Expert: Ali - 5/7/2009

Question
QUESTION: I have two female grey tabby's, sisters, and I have had them since they were 8 weeks old.  They are now 1 week away from turning a year.  They are the closest cats I've ever seen.. always play together, chase each other, groom each other, and sleep together.  5 days ago I had both of them spayed and declawed.  When I picked them up, (both in the same cage) there was alot of hissing and growling.  I wasn't sure which one it was, or even both.  When I got home, I separated them into 2 different rooms with their own feed and litter box.  2 days later I tried to reintroduce them and the same thing.  But only from one cat.  The one that was being aggressive had not eaten and had only urinated once.  I called my vet and he put her on an antibiotic. (both are actually taking it)  I have given them 4 full rounds of the antibiotic, and the aggressive one is now eating, personality good (around me), seems to be doing well.  I let both cats have freedom of the house for the evening.  The non aggressive one went right up to the other and the hissing began.  She backed away and kept her distance.  They were around each other for several hours and then it started to get heated again.  I took the aggressive one and put her into the room that the other had been in for 2 days.  Hoping if it is smell related (because they do indeed stink... urine possibly from not using regular litter) then she will smell the other cats towels that she had been sleeping on and maybe it will get her used to it.  Well...no such luck.  After 12 hours I tried to reintroduce, same thing.  I separated them right away.  Now the non aggressive one seems depressed.  Making little crying meows that I've never heard and just acting sad.  It makes ME sad!!  What the heck happened due to the surgery??  Can you please shed some light?  I'm really bummed about this!

ANSWER: Christy

I have a pretty good idea why Maggie and Mia are behaving aggressively with each other since their spay and declaw surgeries. Being declawed can be very painful and cause lifelong pain, disability and/or behavioral problems in cats. I suspect that if the girls were given some pain medicine while their paws continue to heal after surgery the aggression between them might lessen or disappear entirely.

I also think that Rescue Remedy which is a homeopathic remedy made from a blend of flower essences designed to calm and reassure might help the girls settle and be less aggressive with each other. You can normally find Rescue Remedy in health food stores and naturopathic pharmacies. In some mainstream pharmacies you can find Rescue Remedy in the area where vitamins and other nutritional supplements are displayed and I believe that this remedy can also be purchased online. You can add 8-9 drops of Rescue Remedy into each girl's bowl of fresh water every morning to see how they react - you might be pleasantly surprised at the changes you'll see. I've used Rescue Remedy as a tool when working with abused, traumatized or fearful rescue cats and it's created some pretty amazing changes in so-called hopeless cats. You can also gently massage a drop of Rescue Remedy into the fairly fur free area of skin in front of the cats' ears, do be careful not to get any in their ears though - the flower essences are preserved in a grape alcohol solution which can sting a bit. Rescue Remedy also comes in a spray form, you can squirt it throughout the room before bringing the two girls in to interact with each other and it should help to reduce the aggression and tension between them. The reintroductions should probably be given a break for the time being, I'd suggest giving the girls 2-3 days apart while on the Rescue Remedy then try reintroducing them again to see if there have been any changes. I have had some questioners ask me about whether or not you can hurt the cat or cause an adverse reaction related to an overdose using Rescue Remedy. My answer is that provided you use common sense you shouldn't see any negative effects - you can add 10 or 20 drops to one bowl of water and you won't see a problem, if you pour the entire bottle into the cat's water bowls that might cause problems, not because of the flower essences though, the problem would be the grape alcohol they're preserved in. So long as you use basic good judgement and common sense the worst thing that should happen is that the remedy just won't work.

Many people believe that declawing is just a really short nail trim. When a cat is declawed it's not simply a short, permanent nail trim. The bone, ligaments, tendons and nail are amputated up to the first joint - the human equivalent would be cutting off all of our fingers at the first joint. There is a risk of infection and even permanent pain as a result of this surgery especially if the declaw surgery wasn't properly done. Many declawed cats begin walking abnormally after surgery in an effort to reduce their pain by bearing weight on the backs of their feet. Healthy, uninjured cats that haven't been declawed normally walk on their toes.

Declawing is quite expensive and can create some serious behavioral problems. Cats normally start off with a warning system that starts out by hissing, lashing the tail, growling and then it works up to swatting the person or pet that's upsetting them with sheathed claws and then things progress towards swatting with the claws unsheathed once all other warnings mentioned happen then biting is a last resort. Unfortunately declawing stops those early warning signs because the cat no longer feels that they are effective, and there's a possibility that the nerves create some pain even once the amputation is done. Sadly many cats that have been declawed are euthanized because they start biting or house soiling.

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QUESTION: Do you have in mind what pain meds are the most effective for my little girls??  Also, how long should they be on them.  Is there anything else I can do to make them more comfortable at this point?...sob.

ANSWER: Christy,

I'm so sorry that you weren't aware exactly what declawing entails. It's a tough thing to find out this way. I would recommend that you speak to a veterinarian (even if you're no longer comfortable dealing the vet who originally did the declaw) and find out about your options for pain relief. Based on my own experiences with cats and pain I would think that it would be reasonable to recommend a long acting pain reliever, maybe something given once daily like an anti-inflammatory or long acting narcotic, but cats are sometimes difficult to treat for pain because they are stoic and have a tendency to hide their pain and some medications aren't suitable for use in cats. I'm not a vet so I can't give you specific drug types or names and I don't think anyone can say for sure how long your cats will require pain management. I would recommend managing the cats' pain for as long as they're uncomfortable, provided of course that there aren't any underlying health issues that would increase the risks of serious complications related to pain medicine. You and your girls are in my thoughts, please feel free to keep me up to date, I'd be interested to find out how your cats are doing from time to time.

---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------

QUESTION: Hello Ali!!  Wow, do I have some GREAT news!  I followed your advice to the T.  I obtained an anti-inflammatory that has some pain medicine in it, and I also bought the Rescue Remedy.  Boy, what a difference!!!  Not sure which one has made the difference...maybe even both!  They now can come into closer space without the hissing and growling.  One even licked the others butt while she was eating, and NO problems...lol.  I am soooo grateful for your help in this matter, and I'm still sick about the whole declawing procedure.  I feel terrible that I put them thru this ordeal and will now educate others in this matter.  Once again, thank you so much for your advice, as it has helped tremendously!!  Have a great day!  Christy
P.S.  Think that Rescue Remedy works for quarreling children as well? ;o)

Answer
Christy,

I'm so glad to hear that your girls are doing better! That's fantastic. Although it bothered me to have to tell you exactly what declawing involves because it's somewhat traumatic to hear about I'm glad to hear that you'll be another well informed person helping to educate other cat caregivers.

Rescue Remedy and other Bach flower essences will work on quarrelling kids, you just have to find the right one. The reason I recommended Rescue Remedy for your girls is because they had been traumatized and I suspected that was the cause of the sudden onset of aggression between them. The Bach flower essences are a safe, natural, drug free and effective way of dealing with different issues. Most retailers that sell Bach flower remedies have a little key that matches symptoms with the appropriate flower remedy. I'm so glad that your girls are back to being closer to their happier, healthier selves. Take good care of them and please feel free to let me know how your kitties are doing every so often.