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- Mar 5, 2014
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I have a 9 year old female called name Cleo who has had a rough year. I had an 8 year old cat who I had to put down in late January due to chronic kidney failure and Cleo has had a very hard time with it all. She had the stress of watching me trying many things to help my other cat and it was nothing but rough. They were like sisters and grew up together. When I had to put my other cat down Cleo had gotten so stressed that she was diagnosed with feline idiopathic cystitis. She was so anxious and stressed when I was gone and I could hear her meowing at the top of her lungs every time I came home. My neighbors down the hall could also hear her when they walked by my apartment door. Cleo was at the vet multiple times in a very short period of time and hospitalized twice during this episode. Needless to say, she was not doing great. I adopted a kitten thinking that she would take her in as a baby like she did to my 8 year old cat that I had to put down. After slowly introducing them over a 4 month period of time, it was clear that Cleo was not a fan of the kitten and was clearly unhappy. She was not stressed but she was definitely not herself. I chose to find a new home for my kitten which I did about 10 days ago. Now Cleo is showing symptoms of the cystitis again and is once again stressed and anxious like before. Cleo is happy as long as I am home but when I am gone and she is completely alone, that is when she gets upset. I do not want anymore suffering for Cleo so I am desperate for suggestions on reducing her stress. Cleo has been on the C/D diet for 3 years due to previous crystals in her urine and she primarily eats wet food. She does eat some dry C/D food but not much. I have just the one litter box for her but I do scoop it daily and wash out it out weekly. She has 2 scratching posts and lots of toys. I have been making a point to play with her more often each day and also have been taking her outside with her harness/leash on so she can enjoy the grass the past couple of days. I have been using the feliway plug in since her first FIC episode. I know that a regular schedule each day is beneficial but unfortunately I work shift work which means a couple days she could get fed breakfast very early in the morning or in the early afternoon. I work in a place that is open 24/7 so my schedule cannot change unfortunately.
I would love to hear of anything else I could do to help reduce her environmental stress. She means the world to me and I have a hard time seeing her go through this.
I would love to hear of anything else I could do to help reduce her environmental stress. She means the world to me and I have a hard time seeing her go through this.