My cat literally slashed my mother - Please Help :(

[kskatt]

I like to see what is being recommended so I looked and found what works when all the food efforts fail. Now this can look mean, unless you watch through and listen. The cat does not look pained or even stressed once it is over, and for the demonstration she takes longer than you would yourself. Most cats in that position are pretty quiet. Another way is to scruff, hold the skin on the back of the neck like the mother cat does. That means securely, you can easily pull the head back. like she has. that is an excellent position to get the pill down far enough it can't be spit out. Syringing a bit of fluid  after is really good, I will remember that!

 

[siamiam2]

I can tell you Handsome kitty that it usually is. Along with tiredness. Psychotropic meds, as we call them, have various side affect

 

[grizzlysapien]

Thanks @KSKatt  for the advice and the video 

For now, I have to be sure to try everything in my power to give Grizzly the pill without him realizing.. And if I scruff him and give it to him, he WILL realize it! LOL

I still feel I haven't tried everything I can think of.. When all food efforts fail, I'll be sure to slide it to the side of his mouth and/or scruff him and get it over with.. 

What I am afraid about scruffing or giving it to his mouth is that, they might work for one time.. but he'll be in alert mode for the next time and he won't let me..

That's why I am insisting on giving it through food.. 

 

 

[grizzlysapien]

Here's a little something I hope you like.. 

It was recorded back in May - I uploaded it yesterday..

 

[Columbine]

You might find this interesting http://pets.thenest.com/xanax-cats-7713.html

 

[grizzlysapien]

Hi @Columbine  

 I just got off the phone with the behaviourist and we discussed this issue as well as the rest.. I'll get back to that.

1st, lemme tell you that I had an idea earlier: I crushed a whole Xanax pill, and put it in a larger portion of food.. So Grizzly could eat as much as he liked and even if he left some, I'd know that he took half a pill or so in his system.. So, I crushed 1 pill, mixed it with butter, cut that mixture in half and each portion was mixed with a portion of wet-food (again Simpson's Premium since, he seems to prefer that over tuna or sardines I tried earlier). I sorted them in the plate so I can see how much he's eaten and stop him when I'd see he's eaten half of the whole food placed inside the plate.

He went there, he ate some.. he left the rest.. So I was certain that he'd eaten a quarter or so of the pill.. At that point the behaviourist called me and I started asking him for tips and informing him of the results I posted here.. He told me that Xanax, usually affects cats almost immediately. If Grizzly doesn't seem to be affected, it means that we should up the dosage. So, he instructed me to crush a whole pill and put the 3/4s in the food.

I told him that I had already done that and that I would wait for Grizzly to finish at least the half of the portion. He said that if Grizzly is hungry and wants to eat the whole portion, he could eat it and I could monitor him. Or at least let him eat the 3/4s. At the exact time he was telling me that, Grizzly went back to the plate and started eating.. He eventually left less of half of the portion and went on to do some "Grizzly Business".. 

I asked the behaviourist if leaving the powdered pill in the food for long, would "weaken" its effectiveness. He said NO.. Which means that what I witnessed last night was indeed, the effects of Xanax on him.. He also said that upping the dosage remains safe if it is up to 1 pill.. WHich means that over 1 pill, could have the effects described in the link @Columbine  refers to, in the previous post. But 1 pill is safe.. Of course he suggested that 3/4s would be the ideal dosage because we don't want him to sleep all day. We need to just calm him down and reduce his tendencies to "attack"..

He'll come over next week. It's not possible for him to find time these days - He's writing a book and he has the publishers breathing down his neck. But he assured me he will available whenever I call him.. Not much of a help.. But I'll just "swallow" it for now.. 

Oh! Another tip he gave me was to mix the powdered pill into butter and spread some of it on Grizzly's fur - I did something similar last night with the mixture of pill-butter-wetfood and it worked. He said that just butter is fine - we don't need to irritate him by spreading food on him 

 (9 1/2 weeks mode ON)

That's all for now.. 

 

 

[margd]

How is Grizzly doing now that he has had a larger dose?

 

[grizzlysapien]

Hey @Margd! 

Well, it's hard to tell. It's been so hot today and all Grizzly did was sleeping.. It's his normal behaviour during really hot days, so, I can't tell if it is the larger dose of Xanax or if it was just too hot..

I just fed him the rest of the food that I had prepared for him during the day and he ate enough.. Not all of it.

I had to confine him in my mother's room so I could sweep and mop my floor - I have a mild allergy to dust and I normally do that ever other day.. He didn't make a sound. He just went on sleeping..

Then I brought him to my room and confined him again in there, so that my mother could sit a bit further on the balcony (as I said.. really hot today! LOL).. But I had the mosquito net closed, as well as my door.. 

The funny thing is that he was sleeping in a very peaceful, angelic position (I could see him through the mosquito net), so I asked my mom if she wanted to take a glimpse at him.. She was more than willing! LOL She got up the chair in no time.. She started awwwing as soon as she could almost see his paws! HAHAHAHAHAH! She hadn't seen the rest of him yet! 

 Then she saw him.. and as soon as she started awwwing again, he woke up.. Then my mother slowly went away.. 

 She went back to her chair and sat.. So, I was like "go ahead, look at him some more, he won't be able to harm you in any way!" And she was like "better not.. I don't want him to misunderstand me, as he sees me avoiding him.. We'll have our time when the behaviourist comes".. I felt so sad.. She seemed sad as well.. 

I really hope that her heart fills up with the beautiful memories of him and she starts longing for them.. Maybe that'll give her some hope for all of this to be corrected, instead of feeling hopeless towards the situation. 

 

[Columbine]

Its understandable that your mom is still so wary. It will take time for her to build up any level of trust with him again. I'm sure it WILL come though. Its a great sign that she's so willing to admire his cute sleeping positions....it shows that she wants to get back her bond and trust with him. That's huge. Give it time. Once you start cracking Grizzly's issues and she can se he's more predictable again, I'm sure she'll start to trust him some more.

 

[margd]

This sounds like progress to me! Your Mom wanted to see him when just a little while ago she wanted him out of the apartment. She is also concerned about him getting confused which again shows how much she cares for him. It's too bad he woke up when he did. It would have been great if she could have watched him sleeping when he looks his most angelic! So fingers crossed that everything goes well with the behaviorist!

It's a shame it's so hot you can't really evaluate the effect of the Xanax. I'm sure if I didn't have air conditioning, I would be sleeping during the day as well. I admire you having enough energy to clean![emoji]128512[/emoji]

 

[grizzlysapien]

Its understandable that your mom is still so wary. It will take time for her to build up any level of trust with him again. I'm sure it WILL come though. Its a great sign that she's so willing to admire his cute sleeping positions....it shows that she wants to get back her bond and trust with him. That's huge. Give it time. Once you start cracking Grizzly's issues and she can se he's more predictable again, I'm sure she'll start to trust him some more.

I hope so, @Columbine.. I really REALLY do! 

.."cracking Grizzly's issues"... LOL had I known better, I would have named him Rubik! 

 hmmm.. nice name for a pet actually..

 I'll add that to my list.. (which I always end up never using..)

This sounds like progress to me! Your Mom wanted to see him when just a little while ago she wanted him out of the apartment. She is also concerned about him getting confused which again shows how much she cares for him. It's too bad he woke up when he did. It would have been great if she could have watched him sleeping when he looks his most angelic! So fingers crossed that everything goes well with the behaviorist!

It's a shame it's so hot you can't really evaluate the effect of the Xanax. I'm sure if I didn't have air conditioning, I would be sleeping during the day as well. I admire you having enough energy to clean![emoji]128512[/emoji]

@Margd  We own an air-condition thingy... 

 But we almost never use it, cause I tend to sneeze a lot.. It "re-uses" the air that is already inside and if there's dust, it's the worst thing that could happen to me.. 

We use fans alternatively.. But my fan is being used by my mother at her side of the appartment, since I have access to the large balcony (she has a smaller one on her side).. And she is also under the impression that since I have the air-condition on my side, I might as well use it during the hot days.. But she always forgets I hate it.. 

 

I almost always have energy to clean. People call me "Monica from Friends" (tv series). My ex did too.. 

 It's just that, when you have animals in your home and you don't have a back yard or anything.. well, the best thing you can do is clean regularly.. I have no other option actually, because when dust builds up, I just want to drop dead.. 

 There are periods when I don't clean often, if I have too much on my plate - like I did a few days ago.. Thankfully, things are getting back on track now 

 

**UPDATE**

While I was babbling above, I noticed that Grizzly went to eat for the 3rd time.. About an hour ago, he ate the food I was talking about in the previous post. I didn't let him eat the whole thing though.. Anyway... It seems that the increase in his appettite must be a side effect from the pill. Although he didn't demonstrate anything similar during the day.. Maybe because of the hot weather? Also, his meows are more often and more "insisting" like he has something to say..? Now he's lying down.. 

 

[grizzlysapien]

**UPDATE**

So, today we had a pretty laid back day.. 

I didn't give Grizzly his pill during the day time.. I started the efforts in the afternoon, then noon, then about 20 mins ago LOL

I followed the same recipe as yesterday, but he only ate half of it - while we want him to take 3/4s of the pill.. In a final attempt to make him eat some more, I started "smearing" his fur with the food and he started licking it right away, but after a while he was just shaking it off him, so I had bits and pieces of food everywhere 

During the day I went to the supermarket and bought additional cans of wet-food (tomorrow it's a big holiday in Greece and the stores will be closed till Monday), cheese-cream with prawn flakes, also a cream that contains fish eggs (we use it as a spread on crackers - tastes like caviar), some small sausages made of turkey+chicken (which I know he loves) and some smoked turkey slices (which he is crazy about)..

As you have already might suspected, I was trying to create myself some alternatives, in case Simpson's+pill+butter should stop working.. And it did! 

So, I started experimenting: I cut one of the small sausages in thick slices and made a little hole in each slice.. Then I crushed 1/2 Xanax pill and mixed it with the prawn flavoured cheese-cream.. Then I put a bit of the mixture inside each hole of the sausage slices.. AND THEN I made itsy bitsy sandwiches with the slices and the cheese-cream between them.. 

 I wish I had taken a photo of them, cause they are no longer with us... 

 

[margd]

It sounds like Grizzly will be eating very well over the next few days - lots of delicacies presented in an aesthetic way suitable for a swank restaurant. You're taking such good care of him! It's very good of you to put so much effort into pilling him rather than just popping it down his throat.

How is the Xanax affecting him?

 

[grizzlysapien]

Thanks @Margd  

I don't want this to become a bad experience for him.. I'd like to avoid him associating "calmness" to something unpleasant, like popping a pill in his throat or in general forcing him to take it.. 

From what I've witnessed, when Grizzly takes the pill, at first he demonstrates really increased appettite. Then he becomes feisty for a while.. He did bite me once or twice (more like "warning bites" nothing serious).. He then likes to test himself walking on the balcony's banister, from which he falls or his steps are not that "stable".. And then he lies down cleaning himself or sleeps.. Right now he sleeps..

The biting part concerns me more.. He's somehow decided that biting is a normal way to communicate.. Either for letting me know he is there, or to stop doing something annoying to him. Rearding the 2nd one (stop me from being annoying) I really didn't do anything. He climbed my bedside table and almost knocked everything down. So I had hold some things from being knocked down and he bit me.. 

I almost lost my patience, cause he seems to think that this is alright to do so, or like he is the boss of me, or something.. Which led me to think, that he's acting "dominant".. (OK, now he woke up to eat again.. it's like the 5th time he eats). Therefore, I'm starting to think that his aggressiveness, might have to do with a wrongfully progressed dominance he has developed. Something I might have missed during his growing up..

There are no stressful sources now.. I am perfectly calm, my mother is too.. She is actually very willing to sit with Grizzly tomorrow (but begged me to give him his pill first! 

), so there is no "hostility" or other stimuli that cause stress for him to act like that.. It's like he got aggressive once or twice and now he is copying that behaviour everytime he wants his way.. It's his way or no way.. That's how I can describe his behaviour.. And I've concluded that, THIS right there, is the behaviour I have to try and eliminate..

I have to find a way to train him, so he understands that I and my mother are the "Alphas" around the house.. Like "WE" make the calls.. Not him.

These are my thoughts.. Any ideas?

 

[margd]

I think it makes a lot of sense that he is asserting his dominance and that he has decided biting is an acceptable way of showing that. It does seem there is more going on though with his reactions to loud noises.

As for teaching him that biting is not acceptable and that he's not the boss, unfortunately I don't have any good ideas. I rescued 5 year old Sears and he bit me all the time and I never could get him to stop although he did cut way back when I yelled OUCH and put him away. I was never quite sure what triggered it but I always had this sense that he was really bonded with his foster Mom and just didn't like me. I don't know how you get a cat to acknowledge you're the alpha person! The behaviorist must run into this a lot though so probably has some good ideas. This is a great insight into Grizzly's motivation and should help the behaviorist a lot. Can you call him tomorrow?

It's interesting the medicine makes Grizzly so hungry. That's probably a good thing since it makes it easier to get the full dose into him. If it ever comes to directly pilling him, I doubt he'll associate the unpleasantness of the pilling with feeling more calm. It might make him run and hide from you though so I hope all those tempting morsels you're making for him continue to do the trick!

 

[Sarthur2]

Have you ever tried hissing at him? And I mean a big, strong hiss.

 

[grizzlysapien]

I'm on my Kindle, so apparently I can't tag people ..

Well, @Margd his appetite increases *after* he's finished with the pill, which means he'll eat whatever afterwards.. LOL

Right now he's sleeping, but there were 2 attempts to bite again... Both of the times I got him out of my room and shut my door.. After about 30-40 mins I let him come back in and when I saw he behaved, I gave him some turkey.. Now he's on and off sleep, but quiet. I'm thinking that at this point he needs some serious retraining, along with taming. And that's cause all I did these last few days was pamper him, but being really cautious and tip toed on anything I did.. I treated him like an "Alpha" instead of helping him actually..

@sarthur2 I hissed at him a few times when he was a baby.. I might start doing that again.. Thanks for reminding me that

 

[Sarthur2]

Try some serious hissing now when he misbehaves. He should get that in no uncertain terms!

 

[siamiam2]

I still don't know what holiday it was but its creepy scary that markets would be closed til Mon. Yikes![emoji]128552[/emoji] Annabel wants her turkey back but they demand I do the work for them. That goes for my wheat t9o and I'm in agony without it. Bar code? As I said...do I work there? They have an order book. It's written in there what it is I'm sure. I keep hoping they'll surprise me for her and just stock it but they don't. No salt rice cakes isn't as urgent as the puffed wheat for me and Special Kitty turkey for her. She eats 3 different kinds of food? That one would be in the middle. Also won't stock coypuntry dinner to alternate with mixed grill for more variation. She needs it for variation like I need as much variation as possible. They have no heart no soul nothing of humanity. How's your mother feeling? Glad to see you're getting the situation with Grizzly under control.

 

[NewYork1303]

I hope the hissing works better on grizzly then it does on my little teenage kitten. If I hiss at her about something she is doing, she will hiss right back at me. A lot of people say the hissing works though.