Expert: Karen Craft - 1/10/2009

Question
Hi. I have a 8 year old Calico -Female. She and I have lived alone since I got her as a kitten so she is not usually a social cat outside of being around me. Ten months ago I began a relationship with a woman who has a Pug and most recently I have moved in with her as we plan to marry in the next few months. My problem is that my cat seems to always be in a bad mood and has attacked the dog on a few occasions. to make matters worse, we recently got two more kittens. Caley (my cat) again is not adjusting very well. Adding to this is she seems to be loosing weight (although she has always been 5 lbs. or a little less for some reason) and over the last few months, she has lost almost all of the fur on her behind and at the base of her tail. Also, sometimes when I come home from work, I pick her up and find very small white-ish looking pellets on the sofa or shirt she was laying on. They look like little eggs. I'm concerned that she has tapeworms, or some other type of worm/problem that is taking her nutrition away. I love her and don't want her to be in pain. Could this be a partial contributor to her seemingly bad attitude? Is it that she is sick and being upset is the only way to communicate this to me? I know that some of it is due to the adjustment to new surroundings, and animals but goodness. I cannot believe the change I've seen in her. The other two cats are very social and loving to the dog as well as my girlfriend. Any ideas that could help me out with Caley?

Answer
Hi Stuart,

It sounds like Caley has a few things going on. The first thing you need to do is get her to the vet to be checked. She may have Hyperthyroidism.
Weight loss, age, and hair loss are the tip offs to to that. She may also have fleas and a worm problem,(fleas bites her and she gets the worms from the fleas). Your vet will be able to take care of that also.

Because of these things and the move and the new animals in her life she is under tremendous stress. This is most likely the cause of her bad mood. Once you get her health under control you can work on making her life a little less stressful.

You can try a product called Feliway Comfort Zone. This mimics a cat's happy pheromones. This will help her relax. If this doesn't work she can be put on a mild tranquilizer to help her through the rough spots of fitting into the new household. But you need to get her to the vet right away. All should be fine in time. Good luck.

Ciao, Karen