stressed out cat

spfxmarc

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I have a 3 year old orange tabby cat that I got by accidentaly running over its tail with my car. I brought him and have kept him since. This year we are having a major flea problem. We have tried both presricbtion and over the counter flea medicine for him and he seems to be allegric to them. However I recently spoke to someone that says it might be stress. The stress of putting the drops on or just the smell could be upsetting him. Does anyone have a suggsetion on how to deal with this cat. I can not take him to a vet because he faints and I have enough medical knowledge to treat minor problems. He is not a very sociable animal and does not like to be petted often or even distrubed. He is unlike my other cat who is freindly to me and my husband (not so much to my 2 year old son or strangers). How can I help my orange cat be happier and healhtier.

Rebecca
 

valanhb

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Rebecca, I can say for sure that the over-the-counter flea meds not only do not work, but could be dangerous to use on your kitty.

Also, I removed the thread in Health & Nutrition as we don't allow duplicate postings. This is the best place for help with his stress issues.
 

sharky

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Originally Posted by spfxmarc

I have a 3 year old orange tabby cat that I got by accidentaly running over its tail with my car. I brought him and have kept him since. This year we are having a major flea problem. We have tried both presricbtion and over the counter flea medicine for him and he seems to be allegric to them. However I recently spoke to someone that says it might be stress. The stress of putting the drops on or just the smell could be upsetting him. Does anyone have a suggsetion on how to deal with this cat. I can not take him to a vet because he faints and I have enough medical knowledge to treat minor problems. He is not a very sociable animal and does not like to be petted often or even distrubed. He is unlike my other cat who is freindly to me and my husband (not so much to my 2 year old son or strangers). How can I help my orange cat be happier and healhtier.

Rebecca
maybe try feliway??
 

mr potato head

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You need to get him to a vet, there may be a vet in your area who specialises only in cats, this make make a visit less stressful to him. There are other things to help to, but you need to give full details of his fainting problems.

As for fleas, do not buy animal medicines over the counter, get them prescribed by a vet who has seen the condition. I do not know if this is available in your country, but I have found Frontline + a home flea control spray to be totally effective. There is also an alternative to Frontline, but I forget it's name. While applying the flea drops, you also need to use flea sprays on soft furnishings around the home. Only by doing this can you kill all the fleas.

I assume the fleas have also infested your other cat too?

Feliway is like an air freshner spray that mimics the scent marking gland in cat's cheeks. In some situations, it can relax them, but only when the source of the stress has been removed.

If you really can't get him to a vet, get the vet to come to you?
 
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spfxmarc

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the fleas have not affected my other cat in fact I can't find a single one on her and on Olive (the orange one) I only found 1 flea. Oliver has had both Frontline and Advantage and they made him horrible sick, but when I had the vet come out and look at him he could not find anything wrong. His bloodwork looked great and besides be a little under weight could not find anything wrong with the cat. I have been dealing with this for 5 months. And as a far as his fainting there again is no explaniation. This is how we have come up with stress.

Rebecca
 

maherwoman

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My first question: have you tried having the vet giving the kitty a flea bath? They are experts on doing this, and are fully trained on how to do it with the most minimal stress on your kitty. (You might wanna try to find a vet that only services kitties to reduce his stress of going there.)

Another thought: Have you done flea treatment on your house? If not, I would suggest buying some "flea bombs", one for each bedroom, one for each hall, two for the livingroom, and one to two for the kitchen depending on the size (also be sure to read the instructions on the label to be sure). Ask your vet what to do with your kitties during this process. Another thing you might consider to go along with this is to call some place like Orkin and ask them to spray outside your home to eliminate them from wanting to even come onto your property.

Another question: do you live in a house or apartment? If you live in an apartment, do you live on the first or second floor?

If you could answer those questions, that would be great...then I can more defintiely answer your question.
 

boys mum

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theres a plug in spray u can buy (it is expensive) which sends out pheramones which will help calm your cat down, have u tried combig your cat with a nit comb??u have to do it every day but if theres any critters in the cats coat the comb will get them. also combing the cat will help calm him down. ive got a stressed out cat and the combing helps him.
 
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spfxmarc

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Thanks to everyone for your reply. I have recently bombed my first floor apartment and things seem to be working. Although during the moving of my cat to a new home for a few days he lost about 2 pounds and he only ways 10 pounds so I am trying to fatten him up again. He seems more comfortable these days but he is still stressed out.

Rebecca
 

maherwoman

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Originally Posted by spfxmarc

Thanks to everyone for your reply. I have recently bombed my first floor apartment and things seem to be working. Although during the moving of my cat to a new home for a few days he lost about 2 pounds and he only ways 10 pounds so I am trying to fatten him up again. He seems more comfortable these days but he is still stressed out.

Rebecca
So glad to hear our ideas worked...and especially glad to hear that your little baby is feeling better. Yeah, stress will do that to kitties (as far as the weight loss), but canned food'll get him back to where he was!
Happy to hear he's feeling better! My
and good thoughts to you both!
 

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Rebecca question? The frontline and advantage you used did you buy it from your vet or from another source?
 
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