Diego going to vet

[Queen of Poop]

Diego is going to the vet tomorrow evening at 6:30. I want him to have a full physical and see if there is anything wrong with him. I've tried feliway, diffuser and spray and a herbal cat calm spray remedy and a cat calm drop in their water. To no avail. He stalks and attacks Cali and she's got more wounds from him. I've had it, it must stop! I can't be there all the time with my water squirt bottle to distract him. Maybe some kitty "prozac" is in order.

[lvpets2002]

:( Poor Cali.. I would say you just need to seperate the two.. Put him in a spare bedroom with double up top each other baby half doors so he can not jump out.. Make this his room with food, water & litter.. Sounds like this is the only way to get this stoped.. Good Luck

[krazyaboutkatz]

I'm sorry to hear this.:( Hopefully the vet will be able to help him. I tried just about everything on Storm because he would also bully the others. The only thing that I found that worked out well and didn't change his personality or make him so drugged was an herbal pill called "Calm Spirit". It did take about 2weeks to get into his system though. Now since I found out that it contains wheat in it I can't give him these any more. He's been much better about his bullying ways lately but sometimes I do have to break up a small fight. He's never physically attacked the others though. Good luck.:)

[Pinot's Mom]

I'm sorry to hear there has been such an issue! How long has this been going on? Poor Diego and Cali; they're probably both very confused about this behavior. :( Keep us posted.

[Queen of Poop]

So, Diego kicked up some kind of fuss at the vets when they tried to take blood/urine from him. He had to be sedated. No crystals in the urine. Will get the blood results Saturday or Sunday. On Monday they will have some prozac compounded for him and we're going to give it a whirl for 6 weeks. He checked out physically fine, 5.11 kg. He's sitting in the cat tree now, relaxing.

The vet doesn't believe there is anything wrong with him other than some anxiety issues. I guess better that he act out than internalize it and end up with IBS like his mom.

I am hopeful the prozac will give him some peace.

[cassiesmom]

Fingers and paws crossed that this will help. ((((HUGS))))) for Diego, Cali and QofP.

[Queen of Poop]

So do you suppose Diego wore himself out at the vet last night? He's been napping pretty much all day. Cali has been laying out in the open on the floor. I wonder if this is residual effects of his being sedated last night or maybe the combination of that and using up all his energy fighting, growling, etc.

Still waiting for the call on the blood work.

It's kind of like old times, before the fire scare, peaceful, good kitties. Will see how long it lasts.

[Queen of Poop]

The peace lasted till 7 pm last night. At least they settled and let me sleep for a little while however, I've been up since 2:30 this morning trying to keep Diego from attacking Cali. I'm trying not to get mad at Diego cause I know it will solve nothing, but I'm tired from lack of sleep. We can't get the prozac quick enough.

[krazyaboutkatz]

I'm sorry to hear this.:( Is there any way you can keep them separated until he can be started on the prozac? When I tried it on Storm, I was told that it might take a while but it seemed to help calm him pretty quickly. Over time though, it just made him sleep all of the time and then he also became anorexic:( so I had to stop giving it to him. The vet said that sometimes this will be side effect but usually only dogs sometimes become anorexic. Good luck.:)

[Queen of Poop]

Cali's got another owie in her armpit so she's back on antibiotics and is sporting the conehead again. When I picked up the meds I got a cone for Diego too. He's test driving it now. He does not like it one bit, but he is so focused on it that he's totally ignorning Cali. Since she'll be sporting a party hat for the next couple of weeks I figure he can too. That will give his meds time to start working and won't leave Cali vulnerable to his attack when I'm at work and she is unable to fight back due to her conehead.

[Catty1]

I hope Cali heals soon and that the meds will work wonders for Diego.

Good boy, Diego - just focus on that cone!:)

hugs and kissies to your babies. :love::love:

[Queen of Poop]

Picked up Diego's prozac after work. He's had his first dose. It sure smells like tuna. Cali tried to lick his face and was looking at me like hey lady, where's mine!

He did not want to take the liquid meds so I used the medicate a ferret tactic and it worked just fine. Sit him on my knee, scruff his neck fur and insert syringe into side of mouth.

Hopefully he gets to like the taste and it's not a struggle.

[Queen of Poop]

Looking for suggestions for getting Diego to actually swallow the meds. He spat some all over me and then walked around drooling more out of his mouth. Clearly he's not fooled by the tuna flavor. I'm thinking if I do half the dose at a time I might have better success. But feel free to advise of any other tricks you might have.

Cali's still in her cone head, armpit still itchy, she's good, takes her pill no problem.

[Catty1]

Mixing it into stinky canned salmon or cheap wet salmon cat food so he won't smell the "med" smell?

I wonder if tablets and Pill Pockets might have worked out.

Or - a treat after the med? Incentive!

I hope it works out.

[columbine]

Wedgewood Pharmacy has Prozac (fluoxetine) avaliable in Twist-A-Dose transdermal gel pens (http://www.wedgewoodpetrx.com/items/fluoxetine-as-hcl-twist-a-dose-transdermal-gel.html). Ask your vet to call in the prescription to them. They'll mail you a felt-tip pen and instructions - you just click the pen to the right dose, then wipe it inside Diego's ear.

This is how I give Smudge one of his allergy medicines. Like any cat, he doesn't like getting messy - but when he hears me clicking that pen, he trots into the kitchen and puts up with it, because he knows he'll get a treat afterward!

Love, Columbine

[Queen of Poop]

Thanks, both excellent suggestions. Will give the stinky salmon a try tomorrow, get some on my way home. Will call the vet about the pen.

[krazyaboutkatz]

When I used this on Storm, I got it in pill form and used pill pockets and he just thought he was getting a treat. He's on pred and pepcid right now and I also use pill pockets for these because he loves the pill pockets so much. Good luck.:)

[Queen of Poop]

AN UPDATE:

Diego is doing good on the Prozac, when I can get it into him. Cali has no fresh wounds so yipee. However, getting Diego to take the meds has been a challenge.

I've bought umpteen kinds of stinky fish and stinky fish catfood. It works the first time (putting the liquid meds into the food). The second time he's hip to my game and says no way lady!

So I started distracting him and putting the meds on his paws. Which works great, if you can get him to hold still. Now he's afraid of me every time I go near him, figuring I've got that yucky stuff to put on him again.

Feeling terribly guilty for torturing my baby boy I called the vet this morning and have ordered the meds in a gel format that will go into his ear. We shall see if this works any better.

Wish us luck.

As a side note, Cali is loving her newfound (returned) freedom to roam around. She's been a very silly girl for the last few days. Almost like spring fever!

[Catty1]

Good luck - GILL - or smokey the elder? - mentioned in another thread that they had used the gel Prozac before and it worked well. :)

How great that Cali is bouncing around again! :D

Is it possible that after a long period of time that Diego can be weaned off the Prozac after having 'learned' to be calm? Or does your vet think this is lifelong?

As long as the kitties are happy - that's the most important thing. :love:

[Queen of Poop]

Good luck - GILL - or smokey the elder? - mentioned in another thread that they had used the gel Prozac before and it worked well. :)

How great that Cali is bouncing around again! :D

Is it possible that after a long period of time that Diego can be weaned off the Prozac after having 'learned' to be calm? Or does your vet think this is lifelong?

As long as the kitties are happy - that's the most important thing. :love:

I am hoping that once we can have a house and he's got loads of room to "roam" around that I can wean him off of it. I think this tiny apartment and the fire incident are what have driven him to this anxiety issue. If only someone would be a growup and settle the divorce so we could move on.

[Queen of Poop]

Why they give the prozac gel as a last resort I will never know. It's so easy on us both. First I wash Diego's ears, Cali gets hers done too so no one feels special or left out. Then I glove up and put the prescribed amount of gel on my finger, rub finger on the inside of Diego's ear, Done. No wrestling, no struggling no stress.

[Catty1]

Yay!:d

[krazyaboutkatz]

I hope that everything will go smoothly from now on. Good luck.:)

[Anikaca77]

I hope Diego continues to do well on the gel. I hope Cali is doing better and hopefully the cone can come off soon.

Take care,
Melissa

[Queen of Poop]

Both kitties are doing very well. Diego is back to his old self. Just a lovable, sweet boy. He even graced my lap on Sunday for the first time in a long while. He and Cali are playing now, not prey and attacker. It is so wonderful to have him back. I hope I'm not jinxing him by saying so.

[krazyaboutkatz]

This is wonderful news.:D I hope that things will continue to go well.:)

[Pinot's Mom]

I'm glad things are calmer and they're back to themselves. Prayers it continues! :love: