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.

[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. *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. 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.

[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.

[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.