Should I go to another vet or will it be pointless

[sylvie000]

My cat was supposed to get spayed last year but there were some problems. The person on the phone wouldn’t let me schedule an appointment (story on another thread) so my cat ended up getting ‘pregnant’ and halfway through become extremely aggressive towards all my other cats and dogs too. Some backstory, this cat is currently 1 year and 3 months old and normally SUPER friendly. She used to absolutely adore all my other cats and play with them and cuddle daily. She loved playing with my dogs too (their tails, specifically lol). So her becoming extremely aggressive to them suddenly was very concerning to me.
Well I took her to the vet because I was concerned about it and it turned out wasn’t actually pregnant. It was probably a false pregnancy and the vet said she would most likely become normal again after getting spayed. The vet did a physical exam and said she looked completely healthy otherwise. So I was finally able to get her spayed. The vet also gave me gabapentin to help calm her down.
It’s been 6 weeks since she got spayed and she is still being super aggressive. She is now starting to rip out my others cats fur on their faces with her claws. The gabapentin wasn’t helping. I also tried reintroducing her to my other cats and that didn’t help either (except the only difference is that now she doesn’t attack them for being in her sight, only if they are within like 5 feet of her). So today I went back to the vet and I asked them to do some kind of tests to see if maybe there is a hidden problem we can’t see that is causing her to be aggressive but the vet said that my cat is completely healthy and that there is no point to do any tests. Instead she gave me some sources on dealing with behavioral problems and also gave me two vet clinics that special more in behavioral cases that might be able to help (but they are far away and expensive). The vet ended up not charging me for the visit at all and just said that my cat is probably just being territorial and to maybe try some of those diffusers that spray into the air that sometimes help calm cats down.
I’m willing to accept that my cats personality is just to be mean to other cats, but it doesn’t completely make sense to me. Her adult personality should be similar to her kitten personality, right? For example, one of my cats was super calm as a kitten and now as an adult he is super lazy and I can handle him like he’s a doll. My other cat was super paranoid as a kitten and now as an adult she is shy. This cat was super extroverted and friendly as a kitten, so should she still be mostly friendly as an adult? She is still friendly to me, in fact she adores me, but as a kitten she loved all other animals, and then suddenly in a single she turned extremely aggressive to other animals. And it also happened when her hormones were all over the place. So it doesn’t make any sense that it’s simply a personality change. There also haven’t been any new cats or dogs either that would have disrupted things for her.
im just not sure if my vet is right in this case or not. She firmly believes my cat is completely healthy and there are no tests I can do that will show me anything different. But my cats sudden change in behavior doesn’t make sense. But before I go to another vet and spends hundreds of dollars somewhere else, I wanted to get some opinions on whether there is any point to do that or if my vet is probably right and there is nothing I can do. My cats have tons and tons of space between them all so I don’t think that’s the problem. My cat also doesn’t seem to be in any pain either. She is still extremely playful, except her play style seemed to change to a more neurotic style rather than a calm style, if that makes sense.
well anyways, I need some opinions here. I will be moving out to my own house in a year (currently live with family) and once I have my own place I can build this cat her own catio or backyard and keep her separated from all my other pets, but for the next 12 months I have no choice but to keep her with all my other pets. I have no way to separate her because of my family. So once again, I need opinions here on whether I should go to another vet, or if my current vet sounds like she is right.

 

[daftcat75]

This may be a long shot, but maybe you can take her in for a dental cleaning and examination with X-rays. Under anesthesia. And while she’s out, other X-rays could also be ordered for her back and limbs. Any kind of chronic pain can cause behavioral changes. My Krista started peeing my walls after ten well-behaved years when she had yet-to-be-diagnosed tooth resorption. I mentioned to the vet on an unrelated visit her recently developed bad behavior and the vet popped her mouth open and said, thought so! She’s peeing the walls as a cry for help. When those problem teeth were extracted, she stopped peeing the walls. Maybe it’s sort of similar here. She’s lost her kitten personality due to suffering in silence (because that’s the cat way) for so long. Not everything can be determined in a regular vet visit even with lab work. Sometimes you need to put them under to get a closer look.

 

[ArtNJ]

Treat her like an entirely new cat and do a lengthy formal reintroduction process. You can skip scent swapping, but spend as much time as needed on a visual access step. How To Successfully Introduce Cats: The Ultimate Guide – TheCatSite Articles

I think what happened is that she had some stress/pain, and it poisoned the relationships. So start over. I know you tried a reintroduction process of some sort, but since your only 6 weeks post-spay, it likely wasn't that lengthy. I'd separate for a week and then have the problem cat in a room with a gate so she can have visual access only re others. Then let that go until there doesn't seem to be any stress, 3-4 weeks if necessary.

 

[sylvie000]

This may be a long shot, but maybe you can take her in for a dental cleaning and examination with X-rays.

This does sound like a good idea, but I'm not sure if I should do that because her teeth are in perfect condition. The vet looked at them and was really happy with how they looked. So going in for an expensive dental cleaning isn't really something i want to spend money on a dental cleaning if she doesn't need it, even if they take xrays at the same time.

Treat her like an entirely new cat and do a lengthy formal reintroduction process.

So I started the reintroduction process before she got spayed, not after. For about 3 or 4 weeks before she got spayed I had her in a completely separate room (it was a rare situation that I was able to have a spare room for her. I don't have access to this anymore). I did scent swapping and let her sometimes look at the cats through the window. Then I moved her to a run where she would be exposed to all the cats but couldn't fight them. I continued with the scent swapping too. She stayed in the run for i think it was another 3 weeks, and during that time she got spayed. She also started calming down and wouldn't fight at the scent of another cat. She also started letting them come close to her. I started feeding the cats around her sometimes too. She seemed to completely calm down and accept the cats again and she even looked like she wanted to play with sometimes so I would let her out for a few hours a day. But as soon as I would let her out, she would start going psycho again towards them. It became a cycle where as long as she was inside the run, she would be a sweetheart to the other cats, but as soon as I would let her out she would attack them. I didn't see any way to progress from that so I just let her out again and remove the run and let her be. Now she is aggressive to them again. I could try reintroducing her again if you think that will help, but I dont have a separate room I can put her in anymore. It would have to be in the run where she can see all the other cats.

 

[daftcat75]

This does sound like a good idea, but I'm not sure if I should do that because her teeth are in perfect condition. The vet looked at them and was really happy with how they looked. So going in for an expensive dental cleaning isn't really something i want to spend money on a dental cleaning if she doesn't need it, even if they take xrays at the same time.



So I started the reintroduction process before she got spayed, not after. For about 3 or 4 weeks before she got spayed I had her in a completely separate room (it was a rare situation that I was able to have a spare room for her. I don't have access to this anymore). I did scent swapping and let her sometimes look at the cats through the window. Then I moved her to a run where she would be exposed to all the cats but couldn't fight them. I continued with the scent swapping too. She stayed in the run for i think it was another 3 weeks, and during that time she got spayed. She also started calming down and wouldn't fight at the scent of another cat. She also started letting them come close to her. I started feeding the cats around her sometimes too. She seemed to completely calm down and accept the cats again and she even looked like she wanted to play with sometimes so I would let her out for a few hours a day. But as soon as I would let her out, she would start going psycho again towards them. It became a cycle where as long as she was inside the run, she would be a sweetheart to the other cats, but as soon as I would let her out she would attack them. I didn't see any way to progress from that so I just let her out again and remove the run and let her be. Now she is aggressive to them again. I could try reintroducing her again if you think that will help, but I dont have a separate room I can put her in anymore. It would have to be in the run where she can see all the other cats.

You can certainly ask for X-rays without a dental. They might not even need to sedate her.

 

[Kflowers]

That your kitten started out friendly and now doesn't want to play with the others, sounds like pain to me. I'm not a vet, or tech, or anything but someone who had a similar experience.

We only had one cat, but, after she learned not to bite as a kitten, she remained very aggressive for a cat rescued at 5 weeks. Yes, she'd lost her family to raccoons, but she got worse in the safety of the house, not better. Touch her - claw, pick her up and you bleed. Our dog, which she liked) was diagnosed with arthritis on her spine. It occurred to me the cat might have the same problem, which if she was in pain all the time she might be cranky. Vet thought a full body x-ray would be a waste of money. I insisted. Yes, our 1 year old cat had arthritis on three vertebrae. We got her medicine for it - dasuquin, she was allergic to the vet's more expensive meds. Within a couple of days the aggression dropped to normal amounts of play.

In short if your vet didn't do a full body x-ray you don't know if your cat has arthritis or not, you don't know if she's in pain. The price of an x-ray is nothing compared to behaviorists and tranquillizers can not cure pain. (That's what the vet tried with the dog before I insisted on x-rays for her.)

 

[silent meowlook]

I didn’t read all the replies. First you have to rule out anything physical before you jump to behavior.

Take her to a new veterinarian. If you can find a cat only it would be best. Gabapentin is not a behavioral drug and cats quickly build a tolerance to it. There are behavioral drugs but first you need to get full work up with a veterinarian experienced in cats. A full blood panel and urinalysis would be in order. X-rays are a good idea to look for bladder stones or something orthopedic. Then if it all checks out ok, behavior drugs can be explored.

 

[sylvie000]

Take her to a new veterinarian. If you can find a cat only it would be best.

Good idea. Luckily I found a cat only vet half an hour away from me. I’ll schedule an appointment with them.

 

[silent meowlook]

Good idea. Luckily I found a cat only vet half an hour away from me. I’ll schedule an appointment with them.

Awesome!! I think there must be something going on for such a drastic change in behavior.

 

[NekoM]

I’m fairly pragmatic - there are some simple tests that haven’t been done. Rewind back to the false pregnancy - Phantom pregnancies are not normal, for something like that to happen there’s a major shift in a cat’s hormonal balance and always triggers aggression . The Vet said if she was spayed “she would most likely become normal again” but she’s still showing signs of aggression - which started with the false pregnancy. Gabapentin is so over prescribed, it’s not for behavioral problems it’s basically kitty NyQuil, it’s a mild sedative. I’ve added a link that might be informative, there’s something called ‘Ovarian Remnant Syndrome’ which may be relevant? I’m not a vet but testing her hormones makes sense.

Reproductive Disorders of Female Cats - Cat Owners - Merck Veterinary Manual

 

[sylvie000]

I’m fairly pragmatic - there are some simple tests that haven’t been done. Rewind back to the false pregnancy - Phantom pregnancies are not normal, for something like that to happen there’s a major shift in a cat’s hormonal balance and always triggers aggression . The Vet said if she was spayed “she would most likely become normal again” but she’s still showing signs of aggression - which started with the false pregnancy. Gabapentin is so over prescribed, it’s not for behavioral problems it’s basically kitty NyQuil, it’s a mild sedative. I’ve added a link that might be informative, there’s something called ‘Ovarian Remnant Syndrome’ which may be relevant? I’m not a vet but testing her hormones makes sense.

Reproductive Disorders of Female Cats - Cat Owners - Merck Veterinary Manual

thanks for the link. I’m kind of glad to hear that I’m not being being too paranoid here and that there probably is something wrong with my cat. I guess it sounds weird to say that, but I would be much happier finding an explanation for her aggression rather than just accept that it’s going to be her personality for the rest of her life. When I brought my cat in the first time for her aggression before she got spayed, the vet was so unconcerned that I didn’t know whether I should be concerned about the vet or not. In the past I’ve had good experiences with her, but I guess behavioral related issues is not that vets strong spot. The cat only vet that I found is open tomorrow so I’ll give them a call and get an appointment scheduled. I hope they will be able to figure out what’s wrong.

 

[Kflowers]

Vets being people to have complications in their private lives which may or may not affect how well they do their jobs. This may or may not be the case with your vet, but not taking a chance on being ignored, because of the vet's possible stress, is a really good move on your part.

 

[NekoM]

I think it’s fair to say that because there’s been a lot more medical research on dogs most vets seem to have a preference. So when it comes down to situations like yours it’s too time consuming to run through possibilities. There’s a large number of cat issues that are officially called “disease with no specific origin” because they have no medical research to diagnose it and that’s why cat clinics exist. Cats generally hate going to the vets because they know the deal! When it comes down to it though Dogs drawl, Cats rule

 

[silent meowlook]

I think it’s fair to say that because there’s been a lot more medical research on dogs most vets seem to have a preference. So when it comes down to situations like yours it’s too time consuming to run through possibilities. There’s a large number of cat issues that are officially called “disease with no specific origin” because they have no medical research to diagnose it and that’s why cat clinics exist. Cats generally hate going to the vets because they know the deal! When it comes down to it though Dogs drawl, Cats rule

Leash monkeys. Don’t get me wrong, I love dogs too. But, cats really get the short end of the stick when it comes to vet care.

 

[sylvie000]

So I took my cat to a cat-only vet and they did some tests (didn't do xrays though). Pretty much everything shows that my cat is perfectly healthy. The vet recommended for me to try zylkene for a few months and see if that helps. She also said i can do xrays if i want to since i brought it up. I think for now I will try the zylkene and see if it helps. If it doesnt help after a few months then ill go back for xrays.

 

[Alldara]

So I took my cat to a cat-only vet and they did some tests (didn't do xrays though). Pretty much everything shows that my cat is perfectly healthy. The vet recommended for me to try zylkene for a few months and see if that helps. She also said i can do xrays if i want to since i brought it up. I think for now I will try the zylkene and see if it helps. If it doesnt help after a few months then ill go back for xrays.

Great idea.