With all the cries for help and frustrating kitty things being posted, I wanted to share this positive thing with y'all.
I am so proud of my cat, Callie! She's my 10 year old cat I've had for about 8years who's had a rough year so far. Last Thanksgiving, we adopted a 6 month old kitty from the pound. She had to stay in isolation for almost 6 weeks due to a very nasty URI.
When Hannah (new kitty) was introduced to Callie, we had the normal fights and such, but they calmed down and settled in. However, Callie became withdrawn and depressed. She quit doing some of the things she'd always done like follow me around, lay down next to me on the couch, jump up in my lap while I'm on the computer, sleep in her bed on the floor by our bed at night, come into our bedroom for her nightly drink of water, and she started hiding and being anti-social. A trip to the vet revealed she had arthritis and so we started her on Cosequin and Synflex. Then, she started peeing outside the box. Another trip to the vet revealed a UTI, most likely caused by stress. This brought about further isolation and anti-social behavior. I continued to seek her out, sitting in the same room with her and talking to her. Approaching her and petting her. (She's never growled or hissed at me.) She's always let me love on her, just not as much as prior to all this.
I invested in some Comfort Zone plug ins. They helped some, but we still had lots of hiding and anti-social behavior. I continued to treat her like normal. I always made sure to love on her before bedtime.
Sometime around June/July, my lover girl started coming out of her shell again! She now was taking her evening naps on the piece of packing paper in the den where I was watching tv. She quit swatting at Hannah. She ventured, tentatively, into our bedroom and she started laying in the hallway while I was in the bathroom.
In August, she started playing with Hannah!! She even initiated playtime! She would spend evenings in the den with me, often under the computer desk. She freely came into our bedroom, but wouldn't stay for an extended period of time. She was more confident coming into the bathroom.
In September, she started waking me up in the mornings by jumping on her perch and playing in the mini-blinds. (Bad kitty! LOL) If that didn't work, she'd jump up on the bed and quickly jump back down. She started jumping up on the couch again to get to the window above. She started sitting in the big window in the living room again.
Just this past week, Callie's spent time in my lap, and slept everynight in her bed!!! WOOHOO!! I've also woken up to find her plasted to my hip several mornings this past week.
She's spent a couple of hours with me on the couch and she's basically doing all the things she was doing before the setback happened in February.
Each small step has been a miracle and I'm so blessed by this cat's love!! She's truly amazing! She's always trusted me, but never trusted others well. I'm so happy with her progress, I cry when I really think about how far she's come. It was so hard to be patient and to celebrate the baby steps, but she's really come back into her own and is flourishing again!!
Stephanie
I am so proud of my cat, Callie! She's my 10 year old cat I've had for about 8years who's had a rough year so far. Last Thanksgiving, we adopted a 6 month old kitty from the pound. She had to stay in isolation for almost 6 weeks due to a very nasty URI.
When Hannah (new kitty) was introduced to Callie, we had the normal fights and such, but they calmed down and settled in. However, Callie became withdrawn and depressed. She quit doing some of the things she'd always done like follow me around, lay down next to me on the couch, jump up in my lap while I'm on the computer, sleep in her bed on the floor by our bed at night, come into our bedroom for her nightly drink of water, and she started hiding and being anti-social. A trip to the vet revealed she had arthritis and so we started her on Cosequin and Synflex. Then, she started peeing outside the box. Another trip to the vet revealed a UTI, most likely caused by stress. This brought about further isolation and anti-social behavior. I continued to seek her out, sitting in the same room with her and talking to her. Approaching her and petting her. (She's never growled or hissed at me.) She's always let me love on her, just not as much as prior to all this.
I invested in some Comfort Zone plug ins. They helped some, but we still had lots of hiding and anti-social behavior. I continued to treat her like normal. I always made sure to love on her before bedtime.
Sometime around June/July, my lover girl started coming out of her shell again! She now was taking her evening naps on the piece of packing paper in the den where I was watching tv. She quit swatting at Hannah. She ventured, tentatively, into our bedroom and she started laying in the hallway while I was in the bathroom.
In August, she started playing with Hannah!! She even initiated playtime! She would spend evenings in the den with me, often under the computer desk. She freely came into our bedroom, but wouldn't stay for an extended period of time. She was more confident coming into the bathroom.
In September, she started waking me up in the mornings by jumping on her perch and playing in the mini-blinds. (Bad kitty! LOL) If that didn't work, she'd jump up on the bed and quickly jump back down. She started jumping up on the couch again to get to the window above. She started sitting in the big window in the living room again.
Just this past week, Callie's spent time in my lap, and slept everynight in her bed!!! WOOHOO!! I've also woken up to find her plasted to my hip several mornings this past week.
Each small step has been a miracle and I'm so blessed by this cat's love!! She's truly amazing! She's always trusted me, but never trusted others well. I'm so happy with her progress, I cry when I really think about how far she's come. It was so hard to be patient and to celebrate the baby steps, but she's really come back into her own and is flourishing again!!
Stephanie
