Trouble In Paradise!!! Update 6-16-07 Things Are Going Well!!!

[krazyaboutkatz]

Hi everyone. I just can't seem to get a break. Now that Starr's doing so well and is back to acting like a normal cat again, Storm decides to start peeing on the carpet and walls.:( I took him to the vet a little over 3 weeks ago because he was having problems peeing. He was jumping in and out of the litterboxes and peeing only small amounts of urine. It turned out that he didn't have anything wrong with him except that he was a little bit dehydrated. He was put on metacam for pain and inflammation.

Last Sunday morning, I found Storm in my dining room sitting next to some liquid. I found out that it was urine. I wasn't sure if he had done it or not. I tried to clean it up the best I could. On Tues. morning one of the cats had peed all over one of the blue kitty mats that I sometimes use to feed them on. It's right beside the original accident spot. I used vinegar, simple solution and folex and I could still smell some of the urine smell so I tried sprinkling some left over arm&hammer litterbox deodorizer on it and I also put some regular baking soda on it. The smell finally went away and let if sit for a few days before I vacuumed it up.

I called my vets office and made an appointment for Storm since he's been the one having urinary problems lately. He couldn't be seen until 12pm on Wed. The vet only found a little blood in his urine so she thought that he may be in pain when he urinates so he's back on metacam again. She even did an ultrasound free of charge and his bladder looks good and there are no stones or crystals.

I gave him a fairly large dose of metacam on Wed. and he seemed to be feeling a bit better. Then for the next 3 days I was supposed to give him half the dose I did the first time and them only give him the metacam 2 times a week for 2 months to see if this would help him or not. I found more pee on the blue kitty mat on Friday morning.:(

I had also contacted Nancy the pet psychic and she confirmed that it's Storm doing the peeing. She said that he's very emotional and he feels like he's being closed in or that there are too many cats.:( I now think it's most likely a behavioral problem due to stress. I bought 2 feliway plugins and some spray on Friday night. All of the cats seemed to calm down and it seemed to be working but Storm was still lashing out at Sky, Ziggy, and Starr.:(

I have the plugins in the kitchen and the dining room and my hallway and entry way don't have any outlets so I have to spray in here. I don't want to put any in the living room because I have several litterboxes in here. I didn't bother to put one on my bedroom because I close this door when I'm not home.

Everything was going well this weekend and then I found another accident in the entry way near my front door.:( I forgot to spray this area last night and Storm also didn't take his metacam because he's now only on it 2 times a week. I pm'd Catty1 today to ask her about Oscar's feliway collar idea. I'm now trying this idea and I'm spraying Storm's collar 2 times a day. I take it off of him while I spray just a little bit on it. I sure hope it works or my vet said that prozac would be a good stress relieving drug to try on him. I hope that it won't come to this. Thanks for reading this. Please keep Storm in your thoughts and prayers. If this was your cat, what else would you do? Any thoughts or advice please.

[Hellow]

Mabye this can be of any help: http://www.faqs.org/qa/qa-13836.html

[Killearn Kitties]

I'm so sorry this is happening, Tracey. You have had such a lot to deal with already. I certainly don't have any other advice for you, apart from sending Storm lots of positive vibes.

[jenluckenbach]

I sure do understand the frustration. :( And the guilt (like it is some how your fault). Maybe the prozac will end up being the answer (but I got to tell you, it seems to have stopped working around here :( )

Prayers for Storm.

[Laura's Babies]

Awwww! He is stressed! Poor baby! Amy is also peeing in places she normally hasn't and I know it is stress. I had ran out of the Feliway plug ins so I got more and hope that helps. I also got some rescue remedy and am trying that.
While things are going a whole lot better with Boo, things are still stressful in here because of how she started out attacking everyone.

[Medusa]

I know I probably sound like a commercial but give Clomicalm a try. I've got some pee cats and it works really well. I thought maybe I'd take them off it to see if it would make a difference. Oh yeah! Next day, pee! Back on the Clomicalm. I've noticed the biggest change in Coco Puff. He's a cerebellar hypoplasia kitty and after nearly two year of living here, he's decided to start spraying. I put him on it and he calmed right down. It doesn't make them drowsy or change their personalities or anything negative. I feel I need to make a disclaimer here and say that, of course, all cats are different just as humans are, and medication affects them differently. But talk it over w/your vet and see what s/he says. It's been a godsend to me and it's inexpensive. It's priced around $30 or so for a 30 day supply. My vet gives me 20 mg. tablets and they get 1/4 tablet at night at bedtime. So if you have only one cat that's peeing, then you'll get 4 times the amount of medication. See what your vet says but it's made a big difference around here. Good luck.

[Logan]

Tracey, I'm so sorry you have yet another issue to deal with. :(

It is terrific that Starr is back to himself, though. :) You know he has a special place in my heart since he looks so much like my Butter.

I've never had more than two cats at a time and have never dealt with this kind of problem with any cat I have ever had (knocks on wood). I will hope and pray that Storm will get past this, but I wouldn't hesitate to use the Clomicalm if you need to in order to settle your home down and bring peace for all.

Best of luck to you and your babies.

Logan

[Taz_Zoee]

While I do not have any suggestions for you in your situation, I can only offer my thoughts that Storm will get better soon. And I'm glad to see Starr is doing well. :D

[krazyaboutkatz]

Thanks everyone.:) I found more pee this morning on the blue kitty mat again.:( I had even sprayed some feliway around this area. It only seems to be happening some time during the night or early in the morning. Storm used to want to sleep in my room with me but he hasn't wanted to do this for a long time and if he starts out here he wants out a few hours later.

I also forgot to mention that Pearl and Storm never cuddle any more and they don't seem to like each other any more. I caught Pearl attacking Storm last night in my bedroom. Pearl has taken over my room at night so I think that she feels it's her room now.:( Sky will also usually sleep in my room and Sunny will end up in here in the early morning hours.

The only thing that's really changed around here is that Starr is now acting like a normal cat and he's been socializing and playing with the others. I guess this has just pushed Storm over the edge and it's been too much for him to handle.:(

I had already e-mailed my vet about the possiblity of putting Storm on Clomicalm but she said that prozac works better in her opinion. I called and left her a voice mail this morning and I hope to hear something from her today. She also works tomorrow and she's off for a while after that so I hope to get something to help Storm asap.

This is the first time that I've dealt with a stress related behavioral peeing problem. All of the other times it's been medical. Even when I had Cirrus nothing like this ever happened so I'm very new to all of this. I just want peace and harmony around here again. I'm also having Nancy do readings on all of my cats but she's very busy so she won't be able to them for a few weeks. I'll continue to keep you updated. Wish me luck.:)

[Catty1]

http://petoftheday.com/talk/showthread.php?t=128652

This guy is in Marketplace...you might want to look.

[K & L]

I’m sorry to ready you’re having issues right now. The only advice I can offer is patience and continually cleaning up. I would also watch and pursue vet visits in case his tests came up negative first go round. We went through this and finally, knock on wood, it’s under control again. Feliway didn’t work for us, but that doesn’t mean it won’t for someone else. One thing that seemed to help our problem is I moved a litter box closer to the kitchen/dining room area inside a closet. Seemed there were a couple cats afraid to go to the back rooms where I had them placed. It calmed down quite a bit after that. Good luck Tracey and keep us posted.

[Catty1]

Hmmm....yeah, maybe if Storm had his "own" box that he didn't have to share, that would help. How you are going to do that, not sure, unless the rest of the cats are used to one area, and you could show Storm where "his" is.

[Randi]

Oh Tracey, I'm so sorry about Storm. :( It seems you've done all you could, so I can only add some very positive thoughts. Hope you'll get this solved soon. :)

It could well be that he thinks it's a bit too crowded.

(((hugs)))

[catmandu]

Wow!
We Are Sorry That Storm Is Acting Up All Of A Sudden.
That Always Been A Fear Of Mine That One Of The Found Cats Would Start Doing Bad Things.
We Are Praying That You Can Find A Way To Return Things To Normal.

[jazzcat]

Oh gosh Tracey, I'm sorry to hear about Storm. (Great news about Starr being healthy and feeling like a normal cat though). I had issues with Rocky marking cat beds and various things around the house and I took Medusa's advice about the Clomicalm. It has really helped. I can only get it in a cream form from a compounding pharmacy but it's nice because no pilling, I just rub it in his hear. We are on our second 30 day supply and now I only have to use it about every 3-4 days. It stopped the marking and his aggressive behavior towards Scout. When he quit picking on her so did the others thank goodness. He doesn't seemed drugged on it like with Valium - just mellow. Maybe Pearl could use a little to help her stop picking on Storm.

[krazyaboutkatz]

Thanks everyone.:) I missed the call from my vet because she called my home phone number and not my work number even though I gave her both numbers in my message to her. I knew that I should've called again while I was still at work but I thought that I would be able to reach her tomorrow. She was only there until 5pm and she won't be in tomorrow like she normaly is and she won't be in this Sunday either like she normaly is.:(

She told me to e-mail her so we could discuss what to do next. I e-mailed her and let her know that I'd like to try clomicalm even though she said that prozac works better in her experience. I also mentioned about Pearl's aggressiveness towards Storm but she hasn't seen Pearl yet so she may not be able to allow her to use this. There's a sign at the vet's that says that if an animal hasn't been seen for their yearly exam then they can't sell it prescription food or medicine. I'll let you know what happens as soon as I know anything more. I hope that tonight will be a better night for Storm.

[Medusa]

I sure hope the Clomicalm works for you because I've had so much success w/it. I've not tried Prozac although I know some PTers have. Before Clomicalm, I had them on valium and buspar w/no success at all. I was ready to boot Specs out the window because he actually ruined my dining room server, warped the wood so badly that I couldn't close the door, so you can imagine the smell, too. When I bought his house a couple of years ago, I gradually bought all new furniture, the dining room being my prized room. No way am I going to allow these cats, as much as I love them and would do anything for them, to make my house their own private litter box. I hate the thought of them being on medication but if that's what it takes, that's what it takes. Good luck and keep us posted.

[sandragonfly]

oh tracey, sorry about all of your frustration, I know you expressed it nicely but you surely need a break!

I wish I could help more, I've never had this problem with any of my cats or I would know what I would do. except I could empathize your frustration - I've went from a sickness to another. :rolleyes: *knock on woods!*

but clomicalm sounds a real hope! and I would want to try that if this ever happens in the ark.

glad starr is well now and hope you'll find a way and get everything back to paradise for once! ((hugs)) take care.

[jazzcat]

I hope your vet will agree to trying the clomicalm and that it works well for you. I really see no bad side effects from it except Rocky hates the cream in his ear and he runs when he sees it coming. I have to do the surprise attack on him. The only thing I've noticed is he seems to sleep a little more while on it but he doesn't seem drugged or excessively sleepy.

I wish I could try the pills because it would be so much cheaper (and easier, I have to drive about 30 miles round trip to get the cream). My vet says the pills are for dogs so I need the compounded cream plus she feels in the long run the cream is easier to administer. With Rocky, she is probably right.

[krazyaboutkatz]

I received a reply from my vet and even though she feels that prozac would be better, she's willing to let me try clomicalm on Storm first.:) Here's what she said:

Go ahead and stop the metacam.

Clomicalm is a tricyclic antidepressant, so can have alot of effects
on personality. More so, in general, then prozac--which is more of an
anxiolytic. Just about all psychoactive drugs that I am aware of have
been shown to NOT be effective as transdermal preparations (the cream
on the ear you mentioned), so I am surprised some find it effective.
None of these drugs are a magic bullet, please do not treat them as
such.

That said, I have prescribed some clomicalm for Storm. You can pick
it up at Adobe tomorrow. We should give it a 4-6 week trial, as these
drugs require some time to reliably change the brain chemistry that
leads to behavioral changes. I would continue to use the feliway. He
may be tired the first few days. If tiredness lasts longer then a
few days, contact me and we will modify the dose.

Clomicalm is not appropriate for Pearl. Please do not give her any of
this medication.


I'm going to have to buy some more feliway spray and luckily I have a Pet Club that sells it for a fairly decent price. I know that clomicalm isn't a miracle drug but I hope that it'll help ease whatever stress Storm is going through and help to calm him down. My vet probably will be giving me pill form which is fine beacuse Storm is very easy to pill as long as I put it in pill pockets.

I gave him some metacam last night and this morning Pearl found another pee area on one of my entry way rugs.:( Storm did come back with me for a few hours this morning and we did cuddle in bed. I even woke up to Pearl licking his head.:eek: I just don't understand and I guess I never will.

Lori, if your vet writes you a presription then you can buy the pill form of clomicalm over the internet. There are many places to buy this and you'd probably also save a lot of money. My vet is willing to do this for me if I ever find a better price for something else where. I'm so glad to hear that the cream form is working for Ripley. Will he have to be on this the rest of his life?

Thanks again for all of your nice comments and suggestions.:) I'll continue to keep you updated about Storm.

[jazzcat]

I'm glad she is willing to let you try it. It's not a miracle drug but it may do the trick for Storm. If not you can move on to Prozac.

I am going to talk to my vet about getting the pill form for Rocky when I take Jazz in for her annual soon. All my conversations about Clomicalm have been on the phone and mostly through a receptionist who told me they won't give out prescriptions for mail order because they can't vouche for the meds. I think my vet will be willing to work with me better than the receptionist. Right now I'm paying $35 for a 30 day supply of cream but at least I can make that last at least 60 days now if not longer.

It's interesting to your vet's comments on clomicalm. Everything I've read really points towards low side effects, even my vet said that.

As far as how long Rocky will need it, I'm hoping not much longer since I've been able to cut his dosage down from daily to every 2-4 days now. I can tell when he needs it because he begins chasing Scout and getting a bit aggressive. I also used Feliway heavily for the first month but now I hardly use it. I think the clomicalm has given Rocky the stress relief he needed and now he can deal with the number of cats in the house better and can be weaned off completely soon. Fingers crossed.

I'll be looking for updates on Storm and I'm sending you both good thoughts!

[krazyaboutkatz]

I picked up the clomicalm tonight and they compounded it into a liquid form and it's tuna flavored. I was surprised but they couldn't use pills because he's on such a small doseage of it. It has to be refrigerated and I give him 0.3ml once a day and the bottle has 80mg. I'm not very good at figuring out things like this so how long will this last? It cost $16 and they charge a $6 compounding fee so it's $22 total. I'll be giving it to him tonight so I hope that I'll start to see some improvement.

For those of you that use clomicalm, how long did it take to see improvement in your cats? I asked my vet about this and she said it could take from 2 weeks to as long as 6 weeks to see results. I sure hope that in Storm's case that it's a lot sooner.

[Medusa]

I must be one of the lucky ones because I noticed an immediate improvement overnight even. I didn't even know it came in liquid form. The dosage is small for my cats, too, 5 mg. I sure hope it works for you w/no side effects. I've been lucky that way, too. Please keep us updated on this.

[ChrisH]

Tracey, I'm sorry to read of your problem with Storm. :( Prayers and good thoughts that the new medication works.

I tried to find out how many 3ml are in 80mg but it seems to depend on the thickness of the liquid involved. The best I could find for ml to mg are these.

1 ml = 1 gram H2O and 59 ml = 60gm

So perhaps 3ml a day/80mg of a light liquid could last 26 days? Anyone know for sure?

[krazyaboutkatz]

I guess I should've asked how long this would last when I picked it up.:) Storm hated the medicine and it made him drool a lot but I think it works quickly because he then found his favorite box and laid down. He spent the whole night here and was still in it this morning when I went out to feed the cats. There were no more new urine accidents so this confirms the fact that it's been Storm all along.

Storm is still very sleepy today but this is to be expected for the first few days. He perked up when he smelled food and he ate a good breakfast. He then wanted to go back in his box again but I wanted to make sure that he didn't need to use the litterbox. I took him over to the litterboxes and I put him in one and he did pee a little bit. Then he laid down on the carpet again. He's very relaxed and everyone seems much calmer now. I'm still using the feliway plugins and I think I'll continue to do this for quite a while because they've been helping Starr with his stress issues. I'm also still spraying the hallway and entry way in the morning and at night. I hope that this new medicine will continue to work for Storm. Please wish us luck. Thanks.:)

[sandragonfly]

hm, sounds good.. cats don't make accident daily but hope it is this!! :)

[jazzcat]

I didn't know they could make it to go on food, interesting. Sorry it makes Storm drool. Hopefully he will get used to it.

Sounds like it is affecting him like it did Rocky at first. I noticed a change immediately and after about two weeks I began cutting his dose in half. He didn't sleep as much but it still kept the marking issues at bay. In fact, I forgot to tell you that - I was told to give him .1 ml of cream in his ear daily but then I cut it back to .05 and now I only give him that amount every 2-4 days as I think needed. I can tell when he needs it because he gets a little aggressive with Scout. While he's been on it he's gone back to being his affectionate old self prior to the kittens arrival. I think the key is just finding the right dosage amount for each cat.

I hope it will work that well for you.

[lvpets2002]

;) Well good Tracie & I am so glad thinks are calming down now.. I also glad Storm is doing & feeling better.. Lots of Good Luck Vibes sent to you..

[krazyaboutkatz]

Things are going very well since Storm's been taking the clomicalm. He's much more alert now and seems to be his old self except that he's much more relaxed and not aggressive towards the others like he was before.:) There have been no more pee accidents since he's started this medicine which is also wonderful news. I hope that his will continue.:)

[Taz_Zoee]

Oh, this must be such a relief to you. I'm so glad to hear the clomicalm is helping. Sounds like Paradise is back to a nice relaxed state now. :D

[jazzcat]

Yay!!! I'm so glad to hear that Tracey! Fingers and paws crossed that it continues so well.

[Medusa]

Excellent news! I'm so glad it helped and that you have peace in the household again.

[jennielynn1970]

The clomicalm sounds like a good medicine. I have a few kitties here that might benefit from the calming effects to stop peeing inappropriately. Furbee pees on teh countertop, the stove, the top of the window seat... Boris and a few of the others hit the moulding along the wall and floor. It's really frustrating. My carpets upstairs are all originally gray colored, but now the edges all look yellowed, and some of the corners look really bad. I knew a few of them were bad, but it wasn't till I saw them in pictures that I thought "Oh my goodness! That looks horrible!" I didn't realize someone was peeing on the top of the one buffet cabinet in the dining room, and now the top of that is totally shot. I just need to throw it out. Sigh. I was totally frustrated with Furbee the other night and spoke a bit harshly to her. She growled and got upset at this, and of course I found more pee there the next morning.. a lot of good the reprimanding did. :rolleyes:

[smokey the elder]

You wanted to know how long the bottle would last. Do you know one of the following: a. how large is the bottle in ml (divide the total by 0.3 to get the total number of doses). b. The concentration (in mg/ml.) It's harder to figure out from this (more steps).

I'm glad Storm is responding to the stuff!