. At first, we thought maybe it was fur balls as his anxiety had never been so bad prior to this and some of the throw up DID have fur in them (and he had been experiencing some significant shedding for the prior few weeks due to weather changes). After about a week, I was able to move back downstairs and go back to being with Simon for the vast majority of the day, but his anxiety did not decrease; If anything, it worsened. He began to chew anything he could get his mouth on - paper, plastic, cardboard. He started trying to scratch at various items of furniture that he had NEVER expressed interest in before, and at one point, scratched the wall so hard that I now have a roughly 6” long gouge into the drywall near his crate (It’s not terribly deep, but yeah, a giant scrape into the drywall isn’t something I ever expected from a cat that had been fairly mild his entire time with us). He STILL works himself up to the point of throwing up if I am out of the room for longer than 20 minutes. I’m afraid to go take a shower or go upstairs to spend time with family because I don’t know what I’m going to be walking back into when I come back downstairs - and one can only clean up vomit so many times before enough becomes enough. Simon seems to be okay if he is getting constant, 24/7 hands-on attention, but that’s obviously not a long-term feasible option; I have to be able to comfortably leave the room and do things without him having such a strong reaction. I have had a slight allergy to Simon since the day we brought him home, but the allergic reaction (a slight hives-like rash on my face) was easily avoidable as long as I kept him from touching my face.....something that is next to impossible with him deciding he needs to be on me or next to me 24/7. I’ve tried most of the behavior modification tools that I’ve read online and none of it is working; When he gets in ultra-anxious mode, the only thing that soothes that is being on/petted by me for an undetermined amount of time - no toys or treats are enough to distract him. He gets hyped up and bolts around the room to the point that, between this and the tendencies to destroy/chew on non-food items, we’re afraid he’s going to wind up hurt if we can’t get this under control.
The vet no longer knows what to do and referred me to an animal behaviorist that offers Skype/FaceTime sessions at the cost of $150 per hour (Her normal sessions are apparently 2 hours, but I simply can’t afford $300 right now after spending $200 in the last two weeks alone on things to try and ease Simon’s anxiety/separation issues. I’m hoping she’s willing to work with that). I’m fairly certain that, if required, she’d be the one to recommend medication which is honestly at the point that we’re at as this cannot continue.
Has anyone been in this position with a cat and separation anxiety before? Have any of y’all had experience with an animal behaviorist before? What’s worked for y’all?
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