Expert: Ali - 5/11/2009

Question
Hello.  I have a male cat who is around 7 years old, whom I
used to own for several years, along with a few other cats.  
He was introduced as a kitten to my boyfriends mother's
house, where he lived with as little as 4 other cats and as
many as 48.  (Yes, she was a hoarder, but that situation
was resolved a long time ago.)  When his mother left to
move away, she left most of the cats with me and him, so
they became ours.  My boy's name is Devil.  Anyhow, after
several years, we both decided we wanted to move to another
state, and so since we didn't have the money for deposits
for cats where we were going, we sent our 4 including Devil
to her new place to stay until we could get him back.  
Well, it took two years until we were financially ready,
but he just came back yesterday.  He did not enjoy the
plane ride, but he was sedated and in the cabin with my
boyfriends mother.  He calmed down quite a bit once he got
home and ate and drank.  Ever since, he has been overjoyed
to cuddle and be petted by me, but he is restless most of
the time, not staying in one place, and meowing most of the
time.  It kept me up quite a bit last night, and it is so
unlike him.  He is the quietest cat normally.  He got a
clean bill of health before he flew. His eating and
drinking habits have been normal.  What I want to know, is
what I should do to help him, and what is likely the cause
of this behavior?  Do you think it is stress, or does he
miss the other cats?

Answer
Shelley,

There are a number of reasons that cats can become vocal and clingy. In Devil's case I suspect that being sedated, travelling in an airplane and being taken away from familiar surroundings has contributed to his odd behavior. I do think it's a good idea to have Devil assessed by a vet because stress can sometimes trigger/aggravate issues that you may not previously have been aware of with a male cat's urinary tract. If your vet gives Devil a clean bill of health and he's eating, drinking, urinating, defecating, playing, etc normally then I wouldn't worry too much. You can add a homeopathic remedy called Bach's Rescue Remedy to Devil's water for a few days, that should help alleviate some of his stress and get him back to his usual self more quickly. Rescue Remedy is a blend of flower essences designed to calm and reassure, I've used it for 10+ years and found it to be safe and effective in a variety of situations. You can usually find Rescue Remedy in health food stores, naturopathic pharmacies, some mainstream pharmacies stock this remedy in the aisle with vitamins/nutritional supplements and I believe that you can also purchase this remedy online if you have difficulty getting ahold of it in your area. I would say that a dose of 8-10 drops in a bowl of clean, fresh water each morning should settle things down quite quickly. Some folks have asked me about the safety of this remedy so I now pass along some basic information about treating cats with Rescue Remedy and other homeopathic medicines. Rescue Remedy is safe provided that you make use of basic safety - you can safely give Devil several times the dose I've recommended without any negative effects, obviously you don't want to give your kitty the entire bottle at once though.