Expert: Jessica - 10/22/2009

Question
Hi I hope you can help.  I emailed Ali yesterday but she has asked further questions and is now maxed out and i REALLY need help asap as the situation is worsening.  
The story is:

I have 2 cats Dempsey & Makepeace (brother & sister) who I adopted age 11 month in Apr 09 from Cats Protection League (neutered & spayed). They were together in a cat run for 7 months prior and were part of an abandoned litter.  Since then their behaviour has changed dramatically from being snuggled up together and cleaning each other to out of control fur flying fights with culminating with her not feeling like she can come in the house at all.  They have a cat flap but she will only use it to go out.  I now have a curtain she can hide behind in front of it but this is obviously no comfort.  They were fine at first, her being more timid than her brother.  Then he took over downstairs and she took over upstairs which worked well.  Since my partner (who works away mon-fri) grabbed her off the bed to put in her box (first time done and was a disaster) for the vets she now won't got upstairs or in the house without some coaxing with food and just growls at her brother or just runs away.  I really don’t want to have to take one back to the shelter but it's unfair for her to live like a ferral cat. Is there anyone who can help me in my predicament especially as Winter is drawing in and i'm so worried about her. Yesterday she defecated in the lounge when i kept her in for an hour or so, so she could get warm and feel safe and there was blood in it.  The vet said just keep taking the Zyclene tabelts with the feliway defuser which isn't working!! Both cats have been checked recently and are wormed to date.  I'm open to any kind of homeopathis/orthodox medicines available to get my kits back again. Please help.

Kind regards
Claire  

Answer
Hi Claire.  The poor kitty!  I think it's time to discuss something that's a little more along pharmaceutical lines with the vet.  One of the most successful medications for serious anxiety like this with the fewest side effects is Prozac.  However, in your kitty's case, one with a mild sedative effect might be helpful.  Those include amitriptyline, buspirone and clomipramine.

You also might want to consider treating both kitties with flower essences.  One site that I have confidence in is www.spiritessences.com  The formulas were created by a widely respected holistic vet along with an animal behaviorist.  Your male may calm down a little if you use the Bully Remedy formula with him, while your female could probably benefit from their Self Esteem formula.  Their Ultimate Peacemaker package contains three formulas that help correct situations like the one you are facing.  And the company ships worldwide.

I hope that helps!

Jessica