stressed cat - any ideas?

[bisley boys mum]

he is 16 years old - old but not ancient! have had another bout this am and had to come to work, my husband is going home to check him in a bit.

he is also diabetic and just about under control with that so having spoken to the vet this am we are going to increase his insulin dose very slightly from  units every other day to 2.5 every other day as there is glucose in his urine. Fructosamine test shows its just about under control but with glucose in urine its increasing his chance of infection.

i hate to see him suffering and nothing seems to be helping, this has been on and off for about a month now.

he had one dose of metacam on tues pm and now bad again this am - poor fella

its weird because after an injection anti inflamm he perks up with an hour....

[Desley (booktigger)]

What bloods did he have done last time, was it a full blood profile? i have had success with cystaid and a mainly wet food diet, if you buy cystaid online, you have to buy 250 capsules, unless they have changed that in the past 2 years.

[Millys Mum]

When you say hes old, how old do you mean?

Taz has metacam when hes bad, my vet says that one dose is often enough to break the cycle for them.
Use it carefully in older cats

[bisley boys mum]

thanks for all your replies everyone - its good to know im not the only one with a stressy cat. he's such a mummys boy bless him and i do try not to be stressed round him and be reassuring to him because i know he picks up on me - maybe its because he picked up that me and hubby were so upset at losing benson - how i wish i was dr dolittle and could talk to the animals.

TC is a very special cat - i know we all think that about our fur babes and that everyone here understands how hard it is sometimes as we so want to help them and make them better.

im gonna do some more research on the net as well and see what i can find and think i wil try rescue remedy as a start and see how we go. The vet did also mention the metacam so if in a few days we have the same prob i will get some of that, its a try everything situation i guess!

TC says meeow to everyone ie thanks for your help and suggestions!

[Leanne]

We've been there with Jess as well, 2 blocked bladders and constant cycles cystitis this year, nothing at all medically wrong with him all down to stress.

For us we worked out the stress was us going on holiday and leaving him (despite company every night - my dad sat and watched telly with him) then the Christmas decorations came out and then 2 sets of neighbour's rehomed dogs, and finally Milo arrived, the arrival of Milo has actually helped Jess gain some confidence. 

Being at our wits end we tried everything with Jess, (feliway, rescue remedy etc etc) and in the end we paid for a behavioural consultation, and its worked wonders.

Basically Jess does wee, he'd go once or twice in 24 hours, he would fill himself up and hold it till he had to go, so under the advice of the behaviourist we changed the litter we use and given Jess more choice of trays, and closed the door to the utilities cupboard (where they trays are) slightly so he has privacy when going, and the results have been dramatic he is now weeing 3/4 times a day.

But we also give Jess a cystease twice a day and also a Zylkene capsule, the Zylkene helps to relax him and even before the behavioural stuff his body language changed lots he was a lot happier. Jess also had urinary food, mainly because it gets fluids into him, his not a drinker and never has been. We have a water fountain and occasionally he will play with it. In the warm weahter I've been giving him tuna smothered in water to keep the fluids going into him.

Anyway this is my story of a stressed and nervous cat, I hope some of it can help you 

[madkittyrescue]

I would definately try the rescue remedy route as an option.  My own boy has similar urinary problems when he is stressed and it works a treat.   He also gets metacam oral suspension for a few days which seems to help with reducing the pain and inflamation from the constant straining so that he is going normally within a couple of days.

good luck as I know how worrying it can be when this happens. 

[Tiggy's Mum]

I've used the Rescue remedy successfully for stress.  When my cat was younger he was freaked out by the noise his brother made when he trapped his paw, sounds wussy but the noise almost had my heart pounding out of my chest it was so violent and scary - it sounded like he was being eaten alive by a wild animal!  His brother was fine but Lucas was petrified and would literally jump in the air at the slightest noise/movement and was generally terrified.  I rubbed in two small drops on his outer ears for about a week after the event, it really seemed to make a difference although he doesn't like me rubbing it in!

I've also had great success with the Feliway plug in (moved house and they were both ultra relaxed about it) but bear in mind this takes a few days to circulate and have an effect.  Hope TC starts to relax soon 

If you do order your bits and bobs online then here's a guide to ordering from www.vetuk.co.uk so that the rescues get 5% of your odrer - delivery is free and I always get my orders superfast, sometimes the next day but uaually within 48 hours.

The rescues on here that have a link are below, I always take it in turns every time I order.

www.chesterfieldcats.co.uk/ - click on vetuk logo on right hand side of home page

http://www.pawsinncats.com/ - click on vetuk logo at bottom of home page

http://www.coventrycatgroup.org.uk/sections.php?id=commission - click on the words 'vetuk link'

http://www.catactiontrust1977.co.uk/ - click on 'vetuk online shop' on left hand side

[Maddiesmum]

If you read my thread Charlie off colour again you will see that my poor boy Charlie has been very very stressed.  I do know what is causing it but there is nothing I can do to stop it really.  He is about to start on some Zylkene which I should have collected yesterday but the wrong ones were delivered so wont get them until tomorrow.

I tried Feliway and Rescue remedy with him but to be honest none of them did much.  Are you feeling anxious and stressed about it because I noticed that Charlie was reacting also to my stress levels.

It's horrible watching them when they are stressed but if you read up on it there is plenty of stuff on the net relating to stressed cats.

Hope he settles down

[Michelle (furbabystar)]

My Freddy suffers too....its heartbreaking isnt it.

I can never work out what stresses him, infact i'm not convinced it is always stress that causes it as Freddy is such a laid back cat.
The only thing that works when Freddy is having an attack is Metacam. We have tried Antibiotics, Steroids, Feliway and some calming tablets !!
Touch wood he hasnt had a bout of it for a couple of months

[Millys Mum]

Vet uk are nearly always best on price and rescues here on purrs have links so they earn commision 

I tried rescue remedy but didnt see any improvement, some people swear by it tho. I think it depends if the cat is a little bit unsettled or mentally disturbed. Taz is the latter 

[bisley boys mum]

thanks millies mum, will defo look at buying stuff online!

have you ever tried rescue remedy as vet said its ok to use on cats? TC is very good at drinking lots (have to keep an eye on this as he is diabetic too) and has wet food as has never been any good on dry stuff, he turns his nose up!!

he's my stressy, diabetic, old pussy cat and i love him to pieces!! x

[Millys Mum]

He sounds like my Taz so i can sympathise   

Only thing medical wise you could check out is an xray/ultrasound to see if theres anything in his bladder. Its possible for cats to have stones without it showing in a urine analysis!


I use feliway, valerian lots of cat nip and just try to keep him calm. I feed mainly wet food and have a water fountain to keep his urine as dilute as possible.
Taz has been having cystaid for months (you can buy this online much cheaper btw) and theres a new supplement called Zylkene that can help stressy cats. Ask your vet about it (and then buy it online  )

[bisley boys mum]

our cat tc has been back to the vet 4 times in 3 weeks as he is straining to wee from time to time, it comes on quickly, we go to the vet, he gets a jab and then he is ok within about 30 mins. he has been on anti biotics and cystaid for 3 weeks and has blood and urine tests (the latest being clear from infection and crystals) so together with the vet we have deduced its stress..

he lost his brother 5 weeks ago when we had him sadly pts and although he didnt seem too bothered we made sure he had extra attention and he has bensons blanket (which has been washed). TC is a stressy cat and always has been - hes a house cat too and has always been a mummys boy. he is v intelligent and this does all seem to be stress related - have just got a feliway plug in diffuser thing - has anyone else tried this and had success?

just wondered if anyone else had any ideas of how to help him, hate to see him like this, i feel awful as i dont know what else to do to help him (also cant keep going to the vet as the bills are costing us a fortune -not that that makes a difference when he is suffering but its not doing much for my bank balance)

we are wondering if he wants another cat to keep him company - but what if this stresses him more, its not exactly easy to find a cat/kitten that needs a new home and that we could borrow for a few hours/days to see if this helps - any thoughts anyone???

thanks in advance for your help!