Running Out of Options

I've had great luck with a product called Zero Odor - it's a spray that somehow links to odors to eliminate them. It won't remove the color from, let's say, a poo stain, but will apparently eliminate any residual odor (also works great on other, more human-related odors!). You can get it at Bed Bath & Beyond, and also on the internet - and BB&B is really good at returns should you not have the same good luck. It's a little pricey - about $12 for a bottle - but you don't use much at a time.

Please keep us posted - and we're all praying for a happy resolution for your family.

You don't have to have an infestation to have fleas! If one flea bites my cat, she will dig at it until she makes a bald patch - even after the flea is long gone. Fleas can hitch a ride from outdoors to indoors on dogs too. For some cats, all is takes is that one flea bite. You can buy single tubes of Advantage from vets, at my vet one tube is $11. One application lasts a month.

The sores... can he reatch them with is front or hind nails? If so trim his nails & consider getting some Soft Paws. Also, try some of that 'bitter' stuff that they put on sores.

I have a lidocaine ointment for sores that has a bitter taste so cats won't lick it off. I use it for little nicks and feline chin acne (mine are very prone to this) Here is the link: http://www.kvvet.com/KVVet/productr....273D28D766DBDD

I will keep thinking of other ideas for you. Good Luck!

Originally Posted by KatKisses

You don't have to have an infestation to have fleas! If one flea bites my cat, she will dig at it until she makes a bald patch - even after the flea is long gone. Fleas can hitch a ride from outdoors to indoors on dogs too. For some cats, all is takes is that one flea bite. You can buy single tubes of Advantage from vets, at my vet one tube is $11. One application lasts a month.

The sores... can he reatch them with is front or hind nails? If so trim his nails & consider getting some Soft Paws. Also, try some of that 'bitter' stuff that they put on sores.

I have a lidocaine ointment for sores that has a bitter taste so cats won't lick it off. I use it for little nicks and feline chin acne (mine are very prone to this) Here is the link: http://www.kvvet.com/KVVet/productr....273D28D766DBDD

I will keep thinking of other ideas for you. Good Luck!

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Good point about the fleas.

Thanks for the Biocaine tip. I'm going to ask my vet about using it on my Jennie, she's been having a bit of acne problem lately. She'll be getting her six month check up in October.

I didn't see where it says it it actually helps clear the acne up, or if it just keeps kitty from feeling discomfort from it? Do you know? I bet it would work well for spay incisions too....

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Originally Posted by otto

Thanks for the Biocaine tip. I'm going to ask my vet about using it on my Jennie, she's been having a bit of acne problem lately. She'll be getting her six month check up in October.

I didn't see where it says it it actually helps clear the acne up, or if it just keeps kitty from feeling discomfort from it? Do you know? I bet it would work well for spay incisions too....

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The Biocaine isn't specifically for acne, I was just looking for something that was safe incase they ingested it, and stumbled across the Biocaine. It helps the sores heal up a little faster, but it does not prevent it.

Vets say get rid of plastic bowls and use stainless steel or glass bowls (and any plastic mats that go under the bowls), and wash them out with antibacterial soap & rinse well. Dry food can help cause it too, but my 4 insist on dry, no they RIOT if I don't give them dry, lol. I have done everything and mine still get it. Vet just tells me to keep doing what I am doing & that my 2 who get it will probably have acne problems off and on for their whole life.

I even tried cleaning their chins with dilluted peroxide (1:5) but all that does is make them upset because it burns for a few seconds (only do it every few days, too much peroxide is a bad thing), they do not mind the Biocaine. The Biocaine is white and looks alot like lotion, lol.

I talked to my vet about all of the above before doing anything, ask you vet about treatment options.

Thanks for your reply. Like you, I talk to my vet before making any changes or treatments with my cats.

She has voice mail, I love it. I just call and leave my questions on her voice mail, which gives her time to figure out the answers before calling me back.

I never use plastic for my cats, that's good advice. It's one of the reasons I have not tried a fountain. However I have discovered that Drinkwell is coming out with a stainless steel 360 fountain this fall!

Oops, I am getting way off topic!

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*gasp*

I hadn't heard about the stainless steel fountain! When the steel ones come out I will get rid of my plastic one & get one! I am not sure if my plastic fountain made the acne worse or not.

Yeah... way of topic, LOL.

No real advice, but I would like to comment that the nursing behavior is not always caused by early weaning. My first two feral kittens were raised in the woods behind where I work, and we watched them grow up. They were kicked out off the den by the mother at about 10 or 11 weeks, I caught and tamed both kittens. At age two the male still trys to nurse on my scalp every opportunity, while the female never did it.

seriously - a stainless steel 360! I just bought my 360, but will happily buy a stainless steel one - where did you hear about that? Oops, OT, but hoping that Claude's vet will have some new avenues of help to try very soon.

I heard about it from a pet sitter, in another forum. She contacted the company and was told the fountain should be available in Late September or October.

sorry for the hijack to the OP.

Be sure to keep us updated on Claude!

I was just reading through this thread & saw the link for the Snuggle Kitty.
I bought one--it has been probably about 2 months ago now though, at PetsMart. They were clearancing them and I got it for $8.99. I love it! I was mad at myself for not buying all that they had so I could donate them to the shelter. When I went back they were all gone.

Anne

Claude Update:

The situation has gotten progressively more...I'm not sure there is a word for it. Strange and complicated would suffice.

Taking some of the advice from the forums here, we started anew in some of the areas of focus. Since I last wrote, the halo has come off, and Claude goes back to licking his legs at every opportunity. They have now reverted back to looking as bad as they did pre-halo enforcement.

Now the weird part. Claude has been coming downstairs for the evening (he normally sleeps up in our bedroom) and jumping on my couch to lay at my feet....its quite endearing. We turn the volume down on the TV, I only move when needed (a cheap excuse to make my wife be the remote MC!), and we generally try to make the atmosphere as calming as possible.

This evening after my wife had already headed to bed, I was laying on the couch with a blanket at my feet and Claude was resting their contentedly. Suddenly, an overpowering smell of ammonia overtook me. Immediately, I looked down at Claude and he was still laying down, but his head was up and he was sniffing the blanket around him.

Being that he wasn't in "pee" mode, I immediately thought that one of our litter trained chins had decided to see how far he could shoot across the room, since their smell tends to have that highly concentrated ammonia smell. I went in their room, and nothing.

I came back, did the dog nose thing around Claude, and even though only one of my sniffers is currently working, I didn't smell it around Claude. I was seriously thinking he may have aimed and fired before I noticed, then assumed the position like nothing had happened.

I went back to sitting on the couch, thinking I may be having a stroke and if so I'd better be sitting down when it happened again.

Curiosity got the best of me, and I decided to grab Claude and smell him. Sure enough, he REEKED. The area underneath him also completely smelled just like he had dosed it with his own special blend. Whatever occurred happened while Claude was pretty much asleep, and "discipline" absolutely cannot be considered a factor.

The weird part about this is that he was in the curled up position, more than likely completely asleep, and everything was COMPLETELY DRY. However he "released" whatever he released, it was done in a fashion that I cannot explain.

This new wrinkle has me completely baffled. Even if he marks, isn't he supposed to get into that position? He wasn't threatened, he wasn't upset, he wasn't in pyscho mode...he was just....asleep.

Bedwetting?

Could this be more confusing?

Between the urination (especially that last episode you described!) and only going after his back legs with the licking till he bleeds I am wondering if he has some sort of neuropathy? He may be unable to control his bladder excretion because of muscular or nerve damage. He may also lick his legs if it feels strange to him (like numb or feeling pins and needles) or he is in pain.

I don't know what sort of testing a vet would do to determine if this is so but it is SOMETHING to look in to. I cannot imagine what you have been through already. I would definately talk to your vet and do some research into neuropathy and other nerve/muscular disorders.

I wonder if he is leaking a bit and the licking is caused by trying to keep himself clean or even irritation from urine dripping down his back legs? Definately sounds like a physical issue now, not a behavior one....

Originally Posted by fifi1puss

Between the urination (especially that last episode you described!) and only going after his back legs with the licking till he bleeds I am wondering if he has some sort of neuropathy? He may be unable to control his bladder excretion because of muscular or nerve damage. He may also lick his legs if it feels strange to him (like numb or feeling pins and needles) or he is in pain.

I don't know what sort of testing a vet would do to determine if this is so but it is SOMETHING to look in to. I cannot imagine what you have been through already.

I would definately talk to your vet and do some research into neuropathy and other nerve/muscular disorders.

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We've dealt with neuropathic disorders at the long term shelter we volunteer for. This is an excellent suggestion and I am going to have them look into it asap.

Originally Posted by fifi1puss

Between the urination (especially that last episode you described!) and only going after his back legs with the licking till he bleeds I am wondering if he has some sort of neuropathy? He may be unable to control his bladder excretion because of muscular or nerve damage. He may also lick his legs if it feels strange to him (like numb or feeling pins and needles) or he is in pain.

I don't know what sort of testing a vet would do to determine if this is so but it is SOMETHING to look in to. I cannot imagine what you have been through already.

I would definately talk to your vet and do some research into neuropathy and other nerve/muscular disorders.

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Great idea!!!

Thank you for all you're doing with Claude!

It is really starting to sound like a physical problem. While looking into the neuropathic disorders, please discuss with your vet the option of using Elavil (amytriptaline) instead of Prozac. Elavil is classed as an anti-depressant, but it doesn't really work as such (in humans or animals). What it does do is cause people (and animals) to retain their pee. It is given to children with bed-wetting problems. We used it on a short-term basis to retrain one of our kitties that was having a stres-pee problem. It made her go pee once a day in a really huge pee - and she started using the litter box within one day of her first dose.

It may not be a long-term solution - but it may be a short-term one while you work out what the actual problem is.

Vibes for you, your wife, and Claude!

Prozac and other SSRI medications can be stimulating in a way which contributes to rather than reducing anxiety. (I'm not an expert on cats' mental health, but have been a psych nurse for humans for a long time.) I would suggest trying Klonopin or Valium. These are actual anti-anxiety medications. (The vet who vaccinated my feline friend suggested trying one of them if we ever needed another visit, so I know cats can take them. Cats can handle a surprisingly large dose of either, he explained.) Since your boy doesn't go outdoors, it won't matter if he's a little bit loopy while adjusting to it.
cheddi

Originally Posted by cheddi

Prozac and other SSRI medications can be stimulating in a way which contributes to rather than reducing anxiety. (I'm not an expert on cats' mental health, but have been a psych nurse for humans for a long time.)

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Thank you for this post, it explains a lot. OT here, but one of my grown children has some problems, and for years has refused to see any one but her MD about it. He recently changed her meds to a combination of stuff including Prozac, and she started having more and worse panic attacks. The only good to come was that she actually went to see a psychiatrist who took her off almost everything! It's a little scary that an MD without the training in psychiatry can just randomly prescribe for mental health issues.