Was your family pet affected by a new child in the home, or you going on holiday or any other thing/what did you do/did you re-home a pet?

[Italiangreyhound]

Our cat is unwell, he has Cystitis. The vet mentioned a new baby can sometimes make a cat upset and can lead to cystitis. I told the vet we had adopted about 3 months ago and already have a dd who is almost 10. She said the cat may resent the child. She said it might have impacted into it because they feel less love with a new family member!

I am not sure if we just have the world's most sensitive pet or the world's most sensitive vet! Or something else.

If pet cannot settle down and get well we may end up with him on anti-depressants (my husband thought I was joking!) or worse still needing to re-home our pet.

She said he may need to go and live with a little old lady with no kids!

Of course we would do it if it was best for our cat but I know DD will be very upset and we cannot tell her why in case she resents ds for it. I would be very sad but I just want him to be well.

I wrote about this before at:

www.mumsnet.com/Talk/the_litter_tray/2162747-Growling-and-licking-privates-frantically

and then at

www.mumsnet.com/Talk/the_litter_tray/2164667-Cat-now-weeing-all-over-the-place?msgid=49035936#49035936

Actually saying he was 'weeing all over the place' was wrong, he wet our bed, and is now just weeing tiny amounts. Has been seen by vets 4 times in under a week.

Feel rather depressed that cat has now been in ill for almost a week and it is all very stressful me me (and cat)?

Was your cat affected by a new child in the home, or you going on holiday or any other thing?

What did you do/did you re-home a pet?

Thank you.

New people be they large or small entering a cats home can be very stressful at first. The vast majority of cats do learn to cope with the changes and there are a couple of products that can help some cats. Firstly Feliway the plug in is best in the room the cat spends most of it's time this is feline pheromones (happy hormones) and makes them more relaxed.
Secondly zylkene this is not a drug, but a milk protein that binds to the same receptor as diazepam having all the nice anti-anxiety effects with none of the nasty addictive ones.
There is a lot of evidence that these two products work synergistically so it is defiantly worth trying both together.
Finally the international cat care website has loads of fabulous information about how to organise your home (only little changes) to help your cat.
No you don't have the worlds most sensitive cat not the worlds most sensitive vet. You are dealing with a complex animal whose social interactions are affected, but subtle changes in our home.

Have you looked at his diet? Is it consistent? (Ie same brand)

Is you cat's space still the same? I.e has where he eats sleeps, litter tray been moved about to accommodate baby?

Thanks Lonecatwithkitten will ask vet about zylkene. And will look at www.icatcare.org:8080/

I had no idea that if cats did not want to be with people it woul dbe a problem, I knew they were sometimes 'lofty' and going off to do their 'own thing.'

So for our cat, if he does he can go away and be anywhere we are not. We do not pursue him. He is quite sociable.

thatwouldbeanecumenicalmatter He had fairly consistent food, wet and dry, James Wellbelved dry and Tesco wet. Now he is on Royal Canin urinary food. He has tried the pate version but does not like it and tried one other brand, but does not like that either. He is fussy. He may get dry food version of the one he likes, vet said that would be OK.

We have had to change where he sleeps slightly as we worry he can get out of the locked cat flap from the utility so now he has the dinning room and kitchen at night instead of utility at night just while he is ill.

Just while he is ill because we cannot risk him going out and going missing.

Ok have read your other threads, yeah to me it sounds like he's been stressed while you were away. Some cats cope better than others, I'm assuming he's your only cat? He probably felt lonelier than if you had two to keep each other company. Sorry but am not sure what to advise there, would staying at a friends house be more/less stressful?

I know this sounds daft but could the Cystitis just be exacerbating the stress and dragging it on for longer iykwim? I know I'm not a happy camper when I'm ill!

The weeing about sounds like the Cystitis - I can imagine he cant hold it in very well when he feels like he needs to wee all the time (well that's how I feel when I get it! Sorry tmi!)

Also is he still on meds? We all know how much fun it is for all involved to medicate a cat!

Sorry am not much help, all I can think if it were my two depending on their mood either reassure them with usual snuggles or make sure they have space to escape it all (top of the stairs with the stair gate shut at the bottom). I hope you/him get sorted - you're obviously worried starting so many threads about him x

Thanks hatwouldbeanecumenicalmatter yes he is still on meds. Yes, still worried.

I hope he will get better.

The vet was rather no nonsense and gave me the worst case scenario rather quickly.

The sad thing is I have found this all so stressful I am almost tempted by the idea of re-homing not to have to go through all this again (as vet said once they have Cystitis they get it again usually).

I love him so much and it is really painful to think of losing him and to think of him ill.

DD is helping with the meds but in terms of being understanding the kids are not helping at all!

Lonecatwithkitten Re the international cat care website has loads of fabulous information about how to organise your home (only little changes) to help your cat.

Tried www.icatcare.org:8080/

can't see it, can you link to bit you meant, please?

This is the start of the cat behaviour information. From the front page scroll down cat behaviour is in the left hand side.

Lonecatwithkitten fab, thanks

Putting up some shelves with carpet stuck to it makes a good, high up place to perch for your cat. Somewhere he can go to escape general mayhem caused by children. If you put a few up, he can jump from one to another. Make sure you use sturdy brackets.

I've done this for my cat, in the garden, with so much success that I'm going to do the same in the living room.

RubbishMantra great idea.

Cat seems better, allowed out tomorrow. Thanks for all your help and concern. No need for anti-depressants or re-homing!

Our cat became very unhappy and stressed (I suspect by a young cat who was visiting his garden), he developed urinary problems, including cystitis, he was frequently incontinent, his urine has blood in it, we tried all sorts of things including zylkene and he was getting worse and worse, his kidneys were becoming effected and he was constantly going into urinary retention. The insurance had paid out a fortune and the prognosis was looking very poor.
Then a friend and doctor; a urologist and a cat lover suggested that as he was depressed so sleeping all day he was not drinking enough, he advised us to stop his dry good and feed him cheap wet food with lots of jelly. We've been doing this now for four years and he's never looked better. It cured his urinary problems in a week, we were able to stop all his medication, although we were told this was a bad idea and his fur has never looked better and he has significantly more energy than he ever had even when well.
We feed Waitrose essential brand (sachets so it can't dry out) you can see that it has a higher % of jelly than more expensive brands, and liquid comes out if the sachet when you open it. I'm sure any cheap cat food will do the same job. They recently didn't have it and delivered their slightly more expensive own brand, less jelly, his urinary output dropped off immediately.