Thursday, February 16, 2012

fluff

Nahum is so fluffy!



Just how fluffy is Nahum you ask?


around 4½ inches! (11.43cm!) That's some serious fluff!!



Three things from this morning that delighted me:

  1. I have been bringing more toys outside to play with Oliver. This morning, I caught him playing with his little mouse in the middle of the yard. He crouched a few feet away then pounced on it, kicked it in the air and started batting it around. It was so fun to see him play on his own.
  2. While Oliver was playing mouse, two of his Family were having some breakfast at the Dining hall. This is the first time I have seen any of the Family having breakfast since the big trapping trauma. Lately, they have only been coming for dinner just after darkness. Slowly and surely, they are starting to trust the yard again, yahoo! I still haven't seen all of them together, so I don't know if they are all coming back or not.
  3. For each of the last two mornings, I carried Oliver inside in my arms while the other cats were milling about in the kitchen. Nahum and Theo got to sniff noses with Oliver. Everyone was certainly curious about each other. Buddy had to act like a tough guy, but otherwise I was quite pleased how it went. I might keep trying this a little bit at a time to ease into the introductions.
Meanwhile, my quest to find an solution for Oliver's urine marking continues. I talked with someone at the vets office about anti-anxiety meds for Oliver and Buddy. They suggested we start with Feliway and Anxitane before going for Prozac. I would prefer a non-drug solution, so I'm up for trying the supplement Anxitane. (I've been using Feliway now for several months and haven't noticed any change.)

I'm already familiar with Anxitane, as I've been using it with Rose now for several months and have experienced positive results, she is less anxious around us scary humans now and even approaches us on occasion. I haven't heard much about Anxitane curbing urine marking behavior, but according to a research study on the manufacturer's website, it has been proven successful in reducing all sorts of anxiety symptoms including inappropriate urination. So, since we have some in stock, I went ahead and started Buddy and Oliver on it and hopefully it works! Paws crossed.

Anxitane is not cheap, but here's a tip on how to save some money with this supplement. Anxitane S is marketed for cats and small dogs (S for small) while Anxitane M-L is for medium to large dogs. The S-sized pills need to be split in halves and given morning and night. It's a lot cheaper to buy the M-L sized pill and split it into quarters - you get the same dose for about half the price.

13 comments:

  1. I wish you luck with turning Oliver into an indoor cat - he certainly seems to would want that. I had no success with Feliway either when I introduced my younger cat to my 10 years old cat madame.

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  2. Awwww. Nahum is such a beautiful boy! My Lucius Cornelius is quite a floof too...but Nahum has him beat, I think :)

    Congrats all the way around with the kitties! Glad some of Oliver's family is in sight and that Oliver is making more indoor progress. Good luck with Buddy and with the spraying!

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  3. What a handsome boy you have! Actually, all of your kitties are just beautiful!

    I have 5 cats of my own, 2 of which suffer from pretty severe anxiety. They were both marking fairly often and we tried everything - Feliway, deterrent sprays, double-sided tape, Cat Attract litter... you name it, we tried it. We finally went the route of Prozac and to be completely honest, it has done wonders for them. I was worried that they would turn into little "zombie" kitties but that really isn't the case. It took about 3 weeks for the meds to level off, but all it did was reduce the anxiety and make them more calm. They are still the sweet, playful and affectionate kitties that I know so well. And the good news is that they have not marked in months and months. So it does work with some cats. And it's fairly inexpensive too. You can also get it in a gel formula that you rub into their ear if they don't do well with oral meds.

    Anyways, I thought I would share my experiences with you in case it helps. Best of luck with Oliver and the rest of the clan!

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  4. Would love to snorgle that fuzzy belly! Sounds like the introductions are progressing well. How wonderful Oliver stays in your arms while the other cats are around. We hope Buddy will come around soon. Good luck!

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  5. Glad to see Oliver is doing well and some of his family showing up in the yard again. I love a fluffy cat and Nahum is that for sure! Good luck with the integration!

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  6. So pleased that the intros are going well. We started off our stress pee'er Jacob on Anxitane, it worked well for a while, then we moved onto Clomicalm...now we think we have to move onto to 'real' drugs. ...sigh.
    Jane x

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  7. So glad Oliver and his family are coming back again - it takes time for them to be comfortable again. Hope the meds work to stop the spraying.

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  8. Glad to hear the introductions are creeping along. I would like to reiterate what Cr8z4Cats! said about prozac. It doesn't turn them into zombie cats, it just calms them. Might be good for Buddy AND Oliver. I tried Fellaway and it did nothing. Waste of money for us. The other thing the animal behaviorist mentioned was making sure there was at least one litter box per cat. I know you already have multiple cats, but they do pee/mark in those boxes. It can be problematic when you have limited space (!!!).

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  9. Feliway never has helped with my cat who passed away in Dec and not with Katie. I hope to goodness all goes well though in your search for Oliver truly wants to be yours.

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  10. I'll be snorgling with Terri.. hopefully he's got enough belly for the both of us (and doesn't mind it too much)

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  11. Excellent suggestion! That is also true for flea medicines. Get the big dog size and a small syringe and you can get multiple doses out of it.
    Hope this will help!
    purrs
    >^,,^<
    ♥Abby♥Boo♥Ping♥Jinx♥Grace♥

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  12. Holy FLUFF! Maui had armpit fur like that, looooong.
    I'm gonna look into that Anxitane.

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  13. Major Fluff, Nahum. You're a very handsome fellow.

    I have three fosters on the ear-gel Prozac and the whiz wars have calmed down. Then today, my own Xena peed in the bathtub right in front of me. She'll go in to the vet on Monday. Does Prozac come in quarts?

    Despite his marking, I'm glad Oliver is adapting so well to your house. It'll just take time and patience. You're doing a very good thing for him.

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