My cats were attacked by a neighbor's dog in our house and are suffering PTSD. I desperately want to help them. Story detailed below:
We have five cats who are related: Pumpkin, the former feral queen, Midnight, the sire, and three of their kittens - Peanut Butter Cup (female), Ginger Boy, and Tanguy (both male). The kittens are now a little over 2 years old and have been indoor-only since they were born in our parlor. Midnight was a scrappy abandoned cat who brought Pumpkin to the house originally - there are a few threads about them here. To the point: We have a large, screened front porch the cats like to lounge on. I let them onto it via the house front door, which I close depending on climate. On this day it was closed. Three weekends ago when all but one of the cats were on the porch, about 8am, a neighbor dog broke through the porch screen door and attacked the cats. Somehow our front door was opened (by dog, cats, or both) and the dog chased the cats into the house!
I was upstairs when I heard the crash, thuds, scrambling - and a dog barking inside the house. We do not have a dog. It was a neighbor's dog that had already killed a stray cat and other small animals in the neighborhood after escaping her yard. This dog is the reason I trapped Midnight indoors during his daily visit and vowed to never let him out.
I ran downstairs to see the dog in the foyer - I recognized her - and chased her out of the house. I shut the door and turned inward to survey the damage. Blood on the floor. Midnight and Cup, the two black cats, were puffed up and on the stairs and didn't appear to be injured. The two boy oranges passed me on the stairs, leaving only Pumpkin unaccounted. I realized that since there is now a hole in the screen door, Pumpkin might be back outside! So I darted out to the front yard calling her as calmly as I could. Nothing except the dog running across the street and back home. I decided I would search the house before panicking. I'll spare you the terrified search details, but I found Pumpkin upstairs in the top perch of a cat tree. I called to her and she lifted her head. Spots of blood painted her cream and white face (that's her in my profile pic). When she came down, her fur was a mess of blood and saliva; her paws soaked in blood. I don't remember ever being so horrified in my life. But she jumped down from the cat tree and shook.
As I cleaned her off I realized she wasn't injured at all - it was the dog's blood on her. None of the cats suffered any serious physical injury. (The dog is also okay - no permanent injuries.) The cats, however, are suffering a form of PTSD. The cats freak out at every sound they hear from out of their sight. All lie where they can see the front door. The front door has a drape that we usually keep open during the day which allows sight of the porch screen door (see pics). Is it better for them mentally to see that the screen door has not been breached, or to close the drape and not allow them to see the porch unless they are ON the porch. And they still go out there, but never for long. It is also 95 degrees with oppressive humidity here - I don't want to be outside either.
I want to ease their stress. It can't be good for them and it makes me stressed, which they can feel and it becomes a cycle. What would YOU do?
A few things:
1) I don't blame the dog nor the breed.
2) The owner realizes it was 100% their fault and have been helpful. Let's not make this a platform. I just want to help my cats.
3) Also Pumpkin has a mat of fur near her tail, which I've never experienced. I have only had cats 2 years. How can I get the mat out? Note she was feral 2.5 years ago.
We have five cats who are related: Pumpkin, the former feral queen, Midnight, the sire, and three of their kittens - Peanut Butter Cup (female), Ginger Boy, and Tanguy (both male). The kittens are now a little over 2 years old and have been indoor-only since they were born in our parlor. Midnight was a scrappy abandoned cat who brought Pumpkin to the house originally - there are a few threads about them here. To the point: We have a large, screened front porch the cats like to lounge on. I let them onto it via the house front door, which I close depending on climate. On this day it was closed. Three weekends ago when all but one of the cats were on the porch, about 8am, a neighbor dog broke through the porch screen door and attacked the cats. Somehow our front door was opened (by dog, cats, or both) and the dog chased the cats into the house!
I was upstairs when I heard the crash, thuds, scrambling - and a dog barking inside the house. We do not have a dog. It was a neighbor's dog that had already killed a stray cat and other small animals in the neighborhood after escaping her yard. This dog is the reason I trapped Midnight indoors during his daily visit and vowed to never let him out.
I ran downstairs to see the dog in the foyer - I recognized her - and chased her out of the house. I shut the door and turned inward to survey the damage. Blood on the floor. Midnight and Cup, the two black cats, were puffed up and on the stairs and didn't appear to be injured. The two boy oranges passed me on the stairs, leaving only Pumpkin unaccounted. I realized that since there is now a hole in the screen door, Pumpkin might be back outside! So I darted out to the front yard calling her as calmly as I could. Nothing except the dog running across the street and back home. I decided I would search the house before panicking. I'll spare you the terrified search details, but I found Pumpkin upstairs in the top perch of a cat tree. I called to her and she lifted her head. Spots of blood painted her cream and white face (that's her in my profile pic). When she came down, her fur was a mess of blood and saliva; her paws soaked in blood. I don't remember ever being so horrified in my life. But she jumped down from the cat tree and shook.
As I cleaned her off I realized she wasn't injured at all - it was the dog's blood on her. None of the cats suffered any serious physical injury. (The dog is also okay - no permanent injuries.) The cats, however, are suffering a form of PTSD. The cats freak out at every sound they hear from out of their sight. All lie where they can see the front door. The front door has a drape that we usually keep open during the day which allows sight of the porch screen door (see pics). Is it better for them mentally to see that the screen door has not been breached, or to close the drape and not allow them to see the porch unless they are ON the porch. And they still go out there, but never for long. It is also 95 degrees with oppressive humidity here - I don't want to be outside either.
I want to ease their stress. It can't be good for them and it makes me stressed, which they can feel and it becomes a cycle. What would YOU do?
A few things:
1) I don't blame the dog nor the breed.
2) The owner realizes it was 100% their fault and have been helpful. Let's not make this a platform. I just want to help my cats.
3) Also Pumpkin has a mat of fur near her tail, which I've never experienced. I have only had cats 2 years. How can I get the mat out? Note she was feral 2.5 years ago.
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