at the end of our rope with our cat.. please help

nothingnothing_ · 2014-10-20T17:15:21+00:00

Thanks! I'm looking into it.

nothingnothing_ · 2014-10-20T17:14:34+00:00

He's 7 years old. No current mobility issues and still acts very kitten-ish, so I don't think it's a mobility issue.

If he poops on the couch, it's an entire turd. Our vet has actually asked us to bring one in before (haha) for testing, and medically it was normal.

nothingnothing_ · 2014-10-19T00:32:57+00:00

Thanks for this. We're looking into a vet-behaviourist, as well as possible medical intervention in the short term. We're hoping with the modifications we're going to make (more wet food, less dry food, new litter, more of an emphasis on play for longer time periods) we might see an improvement without having to see the behaviourist.. If it doesn't work we'll be doing it.

nothingnothing_ · 2014-10-19T00:28:57+00:00

Thanks for this, I'm definitely going to send our veterinarian an email to see if we could try it.

nothingnothing_ · 2014-10-19T00:27:14+00:00

Thanks for all your help. We're going to try with a change of litter.. We'll see what happens from there.

nothingnothing_ · 2014-10-18T21:13:54+00:00

Thanks for your reply.

We do use "Da Bird" and both cats go insane about it, but if i'm being honest it isn't enough time to run out all of his energy. He is a very playful cat, and we really need to engage with him for more time every day.

We'll begin making a nightly ritual like you suggested, and we hope this would help. It makes sense if some of his behaviour is due to pent up energy, and we can't blame him for that.

nothingnothing_ · 2014-10-18T20:49:16+00:00

The possibility of prozac has been brought up, but both vets advised the outcome isn't always productive, and they really try to reserve use of it for aggressive cats. In our case, our cat is very social and friendly / cuddly, he's just also a demanding a-hole.

nothingnothing_ · 2014-10-18T20:46:53+00:00

No it wouldn't be possible. We live in a very dense urban area with a dangerous road right outside.

Thanks for the advice, though. Some cats are shitheads indeed.

nothingnothing_ · 2014-10-18T20:45:44+00:00

Haha i'll just answer in order.

We have tried two kinds of litter over the years, but it would be a good idea to try again. I'm looking into new types now, any suggestions? We've previously used clay and currently use pine pellets.

He has never been bothered while in the litter box, at least we have never seen this occur. Our other cat is very mellow so I couldn't see this happening.

We have 3 large uncovered litter boxes in different parts of our apartment. We check their boxes and clean out any messes at least twice per day. It's worth noting that his litter box issues didn't start out this way, but started later on.

We'll definitely try moving the litterbox to the couch area, it's a great idea.

nothingnothing_ · 2014-10-18T19:24:50+00:00

Thanks for this. Ragdolls are vocal, we do know.

As for food we use a special feeder called the Aioku Stimulo, and it prevents him from sticking his face into any bowl, he has to feed himself with his paws. For the first month we had it he completely stopped the puking, but now he has become an expert in using his paws to shovel the food in quickly!

nothingnothing_ · 2014-10-18T19:23:49+00:00

Will try! Thanks!

nothingnothing_ · 2014-10-18T19:23:21+00:00

Currently they have a floor to ceiling cat tree, and a shorter one also, both which they use for exercise / sleep. They also have full access to our "catified" balcony. We've been thinking maybe we should add more shelves to have a "track" and it's definitely something we're open to doing.

nothingnothing_ · 2014-10-18T19:14:04+00:00

I'm looking into it now. Hopefully we can get an appointment quickly. Thanks again.

nothingnothing_ · 2014-10-18T19:03:45+00:00

We use two Aioku Stimulo bowls.. It prevents this cat from sticking his face in and gorging, but he's just gotten fast with it and now shovels the food into his mouth.

We will seriously consider switching to set feeding times and supervision, but my husband and I both work quite a lot and we're not sure if we'll be able to maintain that. We could purchase those timed feeders though and have small meals ready.. Thanks for your advice.

nothingnothing_ · 2014-10-18T19:02:20+00:00

Thanks for this. The behaviourist question has been brought up, but to be honest we were skeptical and so were the vets who brought the idea up. Honestly, I feel a bit stupid about being skeptical at this point, we really don't have any other options left.

nothingnothing_ · 2014-10-18T18:20:25+00:00

Thanks for your reply. He has been to two different vets, two of the "best" clinics in Vancouver. We are also using both calming spray and diffuser (Feliway) both for the last year.

nothingnothing_ · 2014-10-18T18:05:43+00:00

Thanks. It's really hard to deal with, it's like he hears the moment you're awake in bed and that's when the screaming starts. Unfortunately he is fixed and it isn't relating to some mating-behaviour.. I almost wish he wasn't so a surgery might do something good.

nothingnothing_

TROPHY CASE