My cat is under stress...

Last year my cat started breaking out with lesions and hair loss on her inner thigh and lower belly. We did tests and they revealed no cause. Coincidentally, a new store was being built across the street from my apartment. I put her on a hypo-allergenic diet as well as trying a couple of allergy medications. She eventually healed up completely.

Now they are building ANOTHER building directly across from us, even closer than the other...during the day when I am gone there are a lot of noises, ground being pounded, tractors beeping as they back up, etc. She has lesions again and my best guess is she is stressed by all the noises, as she also sleeps under the couch now.

The Vet suggested Doxepin which is used for humans, as it will relieve her stress plus has a very strong histamine blocker, many times stronger than Benadryl, to relieve her itchy feeling...because it seems to be a cycle she is causing herself...

The Vet has heard a heart murmur but when I took my cat to a cardiologist, the tests revealed her heart is fine. But I am still concerned. My Vet's husband who is also a Cardiologist said not to worry about it. I just always worry that drugs I give her now will catch up to her later, possibly causing more problems...but what other alternatives are there? Or I could give her this medication to ease her stress until they finish building and then wean her off of it...I just wish there were easy answers...but I guess this is life...

Your poor kitty! I really feel for you as well, since it's very hard for us to watch our kitties suffer. Don't ya just wish you could tell them, "Nothing's going to harm you while you're here. It'll be alright."?

Two things that have worked very well for my stress out kitty have been feliway plug ins and Rescue Remedy. I use them both everyday. I leave the plug ins going 24/7 and give her drops of the RR twice a day. I started with 4 drops twice daily and have weaned her down to 2 drops twice daily. I cannot tell you what a difference I've seen in my cat.

I, too, didn't want to put my cat on kitty prozac so I looked for alternatives and this has worked, so I'm stickin' to it!

Stephanie

oh, you are an Angel for caring so much. She is so lucky to have you! Not much can be done sometimes - it seems that you are very wise and careful and attentive....talk to her, pet her, love her....Feliway, yes.
Does she like piano music? dolphin music? My beloved SiSi would stress sometimes and I'd play a CD for her. I have never seen a kitty take so well to Mozart!

Thank you for your caring and concern ...it really means a lot when fellow cat-lovers understand what one is going through. One positive note is that once this building is completed, there will be no more room on the block for additional demolishing and she will get better again - but this project may take months.

I do have a Feliway but didn't know if it would be helpful, so I just plugged it in, thanks!