Nervous cat

[CanadianJohn]

Our 10-year old indoor cat has always been a scaredy-cat. She has never been outside, like to spend all of her time alone, and even after 10 years flinches if you try to stroke her. She has never liked to play, and avoids visitors.

About 6 weeks ago the lower level of our house flooded. The carpet and flooring was all ruined, as well as the skirting boards and some plaster. Everything had to be torn out, and the cat was very upset. We are maybe halfway thru renovations.

Unfortunately, the cat has become very nervous. No doubt the house smells of damp and mould, and of course the new carpets probably smell different. She grooms obsessively, and has licked most of the fur off her stomach. She is also scratching - I guarantee she doesn't have fleas. It's a shame to watch her licking licking licking. It's maybe a good thing she prefers to spend most of her time in the linen closet.

So, how can we help her become less nervous? I'm wondering about those pet diffuser things - do they actually work?

[RubbishMantra]

I've used Feliway, but apparently there's a better one on the market, sorry though, I can't recall the name. Perhaps if you post a thread on here along the lines of "what cat calming diffuser works better than Feliway", might get you some answers.

Also Zylkene - like valium for cats, but non addictive as it's derived from milk proteins. A capsule you sprinkle on their food. You can order it from Amazon.

[Allergictoironing]

I agree with Mantra here. I have 2 ex-feral rescues that have taken months to settle and the boy especially is still very nervous. In the run up to Firework night I started dosing them with Zylkene & put in a Feliway Diffuser, and by the worst weekend for fireworks they just happily slept through them on the sofa.

I stopped the Zylkene but have kept the Feliway going, and Boycat seems much more confident in general & even comes over & enjoys strokes sometimes, a big difference in behaviour over a very short time.

[chemenger]

Could it be something in the new carpets that is making her itchy? The licking sounds like stress, which Feliway and Zylkene can help with but scratching sounds different. If it could be an allergic reaction to something its worth going to the vet (not great with a nervous cat I know) to get some treatment.

[Toddlerteaplease]

Pet remedy diffuser is brilliant although it smells a bit. Feliway didn't work. Zykelene is ok but pet remedy is the one that's Made the biggest difference.

[RubbishMantra]

Ah, cheers for that Toddler. Friend's just adopted 2 rescues, and I remembered someone posting about a better diffuser than Feliway.

Sadly, we had to bathe one of them who'd vomited and crapped himself, then crapped himself again whilst doing the wall of death around the bathroom, but we had to wash the poo off him. Poor little bugger must have been terrified. Then shower the poo off myself. Twas a proper Poonami. I have some serious icky looking bite marks (about 20) on my right arm, and can't get the poo-ey smell out of my nostrils!

When I left, both cats were happily tucking into a bowl of Applaws.