She is such a cutie!
There’s our wild child gal!! and her BIGGGG Mittttts.
Glad she’s eating better.
So a quick update:
Itty-Bitty has been a holy terror for the past three weeks. She has started chasing and attacking Tiny, who hasn’t got a mean bone in his body and whose only defense is to run and hide. And she means business - it’s not playing. So I talked to the vet today, and she put both Tiny and Itty Bitty on a trial dose of gabapentin. Great, three of us will be on antidepressants now . . . I also told her that Itty-Bitty is having false heat nearly every month, and she was concerned by that. She asked that I bring her in for a blood test that they can send off to test her hormone levels.
I’ve seen dogs come into false heat, but only if they were spayed late. I’m sure Itty-Bitty never came into heat before she was spayed at five months. So bizarre. I’m just afraid that if the hormone test comes back negative and the gabapentin doesn’t work well enough, I may have to re-home her. She’s been in her crate for an hour now, and Tiny still hasn’t come out from under the couch.
I have been wondering about this and if there was any news. I hope the antidepressant or hormone test will be helpful.
One of my cats can be aggressive to my other cats but it’s not as bad as it sounds with Itty Bitty. I know it’s a pain and concerning. Fingers crossed that you will find an answer!
After reading your post, I pulled out my favorite cat-behavior book, The Cat Who Cried for Help by Dr. Nicholas Dodman. He is (or was) head of the Tufts Vet School behavioral department and has written several case study books about his dog and cat clients, clustered by the type of problem they had. I like his approach because it combines diet, exercise, management and medication if needed.
Anyway, he has a whole chapter on cat aggression, so I jotted down the meds that he prescribed with success for this issue. I thought it might be something else to run by your vet.
BTW, he stresses that the goal of these meds is to change the behavior and then wean the cat off the drug—not keep them on it forever.
—Anafranil
—Prozac
—Buspirone
I hope you get a solution that works for all three of you!
OH NO ! I hope this ‘madness’ is fixable ! Jingles !
Has Itty-Bitty improved any with the medication? I am going through this with two of my female cats. The one picks on the other one. Both are spayed. I’m not sure which one to make the Vet appointment for first although I am thinking I will do the aggressive one first. Cat Children!
I haven’t seen any difference yet, but then again, she hasn’t encountered Tiny since she’s been on it, either. I haven’t had a chance to take her in for the blood work, as the clinic has been running a skeleton staff this past week and I wanted to wait until they had everyone back in. Hopefully this week.
I will have to get an appt for my bully. I hope it is something easily resolved. The bullied cat has been living in the sofa and is afraid to come out.
Better living thru chemistry. Srsly. has improved many a cat’s life.
Believe it or not, it’s been a year since the Itty-Bitty arrived! (My cats say they think it’s been a hell of a lot longer than a year . . .) I can’t believe she was that little once!
It really does seem like longer than a year - she’s such a HUGE personality !
Please share a today picture !
How is she behaving? I hope she’s not still picking on Tiny.
Yes and no. I’ve been super diligent about watching them when I’m home, and using the spray bottle. She knows I will spray her, so she keeps her distance. The gabapentin did nothing for either of them as far as I could tell. But he still hides in his cupboard all day.
Love Itty Bitty !
I have one that is doing the same thing. I bought a calming collar to see if it would help but the stinker figured out how to get the collar off.
The picked on kitty hides behind the sofa all day. I’m going to schedule a vet appointment for the picked on kitty and then the bully.
Eek. Those eyes - she looks like she is placing a curse on you. Still think she ought to be Mazekeen.
And yes, that is some outsize personality. I feel bad for poor Tiny. At least Baler isn’t nasty - just a big ol galumph who currently is making Pearl’s life a misery. Fortunately for her he is too fat to get his lardy ass up in the top shelves like he used to so that’s where she hides and does her imitation of Peepy Cat at the rest of the world.