Opinions desparately needed please!

As most of you know one of my girls, Sugarly, has emotional issues and is extremely timid. She is on a half pill of amitrypolene (sp?), which is an antidepressant, daily (she is difficult to pill). Normally while medicated she behaves appropriately, although occassionally she acts out. When she act out she pees and poops in inappropriate places (our bed, the carpet). Because of this tendancy we keep a close eye on her and clean our boxes 3 times daily. When she behaves she is a little love. Very affectionate. Yesterday morning she started the pattern of inappropriate behaviour although there was no change in her meds or her routine. I didn't place this in behaviour because we have covered all of these issues and are dealing with them (double meds & she is in a time out room just with her, toys, a box food, etc...this always sets her straight).

The reason I am posting this is because we have a difficult decison to make. On Sunday we are leaving for a week to Mexico. Normally my cousins (19 and 21) stay at our house and take care of the cats. Our concern is that this change in routine can really set her off (it did last time we took a vacation). We have no worries about the other 4 cats.

Our options are as follows.

1) We board Sugarly for 9 days at the vets. There they can guarentee that she gets her meds on a daily basis, but she is in an unfamiliar environment and will be in a cage (large enough to have her bed a box and some room to play). As it is at the vets she will hear other animals including dogs.

2) We keep her at home locked in the time out room and get the cat sitters to visit her and try to pill her (will probably be impossible - has a great hiding spot in the room). She will be all alone although we will get the sitters to spend time in the room trying to encourage her to come out.

3) We let her have free reign of the house and if the guys can catch her then they can try to pill her but if she misbehaves we could come home to a house covered in urine and she is good at hiding those and her poops from people (not in the box)

We don't know what to do and we have to decide by Friday. Please help!

Ady--Please, Please board her so you know that you are 100% sure she is getting her medi. She may be a little timid with hearing dogs bark, but I think she will be more timid and fearful with others in her house taking care of her...I know from experience and she may or may not get her medi. Let us know what you decide. Good luck!

I'm normally against boarding your pets.. just because its such an unfamiliar environment but I'd say in this case you'd better board her. Poor thing

I vote boarding as well and ask them to cover her cage, leave a sweaty sneaker in the cage with her as well. Unless you can find a good pet sitter in your area that is a vet tech or was one and knows how to medicate timid animals

I agree with the others Ady. Sugie will be stressed no matter what you do, but at least at the vets you know she is in a safe place and she will get her meds. And you don't have to worry about the hidden surprises waiting for you at home, or stressing her further by having "strangers" trying to catch her and pill her. She probably started acting out because she can sense that something is going on with your preparations for your vacation. I know my two sure knew well before the bags came out that something was up when we went on vacation.

Just my opinion: She will be stressed with strangers in your house and she will be stressed at the vet. Better to have her on her meds if she will be stressed regardless of her situation.

Have fun and try not to worry tooooo much!!

Ady I agree with everyone else. Board her while you are gone so she will get her medication daily as prescribed. She may have a negative reaction to missing several doses of medication in a row and then it will be like having to start the meds all over again to get her back to the same level(I don't know this for sure as I am no Vet). This way at least you will have peace of mind about her getting her medication daily.

Have a great time on your vacation

I also would board her , due to her medication and she is not easy to handle for other people . As Hissy said , give her house shoe or a sweaty shirt from you or something you wore to sleep in for a few days and her favored toy . Also if she has treats she like I would give it to them to give her a treat every day , it may make her look to the treat every day .

At least you will know she is being taken care of and getting the help she'll need while you are gone. That way you won't worry the whole trip about your kitty.

I'm Bipolar so I probably understand a little of what she's going through. If I were her I'd rather be boarded at the vet so I could get my meds consistently.

Oh Ady, that's such a tough decision!! I voted time out room, just because thinking of my Merlin...he would have went insane after a week of being boarded at the vets, and if you knew for sure someone would come and give Sugarly her pills, it might make her feel less stressed to be at home, in the time out room. But, I am no cat expert...so I would go with what Hissy and the others have said. Either way....she is going to be okay and you should relax and have fun on your vacation! *hugs*

I would board her also

It's a difficult decision, but I think I would choose boarding her as well. . . . for peace of mind while you are away (so you don't come back to a stinky house, stressed sitters, and stressed cat.

I once took Elavil (Amitriptyline) for restless leg syndrome. Even though I took an extremely low dose to restore my sleep, I did not like the way it made me feel. . . . tired all the time during the day, blurry vision, almost car-sick-like. And I'm not a cat!! I wonder if this is the best choice of meds for her anxiety. There's so many anti-anxiety meds out there for people (prozac, zoloft, paxil, . . . I wonder if there's a better option for your cat. Just a thought.

Another vote for the boarding. I usually recommend boarding a cat, unless you can find a very good and professional cat sitter (especially when there's need for medication). I would check though to see how large a cage they can give her - try to make her as comfortable as possible in there. Hissy gave you some excellent tips as well!

I'm moving this to the health section - I think this thread will prove helpful for people looking for this kind of info in the future.

If you can find somewhere good board her. Axl went to a cattery for two weeks when my dad went on holiday and they treated him like their own, he's on meds too (Ovrid?? I forget the exact name.) and my dad was the only person who could get him to take them without riots. He came home content and healthy (and heavier!!!).

Thank you so much for all of the advice! John and I were having difficulty deciding what we were going to do. I trust everyone's opinions here especially Anne and MA. After talking to my cousins, who will be the house sitters, (and have 3 cats of their own) we decided that the least stressful situation for all involved will be boarding Sugie. The quick responses were apprciated. It will be difficult for us to drop her at the vets as we have never boarded one of our cats. It will probably tear our hearts out. Chances are the vet will be getting calls from Mexico asking how she is and possibly asking that they hold the phone up to her cage!

I voted to board her at the vets. Then she'll get her meds when she needs them. When I go on vacation, my cousin usually stays at my house and watches the animals. If my cats were on meds, I would board them. I would know that they were getting their meds as needed.

Yes, she is going to be stressed out either way. Boarding her is the best ting you can do. Good luck!

Ady my parents board Boots often at the vets. The only repercussions are when they finally pick him up and bring him home, he is mad at them for about 2 days then he forgives them. He has to have a heart pill every day-

I voted for boarding.

It's the only way that Sugie will receive her meds. It doesn't sound like she should miss her medication. Even though she will be stressed by the boarding, when you bring her home, it will ease the adjustment being that she hasn't missed any medication. She doesn't have to cope with change and getting back up to the medicated level.

Vets are usually understanding with owners boarding their animals. If you do call your vet, try calling at at a time when it isn't likely going to be busy.

I've boarded Russell before and he's always come back healthy, though a little annoyed. After a couple of days, all was forgiven. Sugie will be in good hands at the vet. If anything does happen, (I'm not saying that it will.), they will be able to handle it as they have her records as well as your contact number.

One more for boarding.

You might ask your vet if they can recommend a quality boarding facility that has a separate, quiet room for boarding cats, or a cats-only facility. I used to board my cats at a kennel that had a separate, quiet room for cats & even played soft classical background music. They had an experienced caretaker that had no trouble giving my cat her meds. Now that there's a cats-only medical clinic in town, that's where I take mine to board. It's still a strange place, but much quieter, and there are no sounds and smells of strange dogs.