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Litterbox Problems & Spraying cat prozac Help "All I Ask Of You" Andrew cat prozac Lloyd WeberPhantom of the Opera We're proud to cat prozac be included in the Cornell School of Veterinary Medicine Resource Guide Last Updated June 4, 2005 Litterbox and Spraying problems can be discouraging, but there is help. Understanding what triggers the behavior is the first step. Whether it's caused by a urinary tract infection, a cat outside that may be triggering a territorial response, a new home, a new baby, discomfort cat prozac associated with the litterbox, type of litter, depth of litter, covered versus uncovered boxes, location and number of boxes, cat prozac or the addition of a new household pet, there is help for you and your cat. Please understand that punishment is not the answer, and may in fact may the situation cat prozac worse. Your FIRST step when cat prozac confronted with a cat that is peeing outside the litterbox should ALWAYS be a vet trip to rule out a urinary tract infection, which is the most common cause of a cat failing to use the litterbox. The cat prozac burning and discomfort can be so intense the cat can't make cat prozac it to the box in time, or it has come to associate the litterbox with pain if the condition has been left untreated for some time. Antibiotics will generally clear it up. The links below will give you important information on diagnosing the cause and several solutions. Other options such as medication, Feliway, Rescue Remedy and Hormone Therapy may be prescribed by your vet cat prozac in addition to Behavior modification. Always consult your veterinarian for help in dealing with these problems. Urinary Tract Infections Urinary cat prozac Tract Infections - Understanding Urinary Tract Disease and it's role in causing litterbox problems. Note the articles on Idiopathic Cystitis, thought to be misdiagnosed as a behavior problem. Litterbox Problems & Solutions Cat Attract Litter - cat prozac This new cat prozac formulated litter has a 100% guarantee that the cat will use the litterbox. We've used it in our household, and it WORKS! We cat prozac get it at PetSmart. This is a MUST TRY for cats that fail to use the litterbox. Planet Urine - cat prozac This is the definitive Encyclo-Pee-dia! This site covers almost any litterbox problem including litter aversion, covered vs not covered, location and surface preferences. Urinating Outside the Litter Box - Dr. Holly Frisby, DVM Solving Feline House Soiling (Part cat prozac One) - by Susan Little DVM, cat prozac Dipl ABVP (Feline) Solving Feline House cat prozac Soiling (Part Two) - by Susan Little DVM, Dipl ABVP cat prozac (Feline) Everywhere But The Litterbox! Litterbox cat prozac Problems - Dr. Mike cat prozac Richards, DVM Litter pan or Elimination Problems - Dr. Mike Richards, DVM Litterbox Problem Explanations & Solutions - from an Animal Behavioralist Litterbox Problem Solutions from the Denver Animal League Litterbox Problems in cat prozac Multi-Cat cat prozac Households - cat prozac From Cat Fanciers Association Caring For Cats With Litter Box Problems Inappropriate Elimination - Dr. Newman, DVM Litterbox Avoidance Inappropriate Elimination When Good Cats Do Bad Things - cat prozac From MarVista Veterinary Clinic Inappropriate Elimination cat prozac in Cats VetMedCenter Spraying & cat prozac Soiling Indoors - The Feline cat prozac Advisory Bureau of the UK Solving Litterbox Problems - From PAWS Kitty Litter Preferences - From Washington State College cat prozac of Veterinary Medicine Inappropriate Elimination Behavior - Veterinary Information Network Inappropriate Elimination - Suite 101 House Soiling - Dr. Dawn Reuban The Top 8 Reasons Why Your Kitty Won’t Use the Litter Box - From The Pet Place Housesoiling - From Cats International House cat prozac Training cat prozac & House Soiling Problems - From Perfect Paws behavioral specialist FAQ's on Inappropriate Elimination - From Perfect Paws behavioral specialist Spraying Spraying is a cat prozac territorial response. If your cat hasn't been neutered and is spraying your first step should be to get cat prozac him neutered immediately before the spraying becomes a habit. It can take as long as 6 weeks for the hormone level to flush out of the system cat prozac so be prepared cat prozac that the spraying won't stop overnight, but the urge to mark territory will gradually disappear. If your cat is neutered cat prozac and suddenly begins to spray it may be caused by the cat prozac presence or smell of a free roaming cat outdoors which is triggering a territorial response. Even visual contact with an outside intruder may trigger territorial spraying in some cats. Close the blinds for a few days to prevent visual contact and get some cat repellant from your pet store or nursery to put down around the perimeter of your home to deter the intruder. Feliway and Rescue Remedy can also calm an anxious cat and help prevent further spraying. Cats will cat prozac overmark their own scent so it is important to locate and eliminate every single cat prozac stain, and I do mean every single one. Ordinary housecleaners won't eliminate the smell to a cat's nose, cat prozac even if humans can't smell it. You will need to use a specific enzyme cleaner like Nature's Miracle or Simple Solution. Follow directions carefully, cat prozac saturate the area and allow to air dry. The stain will smell noticeably worse when it's damp, but as it dries out the enzymes "eat" the odor. If the stains cat prozac have ocurred on carpet you will need to saturate the area right down to the floor padding. You may also need to get a flourescent blacklight to find all the urine stains. Pee glows under a cat prozac blacklight in a darkened room making it easier to find every stain. A lot cat prozac of other things will glow too, and my motto is when in doubt - spray it with Nature's Miracle! Feline Obessive Compulsive Disorders - World Animal Congress, 2001 Indoor Spraying Problems from the Feline Advisory Board - What is the difference between spraying and urinating, and how do you deal with it? Differentiating Between Spraying & Inappropriate Elimination Why Cats Spray & Mark Urine Spraying & How To Control It - Drs. Foster & Smith Urine Spraying Territorial Marking - From Dr. Mike Richards, DVM Spraying or Squatting? What's the Difference? - From PAWS. Identifying litterbox problems and how to solve them Solving Spraying & Marking Behavior Preventing Spraying - Veterinary Information Network What is Territorial Spraying? Territorial Spraying: A Case History Territorial Marking - Dr. Dan How to Control Urine Spraying Feline Marking Behaviors - An excellent article that explains why cats mark, the different kinds of marking patterns (spraying versus peeing) and how to correct the problem. Defining The Litterbox Problem - Distinguishing from marking territory and inappropriate elimination Why Do Cats Spray - From The Pet Place Feline Urine Marking - The Pet Place Spraying Problems Can Be Solved! - Cats International Blacklights Flourescent blacklights are great for finding pee and spray stains (&odors) you didn't even know were there. Where Do I Get A Blacklight?I'm always asked this question. The cat prozac link above is to on-line ordering from Happy Tails PetsMart. It has a good photo of the blacklight and a urine stain highlight. You can also check with your local cat prozac pet store. The black light must cat prozac be flourescent. How To Use a Blacklight - Another on-line source for blacklights, with a good illustration of how to use them. Rescue Remedy Rescue Remedy- A good link to understanding Rescue Remedy and the Bach Flower Essences. Rescue Remedy can be obtained at any Health Food Store. Use 4-8 drops twice a day mixed in food, food gravy, water or squirted directly into the mouth. This is homeopathic, so you can't overdose. Adjust upwards or down as necessary. It works well on anxious parents too! *grin* Rescue Remedy - Dr. Jean Hovfre, DVM Purchase Rescue Remedy On cat prozac Line - from Drs. Foster cat prozac & Smith Feliway Pheromonatherapy - Great article on Feliway therapy for spraying Feliway: A New Method to Discourage Spraying - A new product available from your vet. We've used it, cat prozac and it really does seem to work. It lowers their anxiety level. cat prozac I also spray some on a washcloth and put it inside the cat carrier when we go to the vet. It's available from this link or through your vet (about $34/bottle), but it's cheaper from Valley Vet Supply ($20/bottle)at 1-800-360-4838. What Is Feliway? What it does, and how to use it. You can also order on-line through this site. Purchase Feliway On-Line - from Drs. Foster & Smith. $19.99 a bottle Feliway FAQ's - Good article from Catfaeries On Line Lisaviolet's Comments on Feliway Prescription Options Tally's Note: I have removed links referring to Buspar, Elavil & Depo Provera. I believe, based on personal experience and cat prozac the cat prozac findings of Dr. Nicholas Dodman of the Cornell School of Veterinary Medicine, that Prozac is the first and hopefully last stop to managing territorial spraying. The first 3 links below cat prozac are scans of an article published in cat prozac August, 2002 in the Tufts School of Veterinary Medicine Newsletter. They are very memory intensive and I recommend you open cat prozac each page in a new window and allow several seconds to cat prozac load. How to Solve Urine Marking - Page 1 - Tufts Veterinary article on Prozac - WARNING! Memory intensive. Open in new window. How to Solve Urine Marking - Page 2 - cat prozac Tufts Veterinary article on Prozac - WARNING! Memory intensive. Open in new window. How to Solve Urine Marking - Page 3 - Tufts Veterinary article on Prozac - WARNING! Memory intensive. Open in new window. Use of Prozac in Animals for Selected Dermatological and Behavioral Conditions - By Steven A. Melman, VMD Feline Urine Marking - "The most effective medication is fluoxetine (Prozac®), which resolves the problem in some 90 percent of cases. The next most effective medication is a trycyclic antidepressant, clomipramine (Clomicalm®) (80 percent effective), then buspirone (BuSpar®), with a 50 or 60 percent efficacy rate, and finally, the trycyclic antidepressant, amitriptyline (Elavil®), which is also sometimes effective." Recent Advances in Controlling Feline Urine Marking - Meagan Thomas Behavioral Modification Medications - From The Pet Place Prozac - From The Pet Place Prozac - Treatment section from Vetcentric Prozac Study cat prozac in Treatment of Urine Spraying in Cats - Scroll down the page Cat Related Pages:[Meet The Tally Household][Our Photo Album][Remembering Tardy][Tardy's Legacy][Stomatitis, Autoimmune Disease & Interferon][Cat Health & Illness Links][Cat Behavior Links][Litterbox Problems & Spraying Help][Cat Basics 101: An Owner's Manual][Spay / Neuter Information][Indoors versus Outdoors][Declawing: What You Need To Know][Special Issues for Animal Lovers] [Favorite Cat Related Sites] Personal:[Personal Causes][Linda's Journey: Diary of a Breast Cancer Suvivor][Mentoring][My Harp Page][My Fairy Garden][The Art of Thomas Kinkade & Graphics Acknowledgments][Awards][Favorite Poetry][Home Page] Veterinary Information - Behavioral Disorders in Cats Please note: The information on our site is for everyone to read. Please use it as often as you like. However, Ask Dr Mike is available only to cat prozac subscribers of our Vetinfo Digest. Please do not send questions if you are not a subscriber. Please use the search engine or one of the indexes to see if the information you need is already online. Please see Subscriber info for details. Subscriber Info The income from the subscriptions helps defray the cost of maintaining the cat prozac site and allows us to keep the cat prozac large amount of information on www.vetinfo.com free to our readers. Behavioral Disorders or problems in Cats Excessive meowing in skittish cat Depression in cats Introducing new cats to a cat household Extreme personality changes in cat Behavior advice Feline behavior problems Digging holes Destructive cat prozac behavior Elimination behavior Behavior changes and feline leukemia Tail chasing Litterpan Problems Separation anxiety Psychogenic Alopecia? What is Catnip? Keeping off Furniture Personality Change also see Medication also see Scratching behavior also see Kitten Behavior also see Aggression also see Chewing and Licking Behavior also see Declawing also see Hair Damaging also see Litterbox problems also see Male Cat also see Moving cat prozac with your cat prozac cat also see Territorial Behavior Excessive meowing in cat prozac skittish cat Question: I have a female cat, general good health, about 4 years old. After I had her spayed at 6 months, she has never been the same. Most cat prozac of the time, her behavior is semi-tolerable, but it is starting to get out of control. She has always been very skittish and anxious of other people, sounds, and does not take well to change of any type, whether it is her schedule, my schedule, moving of things, anything except her food. Very esily stressed. She has a cat prozac room right now that we don't go into much, full of furniture and boxes, that she can retreat to whenever cat prozac she feels threatened and most of the time she stays there. We have another cat and two dogs. She plays with the other cat, doesn't mind one of the dogs and tolerates relatively well the other one. That isn't a problem. My other cat is cat prozac a talker, and cat prozac you can tell what she wants. cat prozac This cat just wanders around and meows a lot, but only at certain cat prozac times. Not quiet meows, but like she's in pain or terrified. Usually she would calm down when cat prozac you would pet her and give her some attention, or food, but lately that isn't helping. She starts around 3:30 am and doesn't let up until after I go to work. Sometimes she starts at night when we are getting ready for bed, but that stops when I give her special attention before I turn out the lights. If I put her outside, she cries or gets in a fight (we have a mean tomcat cat prozac in the neighborhood that is always visiting our street.) She loves cat prozac to go outside, but since we moved to this house, it took her 4 months just to venture to the porch. I don't know if her background matters, but she was the kitten of an abandoned female. The father cat prozac was most likely feral, but the mom was dumped. This cat prozac constant, crazy meowing started this week, and there are a couple of things that have happened. Our older cat got cat prozac mauled by this tomcat last weekend cat prozac and is recovering from surgery, so they haven't been playing. The older one seems to be a calming influence on this one. Also, she liked to sleep in the unfinished upstairs, behind the walls in the attic area, but we finished it last Wednesday, so she isn't happy about that. She has always meowed a bit, but not cat prozac nearly to this extent. I have always been real conscious of what troubles her, and I don't know if that has actually contributed to the problem now, or not. My fiance says it is because I coddle them, but she has cat prozac never been a well adjusted cat. Sometimes I think I have been able to help, and others it seems like I can't do anything to help. We have been remodeling a house for the last 6 months, but she has seemed to do cat prozac okay with it pretty much, until now, so I don't know if that is the problem, or just overload with everything. She has always been real anxious and cat prozac nervous, and I was wondering if pet prozac would be good for her, and/or herbs, and would herbs work cat prozac on cat prozac something this extensive? I've always been into more holistic ways of healing, but I actually think this particular cat needs more. I would really appreciate any input on this. I couldn't adopt her out, as I think she is pretty much unadoptable, or only cat prozac to someone cat prozac who likes to do this kind of work. I'm the only person she trusts, and she has, in the last year, comes to my voice when she is lost and I don't have to chase her. Thank you for your time, Karen Answer: Karen- You have cat prozac done a good job getting as far as you have with a feral cat. It is hard to get them to accept you, even over a long period of time. It does seem to take a lot of empathy to get a feral cat to be part of the household so I think you are probably doing OK with that, not overdoing it. It might help to give her a secure hiding space similar to the space between cat prozac the walls. My cat likes to get behind a cabinet that we cat prozac have that is not as deep as the others, leaving a private cave for her. Creating a space like this might make her more secure. Just a box with cat prozac a cat prozac small hole about her size might even work. There are lots of things that people advocate for cats that are stressed by normal living arrangements. Of the medicines, the ones that seem to be recommended most often by veterinary behaviorists are the selective seritonin-reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs), which include fluoxetine (Prozac Rx, 1mg/kg once a day), Paxil (Rx, 0.5 to 1mg/kg once a day) and clomipramine (Clomicalm Rx, 0.5mg/kg once a day). Amitriptyline (Elavil Rx), a tricyclic antidepressant, is also cat prozac sometimes used cat prozac in this circumstance. Melatonin has been adovocated for this in some anecdotal reports but I do not know if anyone has studied the dosage for cats at all. Cats can react pretty badly to changes in routine and your other cat being hurt and cat prozac not being able to play is conceivably enough of a stress to cause some problems, especially when combined with the remodeling. Hopefully, as these problems cat prozac have resolved you have seen improvement, but if cat prozac not, you might want to talk to your vet cat prozac about trying one of the medications above, to cat prozac see if cat prozac they are helpful. Sometimes two or three months of use, followed by a slow tapering off of the medication, is enough to get a cat past its anxiety problems and further therapy is unnecessary. Good luck with this. Your cat is lucky to have found you! Mike Richards, DVM 6/5/2001 Depression in cats Question: Hi Dr. Richards, I recently lost my Hubbell and one of my other cats seems to be suffering from depression. He adored Hubby and they spent lots of time together wrapped around each other, cleaning each other and playing. Natey cries and cries now at various times and is only calmed by my getting on the floor and playing with him. He has lost alot of weight (which he needed to do). He eats and is interested in food but not like he used to be. I have tried cat prozac getting him lots of cat prozac new toys but he is not interested. My other cat, Izzy, never liked him and won't play with him. HELP!!!!!! What do you suggest? Thanks, Helen Answer: Helen- We have had some success using anti-depressants in cats and dogs that seemed to be cat prozac missing housemates after a death in the family. We have used amitriptyline in cats and the owners felt that it helped some. It is also possible to use fluoxetine (Prozac Rx) and behavior oriented veterinarians seem to cat prozac think it works a little better. If you plan to acquire another cat, that sometimes helps, too. I don't think that is a good idea unless you really cat prozac wish to have another cat again, though. Sometimes it doesn't work well as one or the other cat rejects the new relationship but it can be helpful. Mike Richards, DVM 1/3/2001 Introducing new cat prozac cats to a cat household Question: I am about to adopt two female tabby kittens who are appr. 6 weeks old. I have a cat cat prozac who is about seven years old. How do I introduce the older cat to cat prozac the new kittens? I really want them to be happy. Please help. Julie Answer: Julie- The standard recommendation for introducing a new cat into the cat prozac household is to keep the cats isolated from each other putting one in room or blocked off portion of the house and letting the other cat have the rest of the house. After a day or so, switch them so that they are confined in the portion of the house that was the other cat's "territory". Continue to do this for a few days to a couple of weeks so that they get used to each other's presence gradually and there is less chance of aggression between them. I am cat prozac not sure that your situation calls for this much caution, though. Since you are adopting two kittens there is a good chance they will keep each other occupied, giving the older cat a break from unwanted kitten attention. It would probably be a good idea to cat prozac bring the kittens into the house in a crate or secure box and set it down where your cat is sure to notice cat prozac it. Then see what the older cat's response to them is. If it is obviously aggressive, go to the plan above. If it is curious or if it ignores the kittens, then it cat prozac is probably safe to let them out, as cat prozac long as you are present to intervene if there is trouble. If that goes well, then you are probably going to have no major problems. Do expect some hissing or swatting at cat prozac the kittens when they pester the older cat too much but anything more aggressive than that should prompt cat prozac you to separate the kittens from the older cat for a while to let things settle down. Hope this helps some. If you have major problems there are cat prozac some other things that might help, so please feel free to write for additional information if you need it. Mike Richards, DVM 7/24/2000 Extreme Personality changes in cat Question: My fifteen-year-old cat, Zelda, has gone insane. She's always been very extroverted and affectionate. She's never had a problem cat prozac with dogs or vacuum cleaners. But for the past two weeks she's spent virtually all her time in corners or under/behind furniture. It's like she doesn't know me. She hissed cat prozac at me! Right now she's under the bed growling. BTW, she's the only indoor cat in a house of seven cats; the rest are indoor/outdoor. Zelda was never very interested in the great outdoors. These seven cats have been living together for 22 months, and my five have been together for at least two years. My housemate's two cats don't come in my room -- tacit territorial agreement. She is eating (she's never cat prozac been a big eater but she's always hungry), but this is not the same cat that cat prozac slept on cat prozac my head every night and pestered me every morning for years to get up and feed her NOW. Her favorite treats don't cat prozac get her attention. I took her to the vet last Wednesday and their cat expert examined her. Zelda was kinda wiggly, but the weight they got on her was 5 lbs., 11 oz. (an increase of 4 oz.). cat prozac No abdominal masses cat prozac or pain on palpation. Slight fever of 103.6 (stress?). Other than that, vitals seem okay. No evidence of masses in ears, retinas cat prozac look cat prozac fine, oral examination comes cat prozac up clear. Left ear was clogged cat prozac with earwax and had to be scraped out before a visual could be made of her eardrum, cat prozac but Zelda's always had oogie ears (no sign of yeast). The weird part: Zelda presents as hyperthyroid -- she's old, skinny, hungry, and cold. She's always been skinny and hungry (her top weight was about 7 lbs.). She's always been rather delicate and barfs a lot. The vet has been unsuccessfully trying to cat prozac prove she's hyperthyroid cat prozac for about a year and a half. This week, her T4 level is 2.2. I don't have the specifics on the rest of her cat prozac bloodwork, but they're telling me everything is fine and her white blood count doesn't confirm infection. They cat prozac thought it could cat prozac be a) trauma; b) hyperthyroidism (ruled out); or c) "central cat prozac lesion." No new cats, no new people, no moving of furniture, no new cleaning solutions, no new perfumes or laundry soaps. I dunno.... They're baffled. They're talking about trying therapeutic cortisone and possibly prophylactic antibiotics because of the slight fever. The cat specialist is supposed to cat prozac call tomorrow and discuss my options. But I fear it's going to be a long night because I feel so cat prozac helpless to comfort my oldest and dearest cat, and she keeps bonking her head on the slats under my bed when she starts herself awake. It seems like she hasn't slept much in the past couple of weeks -- she's kind of hyper-vigilant. I've tried to keep this as brief yet informative as possible. If you have any questions I'll do my best to answer. Nikki Answer: Nikki- There are a couple of things that cause personality changes in cats. Hyperthyroidism would be a good starting point and I would probably have to be convinced it wasn't present, too. So I understand why your vet is trying hard to be sure this problem is not present. Feline ischemic neuropathy can cause sudden personality changes, but normally there are other signs of central nervous system disease, such cat prozac as paralysis or seizures. Canine cognitive dysfunction, is a recognized cause of personality changes in older dogs and there is some evidence that this occurs in cats, as well. With the ability to do MRI and CT scans in cats there has been a recognition that some cats do suffer from smaller cerebrovascular accidents (mini-strokes?) and that brain tumors are probably more common than many vets think. Hypertension (high blood pressure) can occur for reasons other than hyperthyroidism, especially kidney failure, so this is another thing to think about, cat prozac because it can cause strokes and possibly cause behavioral problems on its own. It also causes blindness and visual problems which can produce sudden fearful behavior as the cat adjusts to the loss of vision. Pain can cause a lot of personality change, especially hiding and avoiding people. If none of the above problems seems likely, I would want to do a really good search for some other source of pain, such as dental disease, spinal disease, pancreatitis, tumors invading bone --- anything that might cause pain that isn't obvious on a physical exam. There are probably many cat prozac other cause of personality changes that I can't think of right now, too. Keep working with your vet to try to find the cause of this. Mike Richards, DVM 6/23/2000 Behavior advice Q: Hello Dr. Mike: Wondering if you'd be interested in being quoted in a pet communication book. I've been reading your website answers to various pet problems and think you'd provide some wonderful advice if you have the time. I'm looking for expert advice on why dogs and cats sometimes "hide" from their ownes or from visitors. Also, trying to find advice on why dogs and cats cat prozac sometimes get overexcited, what I've always called a cat prozac "wild attack." The idea is to explain what these bahaviors cat prozac mean and what cat prozac owners can or should do about them. If you are interested, let me know simply by replying to this cat prozac email. You'll get a chance to review your quotes before publication. The information will appear in a cat prozac book published by Rodale. A: Alisa- I think that there are probably better sources of information on these topics than me. Of all the questions on the website I am most worried about my responses to behavioral questions as I feel the least competent in this area of practice. I rely heavily on Dr. Karen Overall's information (she is the most prolific author among the behaviorists at the current time and generally reasonable cat prozac in her advice). She is at the University of Pennsylvania, I think. Dr. Illana Reisner is also usually a good source of reasonable behavioral advice and a good source of background information on behavior. Unfortunately, I have lost track of where she is practicing. She is an advisor to the Veterinary Information Network (VIN), though. Mike Richards, cat prozac DVM Feline behavior problems My wife and cat prozac I cat prozac have a 2 1/2 year old tabby that is perfectly pleasant around the two of cat prozac us. She almost never hides and is playful and affectionate. However, when cat prozac a guest cat prozac (it could be anybody) comes to our house the cat prozac cat turns into a complete freak. She will hiss, spit, growl, attack (no damage) and cat prozac anything else you can think of at our guests. Frequently the cat prozac guest has done nothing more than walk within ten feet of the cat and not even look at her. She has even continued this behavior towards a friend who stayed for a week (the behavior never changed). Do you know where this behavior is coming from? The cat has never been abused and only cat prozac occasionally gets shouted at if she does something wrong. She is an indoor cat only and has been neutered. This problem is all the more puzzling because she used to be ok, even friendly, with strangers when she was cat prozac younger. Any help, especially on how to cat prozac break her of this 'habit', would be appreciated. It is cat prozac extremely embarrassing to have family and friends over with her going spastic on them. Thanks, Jeff A: Jeff- I have been reluctant to answer behavior questions over the last few months because it occurred to me that in most cases the causes of the behavior have not been diagnosed and cat prozac people are not asking for information about a diagnosis but are really asking me to make a diagnosis "by computer". I am not competent to do that, unfortunately. The best approach to cat prozac behavioral problems is to find cat prozac a certified animal or veterinary behaviorist to help with the problem. This is hard to do. Alternatively, it may be a good idea to discuss this situation with your vet. It may be possible for your vet to help make a cat prozac diagnosis of the underlying cause or your vet may be able to consult with a specialist on your behalf or refer you to a specialist. Your vet may even have an interest in behavioral problems and be able to help you cat prozac directly. In some cases medications may help. In cat prozac your situation it does seem cat prozac possible that anti-anxiety medications used judiciously may cat prozac be beneficial. Please discuss this situation with your cat prozac vet. Mike Richards, DVM Digging cat prozac holes - Cat Q: Do you know why a cat would be digging holes in the back yard? Our cat is digging holes and we don't know why. Could this be a serious medical problem? If you can help, I cat prozac would appreciate the feed back. Thanks! Lori A: Lori- If your cat is digging holes and then straining to urinate in them it could be a sign cat prozac of cystitis. Usually these would be shallow holes and most cats try to fill them back up, but not all cats. My cats dig up my backyard because we have a lot of moles but you'd probably know if that was the reason. Except for cystitis or possibly constipation leading to some digging and scratching I cat prozac can't think of a serious medical problem associated with hole digging. This would be worth asking cat prozac your vet about, too. There is a lot of miscellaneous information in the world and it is not at cat prozac all unusual for me or any other vet to miss some of it. cat prozac So asking more than one person is usually a good idea. Mike Richards, DVM Destructive behavior - feline Q: Dr Mike - I recently got married and my new husband brought his 5-year old DSH cat with him. I already have 3 kittens of my own, and Sally (his cat) doesn't get along with them at all. She hisses and swipes at them every chance she gets, sometimes going out of her way to get at them. She also has decided to use my love seat as a scratching post, and has a VERY nasty habit of wolfing down her food only to vomit cat prozac it up later on my carpet, my bed, my bathroom floor, wherever. cat prozac She is pretty much antisocial and gets into fights with the other neighborhood cats, who'd just as soon leave her alone. I have caught her scratching the love seat cat prozac several times and have taken her over to the scratching post we cat prozac have provided, but she's not interested. I have also tried squirting her when caught cat prozac with a water pistol, and yelling at her - and I've even tried soaking the part she scratches with ammonia as a deterrent. Nothing works! She's driving me crazy and I'm about ready to give her her marching orders. I know it sounds crazy but I think she cat prozac does it on purpose - she likes to vomit on my bed cat prozac or on the carpet near where I usually sit. Since she's cat prozac been an outdoor cat (and she does have 24-hour-a-day outside access at my house as well) my husband has refused to have her cat prozac declawed - he thinks it's cruel. Can you shed any light on why she behaves this way and what, if anything, can be done about it? She isn't making herself the most popular member of our household... Sian A: Sian- The most common cause of vomiting in middle aged cats is inflammatory bowel disease, probably. While it is not impossible that this could be a behavioral problem it is more likely to be a medical problem. Your vet can probably help a great deal in resolving this behavior. Scratching can be more frustrating to deal with, especially in an older cat. The standard advice for this sort of problem is posted in our Cat Information area. There is no question in my mind that declawing is a better alternative than giving cat prozac a cat up to a shelter or having it euthanized over the behavior. It cat prozac often reduces the stress level in the household significantly, making life better for the cat and for its people. There is no question that this is a temporarily painful procedure but cat prozac when the alternative is homelessness I am cat prozac pretty sure most cats would choose declawing. In an older cat it is a good idea to use pain relief medications (actually in any age cat, just especially so in an older cat prozac cat) post-operatively. There are good pain relief medications for cats now -- much cat prozac better than even the recent past. Mike Richards, DVM Elimination behavior Q: Dear Dr. Mike, A lady in my office has a long-haired mixed breed neutered male cat that periodically has eliminated on the floor in the room that its litter box is in. Medical tests have ruled out physical cat prozac problems. Litter box is kept clean. They have noticed that this only happens cat prozac after they cat prozac have had cat prozac company. Their vet cat prozac has put their cat prozac cat on Ovaban with no results - 1/4 tablet every other day. They are not sure if the cat is spraying or just urinating. They have not been able to catch him doing it. Carpet has been cleaned with enzymatic type cleaner. What would you suggest as the next step to try? Cat has been on hormone therapy for appox. 1 1/2 month. A: Michelle- I would recommend cat prozac getting this cat a second litterpan if possible cat prozac and then I'd try diazepam (Valium Rx) or buspirone cat prozac (Buspar Rx) to aid in the control of the urination. These have been more effective for cat prozac us than megestrol acetate (Ovaban Rx) and cat prozac are less likely to produce serious side effects. Mike Richards, DVM Feline Leukemia and behavior changes Q: cat prozac My cat cat prozac Raul tested positive about 1 month ago. He has a pale mouth and nose, has lost weight, and has cut down on eating. I noticed a odor coming from our basement that smelt like cat urine. Yesterday I actually saw him going bathroom right in front of me in the basement. I don't no how long this has been going on but I think it is fairly recent. Is this because of cat prozac the cat prozac leukemia or what?is there any thing to do to make him quit. I would appreciate it greatly if you could answer this cat prozac question. If not thanks for taking time to read it. A: cat prozac Mel-Cats with feline leukemia often have an increased susceptibility to bladder infections (actually to many infections). It would be best to be sure that this was not leading to the behavioral changes. Cats with feline leukemia also often cat prozac have behavioral changes that do not always seem to have a specific physical cause. In some cases they may be too weak to make it to a litterpan in a location such as the second story of a house or even into a litterpan with high sides. If cat prozac there is an suspicion this is the case it is definitely a problem you need to discuss with your vet. Lastly, cats with feline leukemia can have physical and behavioral problems totally unrelated to the feline leukemia. If this seems to be the case the cat prozac standard advice for litterpan problems found in our cat information area would apply. The pale color to his mouth cat prozac is not a good sign. I hope that he has regained some color since you wrote. Mike Richards, DVM Tail chasing Q: Dear Dr. Mike, My cat Smokey, an 8-10 year old longhair domestic, has been having attacks where she has major arguments with her tail. She growls, hisses, sometimes bites and occasionally runs in circles. This can last from anywhere to a few minutes to 40 minutes. She has cat prozac been on phenobarbital 15 mg. 2x a day which really hasn't had any effect other than perhaps the attacks have shortened. I do have pain pills which I give her cat prozac at cat prozac night at that seems to help more. Sometimes when I pick her up I feel a quivering in her hind quarters. cat prozac Do you have any suggestions on a direction that I could take to cat prozac relieve her symptoms? Any ideas as to what may be causing this? Thank you in advance for your cat prozac help. Sandy- A: Tail chasing may be due to physical problems causing pain or discomfort in the area of the tail or it can be a behavioral problem. It is best to rule out tail injuries, anal sac impaction/infection, skin disease in the tail or tailhead region and spinal cord problems before assuming that the problem is behavioral. If these things seem unlikely based on physical findings it may be helpful to cat prozac consider behavioral therapy for the tail cat prozac chasing. It is always helpful to have the advice of a behaviorist when considering behavioral therapy but it can be difficult to find a good behaviorist cat prozac in many areas of the country or world. At present, tail chasing is most often thought of as an obsessive/compulsive disorder and is usually treated in that manner. Anti-convulsants have not proven to be cat prozac really effective in control of this problem. The most commonly recommended medication for obsessive/compulsive disorders cat prozac is clomipramine (Anafril Rx). cat prozac Several cat prozac other medications have been reported to be helpful in some instances, including amitriptylline (Elavil Rx) and fluoxetine (Prozac Rx). Your vet can help you choose an appropriate medication if seizure control medications don't work. Just as an aside, seizure control medications have been advocated for this cat prozac condition, so even though newer information suggests they are not all that effective your vet may have had some positive experiences with them in the past. The fact that pain control medication seems to help would encourage me to look cat prozac for a medical cause but the prevailing opinion is that most of these type problems are behavioral. Mike Richards, DVM Litterpan problems Q: I have 4 cats. One is an outside stray who adopted us. The other three are all spayed females who live inside. The oldest female is about 8 cat prozac years old and no problem. The other two are litter mates and are almost two. My problem is with the calico. In the last 6-8 months I have been cleaning up cat pee throughout the house. We have a clean cat box, but I don't see her using it. She also has access to the outside cat prozac whenever she wants. I am really tired of cat prozac cleaning up cat urine from the bathroom floor, the curtains, the kitchen counters, and anyplace else she cat prozac can find. This seems to happen on an irregular basis, usually about every 2 or cat prozac 3 days. My vet cat prozac has ruled out diabetes, but wants to do blood work to rule out other medical problems. He feels she is trying to work her way up the pecking order in the house and is just marking her territory. However, the urination is not just a spray, but a puddle. The cat prozac next step is to cat prozac put the cat on an anti-anxiety medicine cat prozac called Buspar. Have you ever heard of this? Do you have any cat prozac suggestions for this problem. I am very attached to this cat; she is extremely affectionate and sweet except for this pee problem. Please help! A: The first part of this reply is the information from our cat page -- it is generic but gives you cat prozac an idea of cat prozac how frequent this problem is. The last part is more directed towards your particular situation. Mike Richards, DVM Litterpan or Elimination Behavior Problems Litterpan problems are very common in cats. It helps to think cat prozac about this problem from the cat's point of view sometimes when trying to deal with it. Cats like to have a clean, inviting place to defecate and urinate. Remember some of the dirty bathrooms you have had to decide whether to use or not, and you can relate to this feeling. So it is very important to make the litterpan as attractive as possible for use. Keep it very clean. Use a litter that the cat likes. The clumping type litters are the most commonly preferred litters in surveys of cat preference. If you are cat prozac not using this type and your cat has a problem, it can help to switch. The litterpan should be in a convenient, but private or at least semiprivate site. It helps very much to have one more litterpan than you have cats. In multi-cat households where this is impractical, it can help to give the problem cat access to the litterpan, alone, for several minutes twice a day. When a cat is using a place in the house other than the litterpan to urinate cat prozac or defecate, the opposite is also true. You want to make these spots unattractive. Cleaning the area with an enzymatic cleaner so the cat is not drawn back to the same site cat prozac helps. Putting plastic or cat prozac aluminum foil over the area, if possible, can be very helpful. cat prozac Putting the litterpan at the cat prozac site the cat prefers, then very gradually moving it to a site you like can be helpful. Cats may not be using the litterpan because they are ill. Cystitis (a bladder infection or inflammation) is a common problem that can lead to litterpan aversion. One theory is that the cat associates the litterpan with the painful sensation or urinating with this disease and avoids it. Some anatomical defects can lead to cat prozac an increased need to urinate frequently. Diseases that increase cat prozac the need to urinate, like diabetes and hyperthyroidism should be ruled out if that seems appropriate. Disorders that might affect a cat's ability to get to the litterpan, like low potassium levels in the bloodstream or arthritis need to be cat prozac considered. If there are no medical problems and good litterpan maintenance is in place, then the problem may be behavioral for other reasons. Some cats are not using the litterpan because they are marking territory. This can occur in either male or female cat prozac cats. It is more common in cats in multi-cat households, especially if there are five or more cats. It can occur when an inside cat is bothered by frequent appearances of an outside cat at the windows. In this case, cat prozac limiting access to seeing the other cat can help. Urine marking behavior is often responsive to medical therapy with medications like diazepam (Valium) or buspirone cat prozac (Buspar). It can be responsive to megestrol acetate (Ovaban), but this medication has significant side effects that must be cat prozac considered. It should be a last resort medication. If a cat is not neutered this is often helpful, even after urine marking (spraying) behavior is established. As you can see, my thinking is more along the lines that this is stress behavior since cats want to have their own territory, rather than a cat prozac "pecking order" type problem but that might just be a difference just in how we attempt to explain the problem. We have had good luck with Buspirone in some cases. After several months it is sometimes possible to take the offending cat off the medication. Unfortunately, it is cat prozac also pretty common to find that a cat simply can't take the pressure of this many other cats in a small territory and to have to make the choice to chronically medicate or to find a home with for this cat where it can live alone or with one other companion. Most people don't like that solution for understandable reasons but it is sometimes the most practical solution. It is cat prozac a tough situation. Your vet is correct in looking for other problems, too, I cat prozac think. The puddling rather than spraying may indicate that your cat is not marking. cat prozac There is the possibility that you just need more litterpans but ruling out medical problems is not a bad idea. Good luck with this. Mike Richards, DVM Separation anxiety Q: Hi, thanks for reviewing this, here's my situation; Zed is a male 3 year old DLH neutered cat. I've had him for 3 weeks. He gets lonely easily. When i go to work, he meows LOUD! for long. My neighbors have complained. When i am at home, he is mostly silent, aside from a few "hellos" when i come home. I have tried leaving the radio on while cat prozac i am gone. Do i have any options? Thank you for your time! Great website, bookmarked. Cielia A: Cielia- It sounds like your cat may be suffering from separation anxiety. This may be due to the changes cat prozac in his life recently. It is always hard cat prozac to move from home to home cat prozac and sometimes cats get pretty insecure during these changes. While I have not seen much reference to separation anxiety in cats it is probably possible to treat it somewhat similarly to dogs. The treatment for this is cat prozac outlined on our dog information page in the cat prozac behavior section. It is not a bad idea to have your cat examined to make sure that there isn't a physical cause of discomfort but it doesn't seem cat prozac too likely since you cat is content when you are home. Your vet may know of an animal behaviorist who can help if the problem cat prozac continues, though. Mike Richards, DVM Psychogenic Alopecia? Q: I have a cat cat prozac with what I think is psychgenic alpaca, I found this out by looking through your index of info on cats. I am unsure as how to treat this because my cat "Jack" hasn't had any major disruptions in his life (to the best of my knowledge) so I'm not sure how to make him "less stressed out". He has always been very skittish and only comes around for attention at bed time (Primarily an outdoor cat). Do you think it would be helpful to start a routine of brushing every day, or some activity that he enjoys??? He doesn't have fleas, but could this be a dermatological problem??? I would never take my cat to a "pet psychologist" but I'm really at a loss as to what to do, his belly is completely bald, and now he's working on his flanks, pulling the hair in large tufts!! Any advice would be greatly appreciated and by the way thank you for providing such a cat prozac helpful service!!!! A: Jack may have psychogenic alopecia but it is also possible that this could be flea cat prozac allergy, inhalant allergy or parasitic infection (Demodex or notoedric mange). It would be worth having your vet examine him to be sure that none of these other problems is likely. Flea allergy is particularly important to eliminate. In several studies of cats with this condition no fleas were found on exam of the affected cats in a majority of the cases. Apparently, cats are very efficient at cat prozac removing fleas from their bodies if they are allergic to the bites and irritated by the flea. If this is cat prozac not a physical condition, it is sometimes beneficial to do things like grooming or games which distract your cat. Antihistamines seem to help some cat prozac cats cat prozac even when the problem seems to be psychogenic. There are several anti-anxiety medications which can be helpful and it is often possible to cat prozac use them for a cat prozac relatively short duration of time then wean the cat off the medications. Sometimes, just cat prozac breaking the habitual cycle of licking and chewing helps for a long time. Mike Richards, DVM What is catnip? Catnip (Nepeta cat prozac cataria) is an herb which contains the active ingredient cis-trans-nepetalactone which may cat prozac be an hallucinogenic drug. Only about half the cats exposed to catnip react to it and this reaction appears to be influenced by genetics. Mike Richards, DVM Keeping off furniture Q: Our daughter cat prozac gave us a beautiful Persian cat- our first . She is absolutely perfect except that we cannot seem to train her to stay off the cat prozac furniture. Is this a realistic expectation? We both work and she makes herself comfortable on all furniture, leaving cat prozac behind telltale hair. We have tried foil, but it is not attractive.. Please help- we enjoy her so much, but this is quite a problem for me. A: We solved this problem in our household by getting couch cat prozac covers. They only come off when we cat prozac are having important guests (so about once or twice a year :). Scat mats are supposed to work well to cat prozac prevent this behavior. They cause an electric shock when the cat steps on them. Mike Richards, DVM Personality Change Q: Dear Dr. Mike-My cat is about 13 years old and has recently become very high-strung. He is very sensitive to noise and hides under cat prozac my bed often. Along with this edgy behavior, he pulls his hair out around his tail and hind legs. We worried about this problem for a while, but were told cat prozac that there is nothing we can do about it. We thought maybe he pulled his hair out because he needed a friend ( our other cat prozac cat and cat prozac dog had recently died), so we bought another older cat. Although the first few days with the new cat were strange, he stopped pulling his hair out for a while and they get along perfectly. Since then, though, he has resumed this strange behavior many times. We recently moved cat prozac into a new house, and we expected him to have some problems adjusting to the new house. He seemed OK at first, and pulled his hair out a little, but nothing unusual. We have been in the new house for almost 2 months now, and suddenly, we are finding hair EVERYWHERE! He is pulling it out almost non-stop, compulsively. Is this most likely a psychological issue or could it be cat prozac a skin disorder? Is there anything we can cat prozac do about this problem? Thank you. A: Whenever a cat shows a change in personality when it is over 9 or 10 years cat prozac old, the first thing I suspect is hyperthyroidism. Many older cats are affected by this problem and they have some or all of the following symptoms: increase in appetite, weight loss, increased heart rate, restlessness, anxiety, increased activity, increased cat prozac vocalization ("talking" more), changes in grooming behavior, cat prozac and increase in drinking or urination. It is usually fairly easy to tell if this problem is present with blood testing but sometimes it gets tricky in borderline cat prozac cases. It is possible to cat prozac see adult onset allergies which lead to chewing and licking on the haircoat. This behavior is seen in cats when they are bored or stressed, too. Both losing his first friend and having to adjust to a new friend are stresses. Even good stress can lead to this cat prozac behavior. There are medications which usually control cat prozac symptoms of allergy. Corticosteroids are very effective if allergies cat prozac are the problem, in most cats. A short course of therapy for this problem may be useful in identifying it. Keep working with your vet to resolve this problem. If your vet really is out of ideas, ask about referral to cat prozac a veterinary dermatologist. Sometimes that stimulates your vet to try other ideas -- and if not, cat prozac you and your cat will benefit from the experience of the dermatologist, cat prozac hopefully. Mike Richards, DVM Cat index Dog Index Vetinfo | Catinfo | Doginfo | Canine Encyclopedia | Feline Encyclopedia | VetInfo Digest Tiercom | Books| Links This page is authored by Michael Richards, DVM and produced by TierCom, Inc. Opinions expressed are those of Dr. Richards. Designed and edited by Michal Justis Copyright ©1996,1997,1998,1999,2000,2001,2002- TierCom, Inc Aggression Between Cats Sitemap vetinfo vetindex vetinfo4cats catindex vetinfo4dogs dogindex Subscriber Area Tiercom Links Feline Encyclopedia Canine Encyclopedia Subscriber Info- Secure e-mail subscription form Please cat prozac note: The information on our site is for everyone to read. Please use it cat prozac as often as you like. Please use the search engine or one of the indexes to see if the information you need is already online. Subscriber Info The income from the subscriptions helps defray the cost of maintaining the site and allows us to keep the large amount of information on www.vetinfo.com free to our readers. Behavior - Aggression between Cats Territoriality problems between catsAggression between cats Aggression between cats Getting cats to get along Aggression between housemate cats Cats fighting after one visited the Vet Aggression between cats Cat cat prozac aggression Aggression - medical therapy Severe aggression between cats Inter-Cat aggression Intercat aggression Aggression between cats also see cat aggression Territoriality problems between cats Question: Greetings cat prozac Dr. Richards, I am a cat prozac subscriber to the Vetinfo digest cat prozac and I have a question regarding my cats I wanted to ask you about. I have two 91/2 yr old female cats (had them since they were 4 wks old), both sisters, from the same litter cat prozac (missy & sissy). Usually them get along great, play with each other & groom each other all the time. They are both indoor/outdoor. 3 days ago, missy cat prozac was outside & I saw her come to the cat prozac door & she could hardly walk/stand. She couldn't move her right hind leg. She had been walking a little funny on that leg for a couple of months. I had taken her to her Dr. then & it seemed everything was ok & I was to give her baby aspirin. I took her to cat prozac the Dr. this time cat prozac & they took X-rays & saw no broken bones/wounds but saw a small cat prozac piece of bone floating in her knees & looked like she had arthritis & she must have injured/sprained her leg such that she couldn't use that leg. The Dr. prescribed some pain killers & antibiotics. After I brought missy back from the vet's, sissy, her sister, refuses to recognize her & if she gets cat prozac too close, she will threaten cat prozac her. This is not the first time this has happened. 2 yrs ago, missy was in the hospital for 3 days due to cat prozac chronic vomitting & cat prozac after she got back, cat prozac sissy would not cat prozac recognize her & wouldn't come inside the house while missy was cat prozac inside. It took her a long time (maybe 2 months) to come around to recognizing & accepting her. It seems to be happening again. Can you explain this behavior ? Is it because missy is sick that she emits a different/foreign smell which sissy doesn't recognize. Is there something one can do about this ? I cat prozac will cat prozac appreciate cat prozac any thoughts/suggestions you might have. Thanks for your time & a great job you're doing on vetinfo. Regards, cat prozac Hemanshu Answer: Hemanshu - I am hopeful that Sissy is cat prozac accepting Missy again by now. I think that this sort of behavior occurs in cats due to territoriality. It just doesn't seem to take much time at all for one cat to feel that it now owns the whole house and wants no intruders, even one that was formerly a housemate. I do not have cat prozac a sure fire treatment for this condition. It sometimes helps to use Feliway (tm) spray in the house prior cat prozac to bringing the cat home who has been gone for a while and cat prozac then to use it for a couple of weeks afterwards. It is a pheromone spray that cat prozac is supposed to induce a cat prozac friendly or calm feeling in cats. We have tried using anti-anxiety medications in this circumstance in a couple of cases, with variable luck. We have been using buspirone (Buspar Rx) but it sometimes makes cats more aggressive so it is a little bit of a risk to use this medication. Some vets like to use amitriptyline (Elavil Rx) or paroxetine cat prozac (Paxil Rx) but we have not tried either of these medications so I can't give you a personal perspective on them. It may help to cat prozac keep the cats in separate cat prozac areas of the house for the first few days and to switch cat prozac the areas that they are in, so that each cat gets cat prozac used to the other one's presence again cat prozac gradually. This sometimes helps when introducing a new cat into the household. Mike Richards, DVM 1/9/2002 Aggression between cats Question: Dear cat prozac Dr. cat prozac Richards, I have 2 housemate indoor cats in a tiny (700 sq ft) one bedroom condo. The male, Toby, is 10 yrs old, 18 lbs, a black & white Tuxedo cat; the female, Lily, just turned 4, weighs 7 cat prozac lbs, and is an Abbysinian mix. They have been together for 3 years and usually get along O.K. Never really have been great buddies, however. Occasionally, Toby will approach Lily in a aggressive manner and she will back off and run away. cat prozac She has a couple of good cat prozac hiding places that Toby cannot get into because he cat prozac is so big. She also will occasionally jump cat prozac on Toby's back in a kind of playful manner, and is not usually frightened of him. Toby's aggressive behavior has turned especially nasty and more or less constant since lst Friday, however. I had been in the hospital for major surgery for 3 nites just prior to this and a friend stayed with the cats. He has done this often in the past when I've had to travel on business for as much as 2 weeks, cat prozac so cat prozac this was really nothing unusual. Toby now chases Lily every time he comes across her and cat prozac even stalks her cat prozac if she is anywhere he can see her. Yesterday, he attacked her while she was in the litter box. (I have two boxes for them and they both use each freely). I had moved one of the boxes just cat prozac before I went into the hospital so I could reach it more readily. Not sure if that was enough to cause this problem, but I moved it back where it was previously. They have still been eating side by side if I can get Lily to come out of where she is hiding. She is definitely frightened of him now. I asked my friend if something had happened to set this off while I was in the hospital, and cat prozac he said nothing that he cat prozac knew of. There is no way to separate the cats in this condo which is really a glorified studio. I tried shutting Toby in the bathroom and he made such a ruckus banging and scratching at the door that I had to let him out or risk waking the entire building occupants cat prozac up. To add to this problem, we will be moving in about a month to the Big Island of Hawaii. cat prozac It will be to a much larger house, about 1800 sq ft. But not as many hiding places. And I know the move will be traumatic in itself. I have a homeopathic anxiety remedy, HomeoPet, which contains Cypripedium Pubescens 6c & cat prozac 30c, Ignatia Amara 6C & 30C, Borax 6C & 30C, Nux Vomica 6C & 30C, cat prozac Colchicum Autumnale 6C & 30C, Veratrum Album 6C & 30C, 20% alcohol USP in distilled water. Have been giving 3 drops 3 times/day to Lily as directed cat prozac on the bottle -- thought is cat prozac to calm her down so she is less frightened of Toby. It seems to set him off more if she appears scared. Is this anxiety remedy worthwhile? She seems a bit better today, and we have not had any attacks. I have been able to stave any off by speaking sternly to Toby and squirting him with cat prozac water. But he still cat prozac stares at Lily constantly with huge pupils when he is awake. And I cannot stay with them all the time. Any thoughts from you will be appreciated. We are not sleeping well here. Cats are both due for annual check at vet in about 3 weeks. Should I move visit up? I really hesitate to use drugs -- would like natural remedy or behavior cat prozac mod. Thank you, Virginia Answer: Virginia- I don't think that it is likely that there is a physical cause for the behavior that you are seeing, so I suspect that moving up the vet office visit won't help, unless your vet has a special interest in behavioral problems. I do not have faith in homeopathic medicine, but I do think that the products are safe if they are prepared properly cat prozac for homeopathic use. So if you wish to try them and don't mind the expense there is no reason not to. We have been having some luck, especially in situations cat prozac like this, in which cats used to have a truce going, with the use of Feliway (tm). It is a synthetic pheromone manufactured to match the cheek pheromones of cats, which is their cat prozac "friendly" pheromone. Spraying it around the house following the directions for urine spraying behavior (what it cat prozac is approved to treat) seems cat prozac to help calm down aggression between cats, too. This is not a proven use of this product and it is sort of expensive, too --- so that part of this advice matches the use of homeopathic cat prozac products. It is cat prozac safe but it there isn't any proof cat prozac it will help, either. You have cat prozac some time to build a cat complex with a hiding spot small enough for Lily or just to build her a carpeted box with a small enough hole for her and not him, if it looks like nothing else is going to work. Moving might actually help in a situation like this. It might makes things worse, too, but I like to be optimistic until reality forces me not to be. It might help to let Lily have first crack at roaming the house alone by keeping Toby in a cat carrier until she is very familiar with the house and its layout. That could give her an advantage if there is trouble and it might make it seem more like it is "her" house, which might slow cat prozac Toby's aggression some. It is a very good idea to ask your vet about this and it cat prozac might be good to notify the receptionist, when you make the visit, that you have a behavioral question, in case they want to schedule a little extra time. Mike Richards, DVM 9/13/2000 Aggression between cats Question: Dear cat prozac Dr. Mike: In June, I rescued a stray kitten, Bongo, (DSH), from the road side, and after he received his shots and was tested for the standard illnesses, we brought him home. We also have a 5 year cat prozac old female DSH, Ty, who has never been very nice to anyone except me and my husband. We kept the 2 cats separated for 10 days and cat prozac then introduced them. Since then, Ty has become aggressive toward me and my husband, cat prozac and she despises the kitten, although she has never hurt him. Our home's floor plan will not permit us to "zone" the house - we would have to keep one of the cats shut up in a room to keep them cat prozac separated. Ty is depressed, non-responsive, ill as a hornet, etc... I've consulted with my vet and we've tried clomicalm and buspar, neither of which worked. It's difficult to give Ty medication because she won't allow us to touch her, and she never took pills easily. I contacted cat prozac a vet/behaviorist in North Carolina, but the earliest appointment she has is in November. I would like to find a vet/behaviorist in my state, South Carolina. Do you know of anyone cat prozac in SC (my vet doesn't) and I cannot find a website with this information. I am in dire need. cat prozac If I can't find a vet/behaviorist, would a non-vet behaviorist be a wise alternative? I love both my cats, but I cannot stand cat prozac seeing Ty so unhappy much longer. Thanks for your input. Best, Wyn Answer: Wyn- I do not know of a behaviorist in South Carolina, either. There is a behavioral consultation service from Tufts University online, though. It might be worth checking into it. cat prozac The link is: http://www.tufts.edu/vet/petfax/about.html I cat prozac think that there is a behaviorist at the University of Georgia cat prozac veterinary school, too, just in case that would help. Buspirone has been cat prozac the best medication for us when dealing with aggression between cats and it has not worked in many cases. We have recently been using Feliway (tm) for situations of aggression between cats and it seems to help sometimes, too. cat prozac It might be worth trying. It cat prozac is made for controlling urine spraying but the same directions seem to help with introducing new cats to the household and in decreasing aggression some. I wish I could help more. Mike Richards, DVM 9/13/2000 Getting cats to get along Question: Dr Richards, Thank you very much for all of the valuable information that you have provided. Fortunately, everything checked out ok. We did not run blood work to check for hyperthyroidism, as cat prozac Natasha was not eating any more than usual or losing any weight. There was no glucose/sugar in the urine, no crystals, and the concentration was perfect. I think it must just be the food, as the other cat also drinks alot of water. The new cat (Sugar) probably drinks less water than Natasha, because she eats less cat prozac food. Anyway, cat prozac I would like the 2 cats to be friends. I would like Natasha to use the litter box again on her own. cat prozac What is the best way to socialize them? Your ideas and input on this subject would be cat prozac very much appreciated. Thanks. Shari Answer: Shari- I can't offer a lot of hope cat prozac for your situation. Cats that do cat prozac not get along after three or four weeks together often will not ever get along. I have several clients who are doing exactly what you do in order to make the situation livable -- they make sure that the cat who is most bothered by the presence of the other cat has some private time with the cat prozac litterpan and an hour or so a day alone in a protected spot, at least. We have had some luck, recently, using Feliway cat prozac (tm) spray to try to keep cats calm around each other. It has worked in a few cat prozac situations that were are chronic as yours. The spray is actually made to stop urine spraying in the house but it seems to help in some cases of aggression between cats and since it isn't applied to the cats it should have no harmful cat prozac effects. Alternatively, buspirone (Buspar Rx) sometimes helps to limit aggression between cats, too. It has cat prozac to be used very carefully, though, since it sometimes cat prozac actually results in more aggression due to decreasing inhibitions. So a really mean cat may just get meaner but a cat that is aggressive due to fear is likely to be less aggressive when given buspirone. It cat prozac is sometimes recommended to give the buspirone to the cat that is being attacked, to decrease its reactions to the other cat, which sometimes decreases the other cat's desire or need to attack. We have only partial success with these approaches but they may be worth a try. Mike Richards, DVM 9/10/2000 Aggression between housemate cats Question: Dear Dr Mike Historically, all of out cats have gotten along well with each other. In the past week or cat prozac so, our four year old, neutered cat, Mulder, cat prozac has started terrorizing the three other cats in our home. He is being especially nasty to his litter mate, Scully. He starts by chasing cat prozac her around the house, cornering her and chewing on anything he can grab - like her legs- or pouncing on her as she walks by. It cat prozac is not just playing, he is persistently nasty. We started off by separating them as soon as he starts he comes back for more once the dust has settled. We are now squirting him with a water bottle once we see him pick on her, followed by locking him in another room for an hour or so until all has calmed down. This usually happens in the evening and he is also less loving and cat prozac less demanding for attention than he usually is. The background to all cat prozac of this is we moved to Seattle three months ago and installed an Invisible Fence system (six weeks ago) to cat prozac keep the cats on the property. Mulder was the first to explore and 'master' the system. He is now first out and last in at night and loves being outdoors. On several occasions, we have found a neighbors cat prozac cat sitting in our yard, on the other side of the Invisible Fence, watching our cats watch him. Mulder has gone after him in a nose to nose stare down on a couple of occasions but now the intruder cat just stays on the other side of the force field and glares at them. He did have two run ins with the other cat last week. The only cat prozac other visitor to the yard is a very dim squirrel that Mulder has befriended. Mulder sits about a foot away from the squirrel as it devours the bird food. Whenever I can I chase the squirrel off but the cat doesn't seem worried by its presence. There is construction going on in the lot behind ours but none of the cats seem worried by it. As none of our attempts to stop this aggressive behavior have worked effectively, we are now at cat prozac our wits end, do you think he is just spooked from the evil neighbor cat? How long do we give it before we look to drugs to alter his nasty disposition? Will giving him more (positive) attention change his cat prozac behavior? Many thanks - Elizabeth Answer: Elizabeth- Well, you managed to list three of the most likely triggers for aggression between housemate cats all in one letter. That may make it hard to sort through the problem. Moving seems to upset the balance between cats in a household fairly frequently. I am not sure why cat prozac this is, but perhaps it is a need to establish new individual territories within the new home or maybe it is just insecurity and cat prozac stress. Cats who are indoor/outdoor cats have a stronger tendency to have territorial aggression than cats who stay indoors. I am not sure why this is, but it probably has to do with territorial pressures, such as urine marking, which they encounter outdoors. When cats who were previously indoor only are allowed to become indoor/outdoor cats there is sometimes a marked cat prozac increase in territorial aggression. When a cat feels challenged by an outsider, as is almost certainly happening between your Mulder and the outside cat cat prozac he is having staring contests with, there is often an increase in aggression towards housemates. Sometimes male cats just seem to grow into aggressive behavior. In dogs this seems to be an age related effect that has to do cat prozac with social status but I don't think that really applies well to cats. Still, it seems like some male cats just get more and more territorial as they get cat prozac older. So that may a contributing factor, too. The dilemma you have is that Mulder likes to go in and out. This always makes it hard to decide how to deal with the aggression. One approach would be to keep him in and to keep the windows covered so that he doesn't feel threatened by the outside cat. However, this changes a lifestyle that he is fond of and it may not work now that the aggressive behavior has been triggered. An alternative cat prozac treatment is to use an anti-anxiety medication, such as amitriptyline (Elavil Rx) or fluoxetine (Prozac Rx). Sometimes buspirone (Buspar Rx) can be helpful but it also sometimes increases aggressive behavior, so you have to be careful when using it. We have had some luck getting aggression to calm down some in multi-cat households by using Feliway (tm), cat prozac which cat prozac is a synthetic pheromone preparation. It is actually made to cut down on urine marking but it works by simulating a phermonally cat prozac friendly environment, which does cat prozac seem to help in some cats of inter-cat aggression. Oddly, it sometimes cat prozac helps a lot to medicate the cat that is getting attacked. In this case, buspirone does seem to be a good medication to start with. It relieves anxiety enough that the Scully might cat prozac not induce attacks with fearful behaviors and if it does make her more cat prozac aggressive towards him, cat prozac that might resolve the problem, cat prozac too. Since you probably don't want to change Mulder's access to cat prozac the yard at this time (just guessing) and since it is easier to use Feliway and less likely to cause any futher cat prozac problems, I think I'd recommend it as a first try, even though it may not work. If it cat prozac doesn't, you will cat prozac have to decide whether to try to limit Mulder's access to the outdoors and the threatening cat or to consider medications. That is going to be cat prozac a harder choice. I don't think that you can influence cat prozac his behavior in this situation by increasing the attention he gets, but I could be wrong. There probably isn't any reason not to try this approach. I wish I had a truly easy solution to offer. Mike Richards, DVM 3/30/2000 Cats fighting after one visited Vet Q: I am a subscriber to the newsletter and find the information helpful. I took Patches to the vet to have her teeth cleaned, since then her mother and sister have been spitting cat prozac and fighting with her, about 8 days now. What causes this behavior and what can be done to change it? Also the vet has her on clindamycin twice a day until she finishes the bottle ~ 20 ml. Is this the usual dose and length of treatment? Thank you. Linda A: Linda- I am not sure why cats that were living together peacefully cat prozac find reasons to dislike each other after one of them cat prozac leaves the house for treatment at the vet's cat prozac but this is not an uncommon problem. Unfortunately, I don't have a lot of good advice about what to do when this happens. In most cases, the cats cat prozac will eventually re-establish their normal cat prozac relationship but in some cases they need help. Sometimes just keeping the cats in separate rooms for a few days and switching them back and cat prozac forth between rooms will allow them to get used to the idea that they have to cat prozac live with each other again. The product Feliway (TM), which is a synthetic phermone that is calming to cats can sometimes help cats make the transition back to normal relationships. Feliway isn't made to be sprayed on pets directly -- spraying it around the room at strategic spots like the corners of furniture helps to produce an environment that encourages calmness among the cats. Your veterinarian can get Feliway for you if you want to try it. This use is not what the label claim is for but there are some research projects that suggest it will help in this sort of cat prozac situation. The other alternative is cat prozac to use an anti-anxiety medication and give it to one or more of the cats. If one cat is cat prozac fearful it helps to medicate that cat as the the fearful behavior seems to incite things. If you can't identify which cat is the problem you might have to resort to medicating everybody. We have tried both approaches in our practice and have had more success when we could figure out which cats were anxious over the situation and treated them specifically than we have had when we have given up and treated everyone. One of the problem with this approach is that it is often necessary to cat prozac give the medications for a month or more in order to keep the fights from re-occurring and then to taper cat prozac the dosage off over a couple of weeks. Plus, it is best not to give medications if other approaches will work. Clindamycin (Antirobe Rx) is usually used for at least 10 days when it is used for cat prozac dental infections. For most cats, the entire bottle (20ml) is the right amount for 10 days dosing, as 1cc twice a day or cat prozac 2cc once a day is the right dose for a 10 lb. cat -- or one that is within a couple of pounds of cat prozac that weight in cat prozac either direction. It can be repeated at intervals, if necessary, for chronic periodontal problems. Mike Richards, DVM 5/5/99 Aggression between cats Q: Dr. Mike, I just finished reading your information on Cat Attacks - ankle biting, etc. Your article indicated most cats chill after they get older, over 5 yrs. My problem is my cat seems to be becoming more aggressive with age. Our house had 3 cats. 2 male, 1 female. The 1 male/female were brother & sister. They always got along fine - after we had them for 1 yr - we adopted a kitten who was born from a stray street cat - the mother looked like a seal point siamese - but the kitten was black/white long hair - so we went from 2 to 3. Both existing cats had been neutered/spayed before "Spud"'s arrival. Spud got cat prozac along well with the male but the female has never cat prozac liked him - ever. cat prozac Spud is now going to be 10 years old in October. The female just turned 11 in May and unfortunately, the peacemaker of the group had to be put down about 3 years ago - so now the house is 1 male and 1 female. The female still every cat prozac single day, spits and hisses at Spud as if she hates him. cat prozac We have all just accepted it. Spud started "biting" us about 18 months ago. At first he just nipped the ankles now and then. You'd be petting him and cat prozac he'd nip and run. The last 8 months he'd been really chomping down hard, drawing blood. The last attack was yesterday, I was lying in bed rubbing him, he was purring soundly, he moved to the pillow next to me to lay down - my son was next to him lying down also (son is 6 yrs old). My cat prozac son was extremely still just laying there and Spud moved to him as if to rub his head on my son's forearm but instead he took a bite. A big bite, drew cat prozac blood and then cat prozac raced out of the room. He's bit my daughter while doing her homework, my mother while she was rubbing his back, etc. the list goes on. The bites don't seem to be provoked - they happen cat prozac either during petting or after you stop. You can not tell when he's going to do it. The last time cat prozac he bit someone before this last incident was 3 months ago - so it's not like it happens everyday. I'm getting concerned - my kids do not want anything to do with him and are getting more frightened of this fluffy adorable (for the most part) cat. Do you think he's acting out on cat prozac his frustration of the female cat? Is the fact that he's 1/2 siamese have anything to do with it? He's on Science Diet Senior - goes to the vet cat prozac every cat prozac year and is proclaimed healthy - about 3-4 pounds over weight but healthy. He weighs about 14 pounds. Do you have any insight? Or could you recommend cat prozac a cat prozac behavioral specialist in cat prozac my area - live in Anaheim Hills, CA. Thank you for your time. A: M- I am not familiar enough with cat prozac California to know how close you are to Davis, CA but there are good behaviorists there. For aggression it really does help a great deal to deal directly with a behaviorist if at all possible. This is not an easy thing to do in many areas of the country, unfortunately. Cats and dogs do sometimes display "displaced aggression" - taking out their aggressive tendencies on something other than the inciting cause of them. Usually this happens right at the time of the aggressive cat prozac frustration in dogs. A common example of this would be a dog cat prozac that is inside a fence, barking at something outside the fence in an aggressive frenzy, then turning and biting a person or companion dog inside the fence with it. Cats may have a delayed response, possibly because they just stay aroused longer in aggressive situations. This may occur when the cat cat prozac is prevented from carrying out an aggressive "attack" on another cat or is stimulated by territorial pressures cat prozac that can't be relieved. That may apply in this situation since cat prozac Spud doesn't like your female cat. If this is the case there is some chance that an anti-anxiety medication such as buspirone (Buspar Rx) may help -- but this medication will sometimes just lower the inhibitions against aggression and cat prozac make it worse, too. I don't have any good suggestions other than that, though. In an older cat exhibiting aggressive behavior that seems different from past behavior, it is best to rule out hyperthyroidism and to try to rule out other systemic illnesses as well. If specific testing cat prozac for hyperthyroidism has not been done it may be worthwhile to do this even though your cat isn't exhibiting other signs of the problem. If these attacks are truly happening for no reason it is going to be very hard cat prozac to stop them. If you are lucky enough to live near a behaviorist's practice it may be helpful to ask your vet to refer you for a consultation. Mike Richards, DVM Cat aggression Q: We had two cats, a male and a female. Two weeks ago, a stray female cat came to join the family. She was very friendly and happy to get along with everyone. Our other female, Tessa, obviously threatened by the new arrival, has made the most of every opportunity to attack the new cat. How should we best go about integrating these animals. We do keep them apart most of the time and only allow them to be together under supervision but this can't be a permanent option. Please could you give us some pointers as to what we need to do to make this a workable situation. Thank you for your time. Caroline A: Caroline- It can be very hard to get cats to accept each other. In a situation cat prozac in which the cats are outside cats or inside/outside cats it is especially difficult since it is harder to keep the cats separate for awhile while they get used to each other's smells and presence. In most cases these problems work out with time. I hope this is true for your cats. If not, I have very little practical advice other than that on the cat prozac web site currently. Mike Richards, DVM Aggression between cats - medical therapy Q: Dear Dr. Mike: I've read your postings on cat aggression and feel that you might be the one to help cat prozac us with our problem. We have two 6 year-old, spayed females who were born in the house and have remained inside cats since birth. Tegan is a somewhat shy and rather gentle cat, normally very silent and non-vocal. cat prozac Tootie is more outgoing, curious, and VERY vocal. cat prozac The two have enjoyed friendly relations since birth. (Not much mutual grooming, but often cat prozac they would sit side by side in the window watching birds, tails switching in cat prozac unison, and would nap on the same bed.) Just recently, however, Tegan seems to have stopped cat prozac recognizing Tootie and reacts to her as if she were a strange cat prozac cat; e.g., hissing at her, running, hiding, and when cornered, attacking her. cat prozac (No blood drawn so far, but I'm concerned about somebody losing an eye.) What is more astonishing, in this most silent of cats, she growls intensely, cat prozac the growl rising to a scream as Tootie gets nearer. In six years I've never heard her do that. She also defecates and urinates during their fights. (Which they don't have unless she is cornered and can't evade Tootie, who just seems cat prozac to want to find out what's wrong rather than actively go after her. Tootie will often adopt a submissive posture to try to get Tegan to lighten up. No dice.) On the advice cat prozac of our vet we have resorted to keeping them separated, and have tried diazepam, (which seemed to stress them more) without success. We are at our wits end. Our vet says he's never seen anything like it as we can't account for the change by any sudden stressor or disruption of their routine and heretofore they have gotten along fine. One thing I've noticed, Tegan seems to react strongly to Tootie's smell and my spouse has suggested a bath for each of them to see if cat prozac that would help. I've also thought that boarding them out for a weekend, together (but in separate cages) might help. What do you think? We live in a small SW town and don't cat prozac have access to an animal behavioralist. I'm sure our vet would be glad to try anything to help us solve this. Any ideas? We'd both appreciate it as this behavior is really disrupting our sleep. (Tootie bangs on our bedroom cat prozac door and howls like a banshee when she wants in or out. Prior to this, they both had the run of the house.) Thanks for your site. It was cat prozac comforting to read other cat prozac postings cat prozac from cat owners and realize we weren't alone in this. John- A: Am sorry that I am so far behind in answering questions. If a physical exam cat prozac reveals no sign of physical illness contributing to the behavioral problems it may cat prozac be necessary to consider trying different medical therapies to see if one will work. Alternatives to diazepam include buspirone (Buspar Rx), amitriptyline (Elavil Rx) and fluoxetine (Prozac Rx). Buspirone is the medication I have seen recommended most often in these situations in the past. cat prozac It has to be used cautiously until its action can be determined because it will occasionally cause an increase in aggressive behavior cat prozac which is the opposite of cat prozac what you are hoping for. Lately, it seems like Prozac is gaining favor among veterinarians due to its mechanism of action (sparing seritonin). This seems like a natural way to inhibit aggression since it seems to be tied to low seritonin levels. The major drawback is expense. Amitriptyline has a similar effect (it increases seritonin) but by a different action. It is a good choice if expense is important as it works well in some instances and is much less costly. Medical therapy without identifying the underlying cause is not ideal but without the availability of a behaviorist it may be your only option. If medications work it is best to taper off the dosage and discontinue the medication, if possible, after a month or so of "normal" behavior. Mike Richards, cat prozac DVM Severe Aggression Between Cats Q: I would be most grateful for any information. OUR PROBLEM: Severe, injury causing aggession between two male cats. Both cats neutered, physiologically healthy. "Sebastion" is the aggressor - "Pippy" fights back when attacked but does not initiate attacks. This problem started about a year after Pippy joined the household. At first they played fine, then increasingly roughly, as time went on their rough play escalated into cat prozac serious (injury causing) fighting. Sebastion was declawed as a kitten (before we owned him); he came to us as a one year old. Pippy was a stray - he was about 2 months old when we took him in, claws intact. cat prozac Sebastion incurred so many injuries (and high vet bills) we finally resorted to declawing Pippy. He is much smaller (11 lbs. vs. 18 lbs.) but a "street mean" fighter. However, he never initiates attacks. Despite the fact that I keep them separated, cat prozac Sebastion has developed a obsessive fixation with finding Pippy. Obsessively looking, sniffing, etc. - if he sees him through a screen or door, he will rip the screen apart cat prozac with his cat prozac teeth cat prozac or try to destroy the door to get at him - quite psychotic behavior. When not obsessing about Pippy, he acts like his old normal, lovable self. Getting rid of one of them is not cat prozac an available option. Sebastion has been on on Buspar 15mg a day (5 mg t.i.d) which has helped only marginally. My Vet's other suggestion is Valium. I don't think a tranquilizer is the right approach or will help solve the problem. I have asked her about the effectiveness of psychotropic drugs like Prozac and Elavil cat prozac but she is unfamiliar with cat prozac using them. She is willing to work with me on this if I can find data about their use/safety/effectiveness on cats. Could you steer me to some credible sources of information on the use of pyschotropic drugs in cats. On-line cat prozac info I could print up and take to her would be really helpful. My apologies for cat prozac the long message and my deep gratitude for any assistance you can give us. A: Aggression between cats is a difficult problem. In some cases it seems almost unresolvable. I have several clients cat prozac who have finally just resorted to keeping their cats in separate parts of the house, all the time. We have used medications for these problems cat prozac and some of cat prozac the time they either cat prozac worked or the cats finally worked out their problems. It is always hard to tell which of those two possibilities really happened. Amitriptylline is sometimes helpful when given to the aggressor cat. It is used by giving 5mg twice a day or 5 cat prozac to 10mg once cat prozac a day (the recommendation seems to vary and may cat prozac be based entirely on the cat's response to medication). Anti-anxiety medications can be helpful when given to the cat cat prozac who is being attacked, IF the cat reacts with a great deal of nervousness or hair-raising and running away. That sort of behavior tends to cat prozac egg on the cat prozac aggressor cat. By using an anti-anxiety medication like diazepam cat prozac (Valium Rx) or buspirone (Buspar Rx) in the "victim" cat to reduce cat prozac these behaviors, the attacking cat may be less likely to be stimulated to attack. I have not run across any information on using fluoxetine (Prozac Rx) in aggressive cats but that is being done in dogs, sometimes with apparent success, so it is possible it would cat prozac work. Good luck with this. Mike Richards, DVM Inter-cat aggression, new cat: Q: Hi, We have three cats, two females 4 and 5 years old, and a male, 2 years old. All have been neutered and live pretty happily together. Recently we got cat prozac custody of a fourth cat, a seven month old kitten. We tried to find a home for her while keeping her isolated in a bedroom. But no one seems to want her, so we decided to increase our little clan to four.The problem is that since we've begun letting the four spend controlled amounts of time together, trying to get them used to one another, there has cat prozac been an incredible increase in aggressive behavior from the females. The kitten doesn't seem to understand what all the growling and cat prozac hissing is about and tries to play with them, which just makes it worse. The male has adopted an "I don't care" attitude and stays out of it. It's only been a week since we started this. cat prozac Do you have any suggestions that might make the transition easier, we don't want cat prozac to have to put the kitten in the local shelter... Thanks! A: Once you get more than two cats, the possibility of territorial aggression surfacing gets pretty high. By the time you have four or five cats, it is very high. It is hard to stop territorial aggression. Sometimes, it can help to separate the cats in different areas of the house for a few days. Switch the areas they are confined to so they get used to the other cat's smells, sounds, etc. Then reintroduce them. If that doesn't help, it sometimes works to use medications such as amitriptylline (Elavil Rx) in the aggressive cats. Some cats eventually work out the problem between themselves without intervention. The last resort short of giving up the kitten is just keeping them separate all the time. I have a several clients that do this in their multicat households. It cat prozac isn't an ideal solution but it sometimes seems to be the only effective one. I hope your guys just adjust. Mike Richards DVM Inter-Cat Aggression: Q: Dr. Mike, I have an interesting problem which I hope you have some advice for. We have two cats: Annie (6 yrs) and Dum-Dum (3 yrs). We had Annie for 3 months before we got Dum-Dum. Annie became the dominant cat. We moved in with another person with one cat. Annie remained the dominant cat while Dum-Dum and the other cat played all the time. This lasted one year and then we moved again and our household became a two cat household once again. But, Dum-Dum became the dominant cat. He became aggressive toward Annie and harasses her constantly. We thought this might be occurring cat prozac because our apartment was rather small. We have moved into a much larger apartment and his behavior is still occurring. He chases her, bites her, and puts her in headlocks. Why did his behavior change and what can you cat prozac do to correct it? We have tried spraying him with water and have verbally tried to correct his behavior. When Annie was dominant she was not cat prozac this cat prozac aggressive. Can you help? A: In general, cats do not have the social structure that dogs do, so dominance behavior is less likely in them. Most cat disputes are territorial, predatory aggression that is redirected, or fear based. Sometimes play behavior in cats can look pretty rough, too. Many cats do not become territorial until they cat prozac are 2 to 5 years of age, so it is likely that Dum-Dum is just developing normal territorial cat prozac behaviors. Unfortunately, these behavioral patterns are a problem when cats must live together cat prozac indoors. It is pretty likely that the cat prozac veterinary school at UCD cat prozac has an animal behaviorist who can help you determine if territorial aggression is the problem and help in treating it. When possible, it helps a lot to consult with cat prozac a good behaviorist. In general, this is a difficult problem to deal with. If Annie is highly disturbed by the attacks and runs or hisses, she may be making the behavior worse in Dum-Dum, inadvertently. That would create a situation in which you might have to treat both cats -- Annie for the anxiety and nervousness that incites Dum-Dum to action and Dum-Dum for the aggressive territorial behaviors. Medications cat prozac can be useful in treating this situation. They do not always work, though. Sometimes people just resort to keeping the cats separate. If Annie isn't getting hurt (no bite wounds through the skin, abscesses, etc.) it may be OK just to live with the situation. If she is showing signs of stress from the attacks or is being injured, that isn't a viable solution. Anti-anxiety medications like diazepam (Valium Rx) might help Annie cope. If she gets upset and runs or is easily induced to display defensive postures (tail up and fluffed out,etc.) it might actually decrease the incidence of the attacks to medicate her. If she cat prozac is calmer, Dum-Dum won't feel the need to attack as often. For aggressive cats, cat prozac the anti-anxiety medications can work and medications that increase seritonin levels might cat prozac help as well. Amitriptylline (Elavil Rx) has been used to treat the aggressor cat in situations like this with variable cat prozac success. I am not sure if the newer cat prozac medications like fluoxetine (Prozac Rx) are being used successfully or not. Dum-Dum might be more agreeable towards Annie if medications relieve some of his aggressive tendencies. You can elect to separate them awhile and then try re-introducing them. Doing this by switching the parts of cat prozac the house they occupy, trading their food bowls cat prozac and litterpans, etc. can make give them a little time to get used to the idea of living together again. It can even help to allow them limited contact by putting Dum-Dum in a large dog crate and letting Annie have free roam of the house at the same time. Increasing cat prozac the time of exposure to each other this way over a few days might give Dum-Dum the idea that he is invading her territory and make him a little less likely to be aggressive about "his" territory. Good luck with this. Mike Richards, DVM Aggression after spaying Q: Dear Vet: I have male and female cats, two and one-half years old, who stay indoors and have been happily together since they were small kittens. He was neutered a long time ago. I just had her spayed six weeks ago. Three weeks ago she became very affectionate as if she were going into heat. That night they were looking at some raccoons out the window, and he must have startled her and she thought he was a raccoon in the house. She went after him and basically cat prozac tried to cat prozac kill him. They were streaking through the house, cat prozac and I finally caught them and pulled her off of him and locked her up. Luckily, she didn't turn on me. She was howling like she was in heat. About 40 minutes later I let cat prozac her out, and she did it again. By the time I got her this time, they both had drawn blood. I kept them separate for days, putting her cat prozac in a cage in the same room as him part of the time. After four days, she seemed normal, and I let her out. They were so happy to be together, and were fine for almost three weeks. A few days ago, she was again acting agitated and very affectionate, and she went after him again with no provocation. They seemed cat prozac to calm down pretty quickly, so the next day I let her out. They were fine for a few minutes, and then cat prozac she did it again. She's staying agitated this time, still acting threatening towards him, and often howling like she was in heat. I'm really afraid that if I wasn't there, she would have gone on until one of them was dead. cat prozac My male is twice her size, but he's scared to death. She's part Siamese, and has always been kind of a quirky little cat with some of cat prozac that wild, warrior spirit, but never anything like this. She's a calico too, and I understand they can be kind of difficult. Everybody always said she was so nice for a calico. Have you ever heard of a reaction like this to being spayed? Can cats get hormone therapy like people can? If you have any insight or suggestions, lease let me know. We love them both very much, and this is heartbreaking. Thank you A: There can be behavioral changes after anesthesia but they are reported to be short-term changes in most cases. I am not aware of an anesthetic agent used in cats which is associated with permanent behavioral change. cat prozac As far as I know, these problems usually resolve within 2 to 3 weeks in almost all cases and sooner than that in most. I would not be willing to say that a permanent behavioral change could not occur, though. Another common problem is simply the separation of two cats who previously did well together, even for short periods of time. I have been answering question online now for five years and have been asked several times over the course of that time about sudden fierce territorial behavior in cats when one cat was ill, had surgery or was boarded separately from the other one for any reason. cat prozac Several of the people who wrote saw this behavior after short durations of separation, even as short as an overnight stay. cat prozac Many cats get more territorial at about 2 to 5 years of age and this may just cat prozac be a manifestation of the need to re-establish a territory that gets way out of hand. It can help to treat one or both cats with behavior modifying medications. If your male cat prozac cat reacts to the attacks in a frightened manner, cat prozac running away, hissing, spitting or lots of "hair raising" then it might help reduce the severity of the attacks to use an anti-anxiety medication like diazepam (Valium Rx) or buspirone (Buspar Rx) to reduce his reaction to her and less the number of attacks. It can also cat prozac help to use medications like amitriptylline (Elavil Rx) or sometimes megestrol cat prozac acetate (Ovaban cat prozac Rx) in the aggressor cat. I'd be a little worried about using megetrol acetate in a female cat, though. Once cat prozac in cat prozac a while it seems to me that progesterone compounds make the female cats worse. Sometimes, using medications for a brief period of time will help. It is also possible that pain relief medications like butorphenol cat prozac (Torbutrol Rx) might help, just in case your female cat prozac cat is feeling some pain she isn't expressing well post-surgery. You cat prozac can also take the route of reintroducing the cats slowly to each other. Keep them cat prozac separate for a week or two but change the cat prozac rooms they cat prozac are kept in so they smell each other's smells and hear each cat prozac other. Then gradually reintroduce them, perhaps keeping the more aggressive cat in a crate for an extra day or so and letting her get used to seeing him cat prozac and being near him before letting cat prozac her out. This helps sometimes. Good luck with this. It is always a bummer to run into unexpected aggressive behavior when cats are separated, then reunited. Mike Richards, cat prozac DVM Last edited 08/17/02 Vetinfo | Catinfo | Doginfo | Canine Encyclopedia | Feline Encyclopedia | VetInfo Digest | Links Please do not send anything in attachment form. We will not be able to open it due to security risks. The entire content of the vetinfo4dogs.com website is and has been provided by Dr Michael Richards who is a veterinarian. We have discontinued the ask Dr Mike question and answer section cat prozac of our website at this time. Comments or information about our website, feedback, art info, broken links, spelling errors or help finding things on the site or anything else- e-mail Michal Justis E-mail for vetinfo.com is answered by Michal Justis, who is not a veterinarian (but is a Lady). This page is authored by Dr Michael Richards, DVM and produced by TierCom, Inc. Opinions expressed are those of Dr. Richards. 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They may do it more than other animals, but do they enjoy it more? Well, for a start, the male cat's penis is only about 3/4 of an inch cat prozac long. Furthermore, penetration only lasts cat prozac for a couple of seconds. (Cats definitely get the short end of the "stick" here since dogs may stay connected as long as 15 minutes.) But for cats, there is no foreplay before, no afterplay, no cuddling, no cigarette before, no cocktails afterwards. It's just a slam-bam-thank-you-ma'am affair and when cat prozac it's cat prozac over, the male doesn't even hang around long enough to get her phone number for a second date. Still, the female cat obviously likes it. REALLY likes it. Although she may start slower, she's usually the one with the most sexual stamina. After she has copulated with the male cat a few times, if her totally exhausted mate wants to stop, tough. She may push him to cat prozac do another round or even six. Some females cat prozac will wait until the male is ready to start again, while others don't cat prozac pussyfoot around. If her man cat prozac isn't interested in another roll in the cat prozac hay, the lady may just go and find someone cat prozac else to service her. (Sometimes, while two male cats are fighting over one female, cat prozac she goes off with someone else.) Indeed, she may mate up to 15 times in a session, with a half a dozen different cat prozac males during one cycle, and sex can go cat prozac on for hours or even days. HOW TO GET YOUR CAT TO LOVE YOU MORE There was once cat prozac a company that made cosmetics, body lotions and shampoos cat prozac containing cat prozac catnip to encourage cat prozac cats cat prozac to get close to those who applied cat prozac it. But here are better ways to get your little love to be more of a lap cat. After all, you want your cat to come to you and love you for yourself, not for your catnip. If your cat doesn't want to let you touch her, buy a toy you two can play together that keeps her near without any direct physical cat prozac contact. For example, a toy attached to string. Then, keep shortening the string so your cat becomes cat prozac increasingly more comfortable as she is cat prozac closer to you. Talk to her gently cat prozac and softly as you put down her food and stay with her while she eats so she associates you with her favorite activity--eating. Be close enough that she can see you, but not so close that she won't eat. Keep reinforcing her. If a cat will generally spend one minute on your lap before bolting, after cat prozac about 30 seconds, offer her a small food reward. Then, each time she sits in your lap, extend the reward a few seconds, reinforcing her at 40, 50, 60, 70 seconds, etc. Eventually, she may sit still for a while on your lap without having to be constantly reinforced. Let her come to you when she's ready; rather than your coming to her when you are. "Don't love your cat when you want to. Take your cue from her. She'll be more attentive to you if the attention is not forced," says Dr. Margaret Muns, a staff veterinarian in a pet forum at CompuServe. Ignore her. Some say not looking at her or having cat prozac anything to cat prozac do with her when you first get her--other than feeding her, of course--will lead cat prozac the cat to come to you. Don't use negative reinforcement. Don't scold her and don't ever hit her. Not only cat prozac doesn't it work, but with one loud scream or slap, you can undo all the other things above that were working so well for you. SHOULD YOUR CAT GO ON PROZAC? Should your cat become part of the Prozac Nation? "I give cats Prozac for a number of reasons," says Dr. cat prozac Steven Melman, sometimes jocularly called "The Pied Piper of Prozac for Pets." He explained that cats are most often given Prozac for "obsessive-compulsive cat prozac disorders, like when they pull their hair out for non-allergy reasons. With Prozac they often get better," says this veterinary dermatologist/behaviorist. Cats, like people with obsessive-compulsive disorder, may have a need to do something several times in a row or in a certain way. But unlike people, they can't check cat prozac a door five times after they go out to if it's locked. But Prozac {fluoxetine} has been known to help cats' obsessive-compulsive behavior, such as biting themselves repeatedly in one spot, or related nipple, flank, or paw sucking. Prozac also works for certain types of aggression as well as depression. "Cats become upset for various reasons. Say their families are breaking up, or their owner has a new boyfriend or girlfriend, is moving or cat prozac whatever," says Melman, of the Animal Dermatology and Behavior Clinic in Maryland. Since a cat can't directly tell you he's upset over these things, he may inappropriately urinate, defecate, or howl. "And Prozac may help with all of these," Dr. Melman stated. Incidentally, if your cat is displaying these symptoms, and you're on Prozac, don't give your cat your medicine because the dosages are different. And if you're having a Prozac moment, don't take your cat's pill for the same reason. SECRET SIGNS YOUR cat prozac CAT WILL ATTACK Some cats will attack not the hand that feeds them but the one that pets them. It's often hard to tell whether they really cat prozac will attack cat prozac or whether cat prozac they're just posturing. But the following are signs indicating that they're not just fooling around. A change in mood: Cats ready cat prozac for combat show a significant mood change, for example, they'll suddenly appear to be angry or frightened. Spitting and arching: Cats often spit when they want something, or want someone to stay away. But if they also arch their backs cat prozac or their fur rises while they're spitting, it means they're going to attack. A quick flick of the tongue over their lips may cat prozac show they're cat prozac becoming agitated. Ears forward means they're on the offense. Backwards cat prozac means cat prozac defense. Whiskers forward and possibly bristling is also a sign. A twitching tail or rippling body can show that they want cat prozac whatever is going on cat prozac to stop and that they might do something to insure it. The general cat prozac rule is: the faster cat prozac the tail is moving, the more agitated they are. Raised or curled lip. Although this is usually associated with dogs about to attack, it's something to watch out for cat prozac in cats as well. EMBARRASSING SEX BEHAVIOR OF YOUR CAT "When I pet my cat prozac cat near her tail, it immediately shoots up." Although it's been jokingly referred to as a "tail erection," the reason cats do this is that when they were cat prozac kittens and their mothers cleaned them, they raised their tails so she could "inspect" the area. (Incidentally, cat prozac if your cat puts her tail or bottom near your face, it means she's accepting you as the dominant person in the relationship.) "My male cats mount each other." This is not uncommon, especially if there are no female cats around. Yes, they could be cat prozac displaying sexual interest. But mounting between any sexes can also be a of dominance, or sometimes even just plain old boredom. (The same is probably true for people, too!) "My cat sneers when he sees an opposite sex cat." That cat prozac look of contempt cat prozac is actually "flehming." The cat takes an odor cat prozac and intensifies it by sending it up to another sense organ in his head. Almost all male cats "flehm" when they investigate the genitals of a female cat, and some female cats do it also. "When my male cat sees a female one, cat prozac his jaws start chattering." Cats sometimes do this in anticipation of something delicious. cat prozac Like when they see potential prey, such as a bird. So it could be a sign cat prozac of a hunger other than sexual. OFFBEAT WAY TO STOP YOUR TWO CATS FROM FIGHTING O sole me-ow. Music may prevent two cats from fighting! What kind works best? One woman with two constantly bickering cats kept classical music on for them all day while she cat prozac was away cat prozac and found it was the only thing that stopped them from fighting. Another cat owner, who also found that music diminished her cat's aggressiveness, found that classical harp music worked the best. Here are some more off-beat facts about music and your cat. A certain key may make kittens defecate and older cats become sexually aroused. (We'll tell you the note if you promise not to test it out for yourself: It's E in the cat prozac fourth octave. Don't write us about the results. We don't want to know.) Cats may respond to some music, for example, becoming happy when they hear the cat prozac theme song of a TV show. (Some cats are also attracted to mice who sing offkey. Bet you didn't cat prozac even know that they sang on key.) And if you start singing off key, your cat may meow in distress. (As will other people around you.) LEAVING YOUR CAT ALONE ALL DAY cat prozac First, it's not a bad idea to leave a radio on for your cat during the day while you're away. What type of program would cat prozac your cat like best? One that has s-CAT-alogical humor like Howard Stern? Will he RUSH for Limbaugh? Does Imus give him morning sickness? Whatever the person says, talk show stations are probably best, since human voices will give your cat the feeling that people are around, even if he can't see them. Secondly, we've heard of people who cat prozac call their cat prozac cat on the phone during cat prozac the day and leave a message the answering machine so the cat hears their voice cat prozac while they're gone. We think this would confuse as many cats as it would comfort, ("I hear Mommy but I don't see her") but we don't know, because so far we can't find anyone who admits to doing it. Stay tuned. Third, leave your cat something that smells of you (hey, we're not implying anything). One cat prozac man wore a T-shirt to bed each night so he could give it to his cat the next day when he went out. He cat prozac called it "baking" the shirt. But anything you've cat prozac worn, slept on (or sat on!) cat prozac would probably work cat prozac well, cat prozac without your having to cook cat prozac up anything special for your cat prozac cat. And, incidentally, if you're going to be gone cat prozac for cat prozac a while, say on vacation, Dr. Michael cat prozac Fox suggests you send your cat a "smell" letter. That's a piece of paper you've rubbed on cat prozac your cat prozac forehead, cat prozac hands, arm, and lightly under your armpits. What should this "smell letter" say? It depends on whether your cat can read. IS ALCOHOL BAD FOR YOUR cat prozac CAT? You know your cat has a drinking problem when he won't drink out of his water bowl unless cat prozac there's an olive in it! Actually, cats who are party animals generally prefer beer, and beer swilling among cats may be so prevalent -- although rarely discussed cat prozac -- that for many years, there's been a law on the books in Natchez, Mississippi, cat prozac forbidding cats from drinking beer! "There's evidence that some animals have the urge to be cat prozac intoxicated. Humans are not the only ones," says Dr. Mike Richards, formerly the head of AOL's Pet Care Forum and now co-owner of Mathews cat prozac Veterinary Services in Cobbs Creek, Virginia. "I always thought if animals had access to alcohol, there would be a lot more problems than there are," says Richards. Still, you don't find many cat prozac cats going to the Betty Ford clinic for treatment -- although they might need it. Alcohol is harder on cats than it is on dogs or people. Felines are not good at breaking alcohol down, and even a moderate dose may start a cat vomiting; more could cause them to collapse or go into a coma. So, if your cat starts begging for some beer, treat her like an underage drinker, tell her she's acting like a mad catter, and that the bar is closed. END STINKY LITTER BOXES! Do you cat prozac hold your nose when you pass the litterbox -- cat prozac or worse still when you enter the house? Get rid of liners since they wrinkle, and cat prozac they can catch and hold the waste. Try recycled newspaper kitty litter or litter made of wheat or cat prozac alfalfa pellets which may reduce the odor. Try a new type of food, especially a better one, cat prozac like a high quality premium cat food. Buy a commercial product specifically for this problem. It contains enzymes that you mix with their food which help your cat break cat prozac nutrients down better. (And the obvious one) Dump the dump more frequently and keep the box cleaner. TIPS FOR CHOOSING A LOVING "PEOPLE" CAT OR KITTEN The age of that kitty in the window is very important. Some pet stores put kittens out to sell at around 7-8 weeks because they're smaller and cuter then. But cat prozac if you want what arrives on little cat's feet to grow up cat prozac to be a friendly healthy cat, your cat prozac kitten should remain with her mother until she's close to 3 months old. Still, she should be around people when young. The critical socialization period for kittens is between two to five weeks of cat prozac age, at which time it's cat prozac important that they have positive human interaction. Of course it isn't just those three weeks that matter. Kittens handled from birth develop into warmer, cuddlier, almost dog-like creatures, while kittens lacking this human contact are more likely to become skittish and aloof. From 277 Secrets Your Cat Wants You to Know by Paulette Cooper and Paul Noble. Copyright ©1997 Paulette Cooper. Excerpted by arrangement with Ten Speed Press. $8.95. Available in local bookstores or call 800-841-BOOK or click here. |