Valium

I posted a few days ago about my Leeloo having a bald spot, I took her to the vet and he tested for ringworm and mites, and he found nothing, he said she was stressed out and over grooming (I have noticed that she constantly is grooming herself, almost always unless I'm distracting her by playing with her but even then she will stop to groom a little) my poor cat... anyway he prescribed to her Valium to give to her every day for three weeks.

I dont like taking medications myself (I was prescribed Xanax myself a year ago and learned to get over my stress without it) so I really feel weird when giving it to her, but I also want to do what the doctor reccommends you know? She's been acting so out of it since I've been giving it to her... but she still constantly grooms herself, so I dont feel exactly right about giving her medication when its not even helping (I should give it a bit longer though) so I'm kind of conflicting with myself.

Has anyone ever given their cats Valium for something similar before? I guess I would just feel better talking with other cat lovers about this because the only support I get from family is 'she's fine shes only a cat' when they dont get that she's not only a cat she's my baby.

If you want to, and can afford it, can you take her to a holistic vet? They use natural meds when neccesary and behavior modification. I wouldn't try and drug her with Valium! What a pretty cat she looks like my Hera! Good luck with her, and your choices.

Just a though - when the vet tested for ringworm, did he check with just a wood's lamp (black light), or did he also do a fungal culture? - for a culture, they pull some hairs & scrape some skin cells from the affected area & put them in a growth meduim for a couple of weeks to see if a fungus grows. Some varities of ringworm don't show up with just a wood's lamp test (mine had that problem a few years ago). If he didn't do a culture, you might want to request that.

There are other drugs out there that work better on cats with fewer side effects. Amitryptilline (sp?) is one. You may see some sedation at first but as she gets used to it she will return to normal (minus the anxiety).
Have there been any changes in her routine lately that would cause anxiety?

Originally Posted by Dr. Doolittle

There are other drugs out there that work better on cats with fewer side effects. Amitryptilline (sp?) is one. You may see some sedation at first but as she gets used to it she will return to normal (minus the anxiety).
Have there been any changes in her routine lately that would cause anxiety?

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I took her with me to CT (I live in florida) for the holidays because I had no one to look after her and would rather have her with me for the holidays than at some shelter. I've travelled with her before and she was fine, she actually loves going up north because its a much bigger house that my parents live in than my little apartment so shes got a lot of room to run around plus more people to play with, plus my mom's bird who she likes to torture. I dont know if the plain ride stressed her out, or if maybe she just likes it so much better up there than here? I'm not sure. But the last time I travelled with her it didnt seem to bother her either way.

I also haven't had her spayed yet... she's been in heat before but her temper seemed to go away, I've been meaning to do it, but my vet told me it would be 200 something dollars and I really cant afford that, and since she is an indoor cat I know she wouldn't get pregnant lately she's been meowing a lot more than usual so I'm wondering if she is going into heat again? I know that the earlier I get her spayed the better, and I've been trying so hard to get it done for her. I wonder if that is what is causing her stress? or maybe adding to it?

It's quite possible that she's in heat again, and yes, that can be a source of stress.

This link http://www.lovethatcat.com/stfl.html lists some low-cost spay/neuter resources in Florida that might be helpful.

thank you so much. after going to bed last night I am more positive that she is in heat because she spent the whole night just meowing and meowing, in this strange way... my boyfriend who has had cats before said thats what his used to sound like when they were in heat I'm definately going to look into getting her spayed really soon.

200 for a spay , where do you go to get a spay done for that? wow. I just read about this on your reply and decided to post this info for you. Call this number 1800spayusa. they will ask you to leave your name , address, cat sex and send you a coupon to a vet in your area that does spays cheaper($25 where I am for a male). Hope this helps. Good luck with her and do call this number it is very helpful!!

thank you so much!! it was the vet office I always bring her to (which isnt overpriced normally, at least I didn't think so) they gave me an estimate for a spaying and it was over $200 I nearly had a panic attack thats why I've waited so long to get it done because I just cant afford it and since she is indoors I didn't think it was that much of a hurry because she had no chance of getting pregnant, but then there are the other reasons like, the decreased risk of breast cancer and now her stress... my poor kitty...thank you for all your help.

I made an appointment to get her spayed next wednesday... I have to leave her overnight, I'm gonna be so worried

Originally Posted by Yuna

I made an appointment to get her spayed next wednesday... I have to leave her overnight, I'm gonna be so worried

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Good for you! She should be fine

I think spaying her is a really good idea. It could certainly be the reason she is stressed. By the way $200 sounds about right. Make sure it includes some post op pain control. There are cheaper ways to have your cat spayed, but cheaper doesn't mean better. Would you find the cheapest surgeon if you needed abdominal surgery?

well she is definately in heat, and after seeing her now, I realized that she wasn't in heat last time when I thought she was, because then she was only meowing a lot, but this time around, she is going absolutely NUTS I've never ever seen her like this before, rolling on her back over and over again and making this cooing sound almost like a pigeon, she is definately stressed out by this, I can just see she is so badly in heat and so stressed out my poor baby... she does some pretty funny things though that me and my boyfriend cant help but laugh at like sticking her butt up at us haha poor leeloo... i heard that this lasts awhile, i hate to think of her feeling like this for too long, i'm really glad I made that appointment for her. I kept giving her the valium to calm her down because she is seriously going nuts!