Mild medication to reduce stress/spraying?

Hi all,

So I was the one that posted about my recently neutered 1 and a half year
old male that would not stop howling and meowing. So he is now boarding at
my work (vet clinic).

Today we let him out to walk around the clinic ... first of all, whenever he
found himself alone, he would start to howl all over again (not surprising,
but in all my cat years I have never seen this before). And then here's
the big thing.... he walked by a bag of food, turned around, and SPRAYED.
Oh man this really worries me.

First of all, it's only been one week since he's been neutered, so is there
still a chance that it's just his hormones making him do this?

There are two more weeks before we move him into the new house. I've
already decided I'm getting the Feliway diffuser. We are starting him off
in the basement (it's a nice basement, not dungeon), and then will slowly
introduce him to the rest of the house. I want to make this as easy on him
as possible, and I don't want to take a chance that he is going to begin
spraying immediately due to stress. Is there a mild anti-anxiety drug that
we could temporarily use in addition to the Feliway to help calm this poor
little guy (just until he gets used to the house)? I know that he is going
to begin his howling as soon as we move him into the new house... and I
don't want him to get so stressed that he begins spraying. Now I haven't
asked my vet about this yet.... I wanted to get some opinions from different
cat lovers because I know I'm not the only one with a spraying/anxious cat.
Would Clomicalm be a bad idea?

After he is comfortable with the house and we have no "incidents"... we will
introduce my other cat (no problems with this one).

Thanks for any thoughts. This guy has me real worried.

Kelly

Hi Kelly,
I would try asking this question on the Think like a Cat forum
http://messageboards.ivillage.com/iv-ptthinkcat
and get an answer from Pam Johnson- Bennet. Other people's opinions
and experiences are helpful but when it comes to making a decision
about anti-anxiety drugs, I think you need more than that.
Alison

"Kelly" wrote in message
...
Hi all,

So I was the one that posted about my recently neutered 1 and a half
year
old male that would not stop howling and meowing. So he is now
boarding at
my work (vet clinic).

Today we let him out to walk around the clinic ... first of all,
whenever he
found himself alone, he would start to howl all over again (not
surprising,
but in all my cat years I have never seen this before). And then
here's
the big thing.... he walked by a bag of food, turned around, and
SPRAYED.
Oh man this really worries me.

First of all, it's only been one week since he's been neutered, so
is there
still a chance that it's just his hormones making him do this?

There are two more weeks before we move him into the new house.
I've
already decided I'm getting the Feliway diffuser. We are starting
him off
in the basement (it's a nice basement, not dungeon), and then will
slowly
introduce him to the rest of the house. I want to make this as easy
on him
as possible, and I don't want to take a chance that he is going to
begin
spraying immediately due to stress. Is there a mild anti-anxiety
drug that
we could temporarily use in addition to the Feliway to help calm
this poor
little guy (just until he gets used to the house)? I know that he
is going
to begin his howling as soon as we move him into the new house...
and I
don't want him to get so stressed that he begins spraying. Now I
haven't
asked my vet about this yet.... I wanted to get some opinions from
different
cat lovers because I know I'm not the only one with a
spraying/anxious cat.
Would Clomicalm be a bad idea?

After he is comfortable with the house and we have no "incidents"...
we will
introduce my other cat (no problems with this one).

Thanks for any thoughts. This guy has me real worried.

Kelly

Kelly wrote:
Hi all,

So I was the one that posted about my recently neutered 1 and a half
year
old male that would not stop howling and meowing. So he is now
boarding at
my work (vet clinic).

Today we let him out to walk around the clinic ... first of all,
whenever he
found himself alone, he would start to howl all over again (not
surprising,
but in all my cat years I have never seen this before). And then
here's
the big thing.... he walked by a bag of food, turned around, and
SPRAYED.
Oh man this really worries me.

First of all, it's only been one week since he's been neutered, so is
there
still a chance that it's just his hormones making him do this?


The howling or the spraying? Howling - no likely, spraying, yes.

Are you sure he isn't hearing or visually impaired? Howling when alone
can be a sign of deafness or blindness.

Elavil may be the drug you want to try, if all else fails.

Good luck,
-L.

"Alison" wrote in message
...
Hi Kelly,
I would try asking this question on the Think like a Cat forum
http://messageboards.ivillage.com/iv-ptthinkcat
and get an answer from Pam Johnson- Bennet. Other people's opinions
and experiences are helpful but when it comes to making a decision
about anti-anxiety drugs, I think you need more than that.
Alison

Hi Alison,

I certainly plan on discussing this with the vet I work with, and my own
personal vet before I go ahead with anything. I was just wondering if
anyone had any success stories with any of the meds that can be used with
environmental/behaviour modification.

Kelly

"-L." wrote in message
ups.com...



The howling or the spraying? Howling - no likely, spraying, yes.

Are you sure he isn't hearing or visually impaired? Howling when alone
can be a sign of deafness or blindness.

Elavil may be the drug you want to try, if all else fails.

Yes, I'm positive he is not impaired visually nor hearing-wise. He *is*
mostly white... but his eyes are green and loud noises startle him. Plus
when I call him he comes running. Then he will follow me around the clinic,
so he must be able to see. He also looks directly in your eyes all the
time.

I just want to reduce his anxiety in the new house as much as possible, and
I'm afraid the Feliway may not do it on it's own because it appears he has a
lot of separation anxiety, as well as a lot of territorial stress.
Hopefully the next couple weeks will do it for his spraying and I won't have
to resort to medications.

Kelly

in article , Kelly at
wrote on 2/26/05 9:36 PM:


"-L." wrote in message
ups.com...



The howling or the spraying? Howling - no likely, spraying, yes.

Are you sure he isn't hearing or visually impaired? Howling when alone
can be a sign of deafness or blindness.

Elavil may be the drug you want to try, if all else fails.

Yes, I'm positive he is not impaired visually nor hearing-wise. He *is*
mostly white... but his eyes are green and loud noises startle him. Plus
when I call him he comes running. Then he will follow me around the clinic,
so he must be able to see. He also looks directly in your eyes all the
time.

I just want to reduce his anxiety in the new house as much as possible, and
I'm afraid the Feliway may not do it on it's own because it appears he has a
lot of separation anxiety, as well as a lot of territorial stress.
Hopefully the next couple weeks will do it for his spraying and I won't have
to resort to medications.

Kelly


I sure don't think you can figure in the spraying bit until it's further
away from his surgery. Does he have something at the boarding facility now
which smells of your home and cats, to pre-familiarize him with the scents?
Might be good too. I guess I wouldn't rule out Feliway until you've actually
tried it. I wonder if he can have a radio or something too. Always helped
our animals to have a radio on when no one was around.

"Karen" wrote in message
...
in article , Kelly at
wrote on 2/26/05 9:36 PM:


"-L." wrote in message
ups.com...



The howling or the spraying? Howling - no likely, spraying, yes.

Are you sure he isn't hearing or visually impaired? Howling when alone
can be a sign of deafness or blindness.

Elavil may be the drug you want to try, if all else fails.

Yes, I'm positive he is not impaired visually nor hearing-wise. He *is*
mostly white... but his eyes are green and loud noises startle him.
Plus
when I call him he comes running. Then he will follow me around the
clinic,
so he must be able to see. He also looks directly in your eyes all the
time.

I just want to reduce his anxiety in the new house as much as possible,
and
I'm afraid the Feliway may not do it on it's own because it appears he
has a
lot of separation anxiety, as well as a lot of territorial stress.
Hopefully the next couple weeks will do it for his spraying and I won't
have
to resort to medications.

Kelly


I sure don't think you can figure in the spraying bit until it's further
away from his surgery. Does he have something at the boarding facility now
which smells of your home and cats, to pre-familiarize him with the
scents?
Might be good too. I guess I wouldn't rule out Feliway until you've
actually
tried it. I wonder if he can have a radio or something too. Always helped
our animals to have a radio on when no one was around.

"Kelly" wrote in message
...

Hi Alison,

I certainly plan on discussing this with the vet I work with, and my
own
personal vet before I go ahead with anything. I was just wondering
if
anyone had any success stories with any of the meds that can be used
with
environmental/behaviour modification.

Kelly

Hi Kelly,
That's good, I know you said you were going to discuss it with
your vet; I guess I don't always trust vets when it comes to
behavioural problems but obviously I dont know your vet and you do and
trust him so that's the main thing.
Alison

"Karen" wrote in message
...

I sure don't think you can figure in the spraying bit until it's further
away from his surgery. Does he have something at the boarding facility now
which smells of your home and cats, to pre-familiarize him with the
scents?
Might be good too. I guess I wouldn't rule out Feliway until you've
actually
tried it. I wonder if he can have a radio or something too. Always helped
our animals to have a radio on when no one was around.

Hi Karen,

Giving him something that smells like Harley, our other cat is a great idea.
Unfortunately, we don't get possession of the new house for another two
weeks, so I can't really give him anything that will smell like the house he
will be moving into. We will be sanitizing (cleaning from top to bottom)
the new house anyway, so maybe I could give him some Mr. Clean products
because that will probably be what the house smells like when he moves in
(JOKING!!!).

Yes I will definitely be putting a small radio in the basement to help keep
him company until the can have access to the rest of the house.

Thanks for the suggestions,
Kelly

in article , Kelly at
wrote on 2/27/05 9:30AM:


"Karen" wrote in message
...

I sure don't think you can figure in the spraying bit until it's further
away from his surgery. Does he have something at the boarding facility now
which smells of your home and cats, to pre-familiarize him with the
scents?
Might be good too. I guess I wouldn't rule out Feliway until you've
actually
tried it. I wonder if he can have a radio or something too. Always helped
our animals to have a radio on when no one was around.

Hi Karen,

Giving him something that smells like Harley, our other cat is a great idea.
Unfortunately, we don't get possession of the new house for another two
weeks, so I can't really give him anything that will smell like the house he
will be moving into. We will be sanitizing (cleaning from top to bottom)
the new house anyway, so maybe I could give him some Mr. Clean products
because that will probably be what the house smells like when he moves in
(JOKING!!!).

Yes I will definitely be putting a small radio in the basement to help keep
him company until the can have access to the rest of the house.

Thanks for the suggestions,
Kelly


This may be wierd, but you might actually bring little harley poops to put
in the box.