Is he sick or just jealous?

[catmandu]

Sadly It Sounds Like Jealousy, And Thats Going To Be Harder To Control As There Are No Pills For A Cat Who Has His Little Nose Out Of Joint.
We Hope That Rocky Can Learn To Accept Those Cute Wonders.

[jenluckenbach]

Lets assume, for just a moment, that it is jelousy. The medication Jim and Sterling are taking (Amitripylin) might work. And you might not be able to wean him off of it (Although I have tried, they are better behaved ON the medication). Supposedly, as the vet says, it calms their stress to the point where "They dont care HOW many brothers and sisters they have". (those are her words....LOL)

So, if he gets a clean bill of health, you may still be able to control his "problem".

[Medusa]

If you decide to medicate him, why not give Clomicalm a try? It doesn't make them drowsy or uncoordinated at all. I haven't had any incidents since starting Specs on it. Because it does sound like a jealousy issue, which is the case w/Specs, he's jealous of Boo, Clomicalm could do the trick.

Blessings,
Mary

[jazzcat]

I'll be taking Moxie in to have her stitches removed tomorrow. I will ask the vet what she thinks. I'm know we will need to rule out illness but I have a gut feeling it is behavior. I will ask about medicating him.

Jen - you don't see any bad side effects from the meds? Is it safe for long term use?

Medusa - what is clomicalm? I've never heard it of before but I'm interested.

[jenluckenbach]

Jen - you don't see any bad side effects from the meds? Is it safe for long term use?

Medusa - what is clomicalm? I've never heard it of before but I'm interested.

You could see drowsiness if the dosage is too strong. Neither Jim nor Sterling exhibited any problems. I will admit that Sterling's personailty changed a bit, though. He use to be tremendously pesty (licking my hair, at night, for example) but he isn't so needy now.
I do not know about side effect over the long term. I actually never asked because sometimes "ignorance is bliss". After trying other techniques to stop the spraying and after trying to wean him off the meds (and having them fail) I decided that I needed to take the risks (because the alternative would be the constant spraying.....which gets "old" real fast ).

I too would like to hear more about clomicalm. Might be worth a try here too.

[Medusa]

Clomicalm is an anti-anxiety med that is usually used in dogs for separation anxiety but it's being used successfully w/cats for behavioral problems. I tried amitryptilene and at first it worked but it was short lived and Specs became very skittish and cried a lot. So my vet gave me some Clomicalm and I give him 1/4 tablet before bed. I've had no incidents since then and I have seen no side effects whatsoever. Ask your vet about it and maybe it'll be right for your cats. It sure has saved my furniture and my sanity.

Blessings,
Mary

[rg_girlca]

Oh Lori, I'm so sorry that you are having to go through this with Rocky. I hope you are able to get the situation under control.

I'll be curious to hear what the vet has to say.